IP: one reaction Re:: Yugoslavia may lose some Internet access

[Dave Farber <farber@cis.upenn.edu>]

>Date: Fri, 14 May 1999 13:57:06 -0400
>From: "K. N. Cukier" <100736.3602@compuserve.com>
>Subject: Re: IP: Yugoslavia may lose some Internet access
>Sender: "K. N. Cukier" <100736.3602@compuserve.com>
>To: "INTERNET:farber@cis.upenn.edu" <farber@cis.upenn.edu>
>
>
>Dave,
>
>If it happens to pass, it will mark the first time a government has sought
>to block another nation's connectivity to further a political objective.
>And such an unsavory irony: After the Net's great stride in international
>penetration while it weans itself from its DoD roots, it now finds itself
>at the fulcrum of military conflict. Even in wartime, telecom carriers
>still exchange traffic and terminate calls. Yet the U.S. move falls in line
>with traditional steps aimed against the media (as opposed to transmission
>networks) and resources. Knocking out radio and TV stations, as well as
>freezing foreign assets, are standard fare among combatants.
>
>I feared that these sorts of issues might arise when I wrote "Rich Man,
>Poor Man: The Geopolitics of Internet Policy Making," delivered at the
>Internet Society's INET'98 in Geneva. 
><http://www.isoc.org/inet98/proceedings/5a/5a_2.htm>
>
>In it, I offered "a policy-making perspective for the 'Internet diplomat'."
>
>The first of the four points reads:
>
>"Just as the central value of humanity is life itself, so with the Internet
>the chief principle is connectivity. It is therefore a prerequisite that in
>future conflicts, for example, connectivity is never cut off. There should
>never be estrangement of users anywhere, for any offense. Today's popular
>and arguably ineffective diplomatic penalties, such as economic embargoes,
>frozen bank assets, and cutting of cultural ties, should never be extended
>to the Internet. On the contrary, current obstacles to Internet
>development, such as trade embargoes, should be eliminated. Connectivity is
>sacrosanct at the level of international relations."
>
>If the connectivity cut comes to pass, let's hope there is a quick and
>massive reaction against the move. The Internet can't stop wars, but it can
>prevent them. Connectivity must be preserved regardless of off-line
>politics.
>
>Cheers,
>
>Kenn