Draft Resolution. Submitted for revision by the delegations to the Model United Nation, College of Charleston, Spring 2011

Transcription

1 Committee A: Net Neutrality and Internet Access Draft Resolution Submitted for revision by the delegations to the Model United Nation, College of Charleston, Spring 2011 The General Assembly Reaffirming the importance of protecting national security; Expressing concern about the impact of the leaking of sensitive national security information to the public through the internet and other technologies; Acknowledging that all states reserve the right to maintain control over information provided to the public; Reaffirming states may not hide public information from citizens by blocking access to internet sites and providers of their choice; Reaffirming the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights on the framework of freedom of expression and seeking knowledge; Welcoming the recent Icelandic and Swedish net neutrality Transparency Haven Model which creates and promotes freedom and expression of information; Believing that restricting access to information on the internet will violate human rights; Deeply concerned that human lives may be in danger, such as those working in intelligence communities and those collecting human intelligence, including military officials and personnel; Deeply concerned that the lives of many human rights defenders may be in danger as they speak out to defend the rights of victims of human rights violations through the use of the internet to publish and disseminate information; Therefore this United Nations Committee:

2 1. Endorses the need of all governments to protect their national security. 2. Reaffirms that there are conditions that require government action and protection if there are direct and in-direct violent threats made through, or coming from, the internet. 3. Endorses the creation and enforcement of strict regulation and punishments of informational leaks that may threaten national security; 4. Reaffirms the right of the public to view information that is public to other states citizens ; 5. Strongly Recommends states citizens receive an equal amount of internet access from providers with equal cost; 6. Strongly Supports the rights of governments to tap communications for national security; 7. Recognizes that leaking state secrets or sources of intelligence to the public should be considered a crime against the state; 8. Strongly urges that public information that is located on the internet should be available to all citizens of all countries, without government control: a. Conflicts arise from internet censorship, such as the restrictions in states including China and Iran, as opposing political views are blocked from citizens, and Nigeria, where issues are blocked so that weakness in government and security are not shown; 9. Requests that states stop violating by withholding public information from citizens or controlling the citizens knowledge; a. Recognizing that democratic states, such as the United State of American, are violating the fundamentals of a democracy by withholding information from its citizens; 10. Mandates the termination of kill switches that are currently in place in states including Egypt and the United States: a. Recognizing that it is unjust to use kill switches in times of peaceful protest, as recently done in Egypt;

3 b. Recognizing that using kill switches violates the right to access information and the freedom of speech; 11. Mandates that states stop interfering with the use of broadband telecommunications by: a. Ensuring everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice; b. Ensuring that freedom is maintained to use broadband telecommunications networks, including the internet, without unreasonable interference from or discrimination by network operators; 12. Encourages states to promote open and interconnected nature of broadband networks that enable consumers access, and service providers the ability to offer, content, applications, and services of their choosing; 13. Urges states to refrain from unreasonably interfering with the ability of consumers to access, use, send, receive, or offer content, applications, or services of their choice, and attach or connect their choice of devices; 14. Mandating that governments and internet providers eliminate differential pricing for the quality of service; a. Such as different qualities of data flows 15. Accepts that internet providers may implement different costs for services provided to consumers; a. Such as accessing different networks 16. Recommends that standard internet infrastructure be provided to states that cannot afford it through the creation of an United Nations fund whereby states can request funding to provide:

4 a. wireless internet towers and cables; b. public venues for citizens to access the internet; c. basic freeware ; 17. Recommends the creation of a new division in the International Criminal Court (ICC) to address: a. human rights violations brought by individuals with grievances against governments that violate fundamental human rights by restricting the use of the internet; b. the protection of human rights defenders 18. Urges states to protect the following human rights to: a. Seek information; b. Liberty; c. Opinions.

5 Preparing to Represent Your Country on the United Nations Committee A Resolution, Net Neutrality and Internet Access. Before you can make amendments to the Draft Resolution on Net Neutrality and Internet Access, you must know what your country has done, is currently doing, or has not done in respect to addressing net neutrality and internet access. Helpful questions to be asked in researching and determining your country s position on these key issues include: What are the national security protection laws in your country? What are the offences for the leaking of sensitive national security information? Does your country support and implement a Kill Switch in times of threats to national security? How are human rights defined by your country? Has you country adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights? Does your country have censorship laws? If so, to what extent does your country censor information? What are the various costs of internet access in your country? What kinds of internet services are available in your country (wireless, broadband, etc.)? What is the level of internet connectivity available in your country (low, moderate, high)? What is the quality of internet available in your country? What percentage of your country s population has internet access? Who are and how many internet providers are there in your country? Has your government adopted the Rome Statue establishing the permanent creation of the International Criminal Court (ICC)? What are human rights defenders? Are there any human rights defenders in your country? What laws are in place to ensure their protection?