From rms at gnu.org  Wed Oct  1 15:55:06 2003
From: rms at gnu.org (Richard Stallman)
Date: Mon Sep 10 20:18:03 2007
Subject: [Values-ethics] Deadlines for Ethics & Values Cuacus
In-Reply-To: <v04210104bb9e21e56b45@[194.230.139.91]> (message from IPSGeneva
	on Tue, 30 Sep 2003 18:46:10 +0200)
References: <2808.207.237.214.67.1064848216.squirrel@admin.bahai.org> <v04210104bb9e21e56b45@[194.230.139.91]>
Message-ID: <E1A4iNe-0008F8-I2@fencepost.gnu.org>

You sent the attachment in Microsoft Word format, a secret proprietary
format, so I cannot read it.  If you post the text in ASCII, or HTML,
or PDF, then I could read it.  Plain ASCII is probably the best,
because that is convenient for citing portions in a response.

Distributing documents in Word format is bad for you and for others.
You can't be sure what they will look like if someone views them
with a different version of Word; they may not work at all.

Receiving Word attachments is bad for you because they can carry
viruses (see http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/acro.html).
Sending Word attachments is bad for you, because a Word document
normally includes hidden information about the author, enabling those
in the know to pry into the author's activities (maybe yours).  Text
that you think you deleted may still be embarrassingly present.  See
http://www.microsystems.com/Shares_Well.htm for more info.

But above all, sending people Word documents puts pressure on them to
use Microsoft software and helps to deny them any other choice.  In
effect, you become a buttress of the Microsoft monopoly.  This
pressure is a major obstacle to the broader adoption of free software.
Would you please reconsider the use of Word format for communication
with other people?

To convert the file to HTML is simple.  Open the document, click
on File, then Save As, and in the Save As Type strip box at the bottom
of the box, choose HTML Document or Web Page.  Then choose Save.  You
can then attach the new HTML document instead of your Word document.
Note that Word changes in inconsistent ways--if you see slightly
different menu item names, please try them.

To convert to plain text is almost the same--instead of HTML
Document, choose Text Only or Text Document as the Save As Type.

See http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/words-to-avoid.html for more about
this issue.

From claude.almansi at bluewin.ch  Wed Oct  1 17:39:13 2003
From: claude.almansi at bluewin.ch (Claude Almansi)
Date: Mon Sep 10 20:18:03 2007
Subject: [Values-ethics] Deadlines for Ethics & Values Cuacus
References: <2808.207.237.214.67.1064848216.squirrel@admin.bahai.org> <v04210104bb9e21e56b45@[194.230.139.91]> <E1A4iNe-0008F8-I2@fencepost.gnu.org>
Message-ID: <021601c3883a$8d26d940$2ba6ca3e@nom00cl76thy97>

Hi

Re Richard Stallman's message concerning the risks of word attachments, I
would be grateful if you could send whatever was in the attachment WITHIN
the e-mail and not as an attachment.

Thanks to the Swiss Executive Secretariate's habit to send multiple e-mails
to up to 668 addresses in clear, my inbox was clogged by e-mails with SoBig
attachments so I made a rather drastic message rule asking for all e-mails
with attachments to be deleted. There are more subtle ways to go about it, I
know: but that one was the fastest.

If you subscribe to any "newsletter" from any Swiss institution involved
with WSIS, it's safer to use a disposable e-mail address. It's even safer
not to subscribe at all: anyway, their newsletters are published on the
various WSIS official websites.

Thank you in advance


Claude Almansi
claude.almansi@bluewin.ch
www.adisi.ch




From kaiflai at yahoo.com  Wed Oct  1 15:02:44 2003
From: kaiflai at yahoo.com (Catherine Fleming Bruce)
Date: Mon Sep 10 20:18:03 2007
Subject: [Values-ethics] testing
In-Reply-To: <5.2.1.1.0.20030929151753.030127d8@pop.gn.apc.org>
Message-ID: <20031001140244.73164.qmail@web20712.mail.yahoo.com>

Message received...
 
Catherine Bruce

karen banks <karenb@gn.apc.org> wrote:
testing, could someone acknowledge receipt

karen

_______________________________________________
Values-ethics mailing list
Values-ethics@wsis-cs.org
http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/values-ethics

---------------------------------
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The New Yahoo! Shopping - with improved product search
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From bchaffers at bic.org  Fri Oct  3 22:07:29 2003
From: bchaffers at bic.org (Bahiyyih Chaffers)
Date: Mon Sep 10 20:18:03 2007
Subject: [Values-ethics] Ehtics and values caucus
Message-ID: <IEELKMLAPGGFMKFDNABAMEDDCAAA.bchaffers@bic.org>

Hi Everyone,

As far as I can tell, Rudolf was the only person to post anything for review
by the group.  I'm assuming that everyone else will be bringing their
contributions to either the Geneva or New York drafting meeting.

