related
Guides:

Networks
& the GII

Security &
InfoCrime

Digital
Economy




related
Profiles:

ICANN

auDA

ITU

     liberties advocates

This page considers cyberliberties and other advocacy groups.

Notions of a global 'internet bill of rights' are discussed in the final page of this guide.

     introduction

The Global Internet Liberty Campaign (GILC) is a coalition of over 50 cyberliberties groups from around the world.

The Internet Democracy Project (IDP) was established in June 00 by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR). Its goals are to encourage participation by non-governmental organizations in internet governance and promote the principles of a civil society.

The Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) is one of the more influential groups.

Others with an interest in governance include the somewhat shrill Electronic Frontiers Foundation (EFF), its UK counterpart the Open Rights Group (ORG) and Electronic Freedom Australia (EFA), the UK Campaign for Digital Rights (CDR), Foundation for Information Policy Research (FIPR), the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII), European Digital Rights (EDRI), Digital Rights Ireland (DRI) and Online Rights Canada (ORC).

Closer to home the Australian Digital Alliance (ADA) is interested in intellectual property policy questions. The EU-based Alliance For A Digital Future (ADF) is a public-interest coalition concerned with the major European copyright reforms and other digital legislation.

     ISOC

The Internet Society (ISOC) is a professional society with more than 150 organizational and around 12,000 individual members in over 100 countries. It is a forum for discussion about encryption, domain naming, copyright and other issues in future development of the Internet. The membership distribution as of October 2002 is 35% North America, 33% Europe, 17% Asia-Pacific and 15% Africa and Latin America.

The 1999 paper by Raymund Werle & Volker Leib on The Internet Society and its Struggle for Recognition and Influence offers an introduction; perspectives are provided by Private Organisations in Global Politics (London: Routledge 2000) edited by Karsten Ronit & Volker Schneider and Pressure Groups in the Global System: The Transnational Relations of Issue-Orientated Non-Governmental Organisations (New York: St Martin's 1982) edited by Peter Willetts.

ISOC also provides a home for groups responsible for Internet infrastructure standards, including the IETF and the IAB.

ISOC's Australian chapter, ISOC-AU, has around 300 members and has arguably aligned itself more closely with - or simply been more co-opted by - the Federal government than other industry bodies.  





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