Otherwise, please post any thoughts or ideas you want to share re the
importance of ethics and values in the context of the WSIS.

Geneva group, can you confirm when and where you are meeting?

The NY group will be meeting the week of Oct. 13th, place and time to be
determined.

Have a great weekend!

Warmest regards,

Bahiyyih Chaffers

Baha'i International Community
United Nations Office
New York, NY


From bchaffers at bic.org  Fri Oct  3 23:01:31 2003
From: bchaffers at bic.org (Bahiyyih Chaffers)
Date: Mon Sep 10 20:18:03 2007
Subject: [Values-ethics] NY Times OPED article
Message-ID: <IEELKMLAPGGFMKFDNABAAEDFCAAA.bchaffers@bic.org>


NYTimes OPED on Globalization and Sept 11 and our interdependance.

The New York Times, p A27
September 11, 2003
Two Years Later, a Thousand Years Ago
By ROBERT WRIGHT

Among the ideas that seemed to collapse along with the twin towers two years
ago was a view of globalization as a kind of manifest destiny. Unlike the
19th-century version of manifest destiny, this vision didn't involve
expanding America's borders. Rather, America's values ? notably economic and
political liberty ? would spread beyond those borders, covering the planet.
And this time around America's mission didn't have the widely assumed
blessing of God. But it had the next best thing: the force of history.
Globalization was seen by some as a nearly inevitable climax of the human
story ? destiny of a secular sort.

In some versions of this scenario, like neoconservative ones, tough American
guidance might be needed ? coercing China, say, toward democracy. In other
versions, international economic competition would do the coercing. After
all, microelectronics was making free markets a more essential ingredient in
prosperity, and free markets work best with free minds. As some libertarians
saw things, all you had to do was end trade barriers and then sit back and
enjoy the show.

Some show. As commentators started noting around Sept. 12, 2001, the
terrorists had turned the tools of globalization ? cellphones, e-mail,
international banking ? against the system. What's more, their grievances
had grown partly out of globalization, with its jarringly modern values. It
started to seem as if globalization, far from being a benign culmination of
history, had carried the seeds of its own destruction all along.

Two years later, that view is still defensible. Though the United States has
been free from serious terrorism, anti-American terrorist networks are
intact ? and the war in Iraq has given them both a new rallying cry and
conveniently located targets. Further, Islamist terrorism is assuming more
global form; one can imagine a chain of attacks setting off a worldwide
economic tailspin. With biotechnology and nuclear materials emphatically not
under control, out-and-out collapse in some future decade is possible.

Still, viewed against the backdrop of history, the case for a kind of
manifest destiny is stronger than ever. In this version, America's mission
is different from the ones libertarians and neoconservatives have in mind ?
passive role model or aggressive evangelizer, respectively. It is in some
ways a grander mission, carrying a deep and subtle moral challenge. Indeed,
the challenge is so deep, and so natural an outgrowth of history, that the
idea of destiny in some nonsecular sense isn't beyond the pale. In any
event, Sept. 11, 2001, illustrates the challenge in painfully vivid form.

Globalization dates back to prehistory, when the technologically driven
expansion of commerce began. Early advances in transportation ? roads,
wheels, boats ? were used to do deals (when they weren't used to fight
wars). So too with information technology. Writing seems to have evolved in
Mesopotamia as a recorder of debts. Later, in the form of contracts, it
would lubricate long-distance trade.

All this is grounded in human nature. People instinctively play nonzero-sum
games ? games, like economic exchange, in which both players can win. And
technological advance lets them play more complex games over longer
distances. Hence globalization.

What makes globalization precarious is that nonzero-sum relationships
typically have a downside: both players can lose as well as win. Their
fortunes are correlated, their fates partly shared, for better or worse. As
a web of commerce expands and thickens, this interdependence deepens. The
ancient world saw prosperity spread but also saw vast downturns ? like
collapse across the eastern Mediterranean around 1200 B.C.

One reason trouble can spread so broadly is that it often uses the economic
system's conduits of transportation or communication. The collapse of 1200
B.C. seems to have been abetted by raiders who exploited shipping lanes. In
the Middle Ages, the bubonic plague moved from city to city along avenues of
commerce. Today a bioweapon could spread death globally the same way. And
support for terrorism proliferates via the very satellites that convey stock
prices, as appeals from Osama bin Laden, or images of civilian casualties in
Iraq or Gaza, are beamed around the world.

One way to protect an expanding realm of interdependence is through expanded
governance. The Roman Empire, in its heyday, kept vast trade routes secure.
But governance needn't come in the form of a full-fledged state. In the late
Middle Ages, merchants in German cities formed the Hanseatic League to repel
pirates and brigands.

Today the globalization of commerce, and of threats to it, has created the
rudiments of international governance, from the World Health Organization to
arrangements for policing nuclear weapons. Global governance sounds radical,
but it's just history marching on ? commerce making the world safe for
itself.

In light of 9/11, there is room for improvement. For starters, we need more
routine and forceful means of policing the world's nuclear materials and,
more challenging still, its biotechnology infrastructure. This will involve
rethinking national sovereignty ? for example, accepting visits from
international inspectors in exchange for the reassuring knowledge that they
visit other countries, too. But we have little choice. The aftermath of the
Iraq war suggests that even a superpower can't afford to invade every
country that may have illicit weapons.

History's expansion of commerce has entailed the growth not just of
governance, but of morality. Doing business with people, even at a distance,
usually involves acknowledging their humanity. This may not sound like a
major moral breakthrough. But prehistoric life seems to have featured
frequent hostility among groups, with violence justified by the moral
devaluation, even dehumanization, of the victims. And recorded history is
replete with such bigotry. The modern idea that people of all races and
religions are morally equal is often taken for granted, but viewed against
the human past, it is almost bizarre.

Can moral enlightenment really be rooted in crass self-interest as mediated
by the nonzero-sum logic of expanding economic interdependence? Certainly
that would explain why an ethos of ethnic and religious tolerance is most
common in highly globalized nations like the United States. And it would
help explain why, in contrast, open hatred of Christians or Jews is found in
some Muslim countries that aren't deeply, organically integrated into the
global economy.

Some favor a different explanation, blaming belligerent passages in the
Koran for radical Islam's intolerance. But during the Middle Ages, when
Islamic civilization was at the forefront of globalization, and co-existence
with Christians and Jews made economic sense, Islamic scholars devised the
requisite doctrines of tolerance. Muslims can read Scripture selectively
when conditions warrant, just as many cosmopolitan Christians and Jews are
profitably unaware of the jihads advocated in Deuteronomy.

Globalization, then, might eventually dampen the appeal of radical Islam,
especially if economic liberty indeed tends to bring political liberty. In a
world of economically intertwined free-market democracies, not only will
more Muslim elites rub elbows with non-Muslims in business class, but also
more young Muslims will have nonlethal outlets for their energies, thanks to
new avenues for political activism and economic ambition.

Sounds great ? and, in fact, it's a prospect that has been hopefully invoked
by many, including some hawks in advocating war with Iraq. But before
deciding how to get from here to there, we might ponder one of history's
lessons: bursts of technological progress can bring great instability. A
particularly unsettling parallel with the current moment lies in a previous
revolution in information technology, the coming of the movable-type
printing press to Europe in the 15th century.

When transmitting information gets cheaper, groups that lack power can gain
it. Within weeks of Martin Luther's unveiling his 95 Theses in 1517, German
printers in several cities took it upon themselves to sell copies. An
amorphous and largely silent interest group ? people disenchanted with the
Roman Catholic Church ? crystallized and found its voice. Protest was now
feasible. (Hence the term Protestant.)

The ensuing erosion of central authority went beyond the church. The "wars
of religion" that ravaged Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries were
about politics, too, and by their end the Hapsburgs, not just the pope, had
lost possessions. If Europe's powers had adjusted more gracefully to the
decentralizing force of print, much bloodshed might have been averted.

Today, similarly, new information technologies allow previously amorphous or
powerless groups to coalesce and orchestrate activities, from peaceful
lobbying to terrorist slaughter. And the revolution is young. As the
Internet goes broadband, Osama bin Laden's potent recruiting videos will get
more accessible ? viewable on demand from more and more parts of the world.
Other terrorist televangelists may spring up, too. As in the age of print,
far-flung discontent will grow more powerful ? often through peaceful means,
but sometimes not.

Paradoxically, the increasing volatility of intense discontent puts
Americans in a more nonzero-sum relationship with the world's discontented
peoples. If, for example, unhappy Muslims overseas grow more unhappy and
resentful, that's good for Osama bin Laden and hence bad for America. If
they grow more secure and satisfied, that's good for America. This is
history's drift: technology correlating the fortunes of ever-more-distant
people, enmeshing humanity in a web of shared fate.

The architects of America's national security policy at once grasp this
crosscultural interdependence and don't. They see that prosperous and free
Muslim nations are good for America. But they don't see that the very logic
behind this goal counsels against pursuing it crudely, with primary reliance
on force and intimidation. They don't appreciate how easily, amid modern
technology, resentment and hatred metastasize. Witness their planning for
postwar Iraq, with spectacular inattention to keeping Iraqis safe, content
and well informed.

Nor do they seem aware, as they focus tightly on state sponsors of
terrorism, that technology lets terrorists operate with less and less state
support. Anarchic states ? like the ones that may now be emerging in Iraq
and Afghanistan ? could soon be as big a problem as hostile states.

Grasping the new challenge of terrorism doesn't render the problem simple or
undermine President Bush's entire terrorism strategy. Obviously, we can't
grow so concerned with grassroots opinion that we give in to specific
terrorist demands. And sometimes we may have to use force in ways that, in
the short run, inflame anti-Americanism. And so on.

Still, only if we see the growing power of grassroots sentiment will we give
due attention to the subject that hawks so disdain: "root causes." With
hatred becoming Public Enemy No. 1, a successful war on terrorism demands an
understanding of how so much of the world has come to dislike America. When
people who are born with the same human nature as you and I grow up to
commit suicide bombings ? or applaud them ? there must be a reason. And it's
at least conceivable that their fanaticism is needlessly encouraged by
American policy or rhetoric.

Putting yourself in the shoes of people who do things you find abhorrent may
be the hardest moral exercise there is. But it would be easier to excuse
Americans who refuse to try if they didn't spend so much time indicting
Islamic radicals for the same refusal. Somebody has to go first, and if
nobody does we're all in trouble.

Even if we dawdle, and make no progress on either the moral or governmental
fronts ? fail to move toward a global norm of tolerance and toward sound
global governance ? history will eventually concentrate our minds. A nuclear
explosion, or epic bioterrorism, will lead even some hardened unilateralists
to embrace arms control and other multilateral actions.

But it would be nice to avoid the million deaths. Besides, if we wait until
an American city is erased, by then hatred of America will be broad and
deep. One can imagine national and global policing regimes that could keep
us fairly secure even then, but they would be severe, with expanded
monitoring of everyday life and shrinking civil liberties.

In other words, the age-old tradeoff between security and liberty
increasingly involves a third variable: antipathy. The less hatred there is
in the world, the more security we can have without sacrificing personal
freedom. Assuming we like our liberty, we have little choice but to take an
earnest interest in the situation of distant and seemingly strange people,
working to elevate their welfare, exploring their discontent as a step
toward expanding their moral horizons ? and in the process expanding ours.
Global governance without global moral progress could be very unpleasant.

As the world's most powerful nation, and one of the world's most ethnically
and religiously diverse nations, America is a natural leader of this moral
revolution. America is also well positioned to lead in shaping a judicious
form of global governance.

This role wasn't inevitable. But for a few quirks of history, some other
nation might be on top at this moment of challenge. What was more or less
inevitable, in my view, is the challenge itself. All along, technological
evolution has been moving our species toward this nonzero-sum moment, when
our welfare is crucially correlated with the welfare of the other, and our
freedom depends on the sympathetic comprehension of the other.

That history has driven us toward moral enlightenment ? and then left the
final choice to us, with momentous stakes ? is scary but inspiring. Some,
indeed, may see this as evidence of the higher purpose that was widely
assumed back in the 19th century. But a religious motivation isn't
necessary. Simple self-interest will do. That's the beauty of the thing.

Robert Wright, a visiting scholar at the University of Pennsylvania, is
author or "The Moral Animal" and "Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny."





From claude.almansi at bluewin.ch  Sat Oct  4 00:58:14 2003
From: claude.almansi at bluewin.ch (Claude Almansi)
Date: Mon Sep 10 20:18:03 2007
Subject: [Values-ethics] =?iso-8859-1?Q?=22Silenced=22:_cf_Tunisia_=AC_Switzerland=2C_for_instance?=
Message-ID: <025c01c38a0a$d54a2ca0$8daa03d5@nom00cl76thy97>

Bonsoir - good evening

I'll carry on in English because this is a common language to both lists,
and Ms Elwarda understands it too. Introductions:

- values-ethics@wsis-cs.org is a mailing list created after the "Values and
Ethics caucus meetings at PrepCom3 for WSIS, and the situation described in
"Silenced" is certainly a Values and Ethics issue.
- wsis@comunica-ch.net is the mailing list of  the Swiss platform of Civil
Society Associations for WSIS, and the (in)admissibility of WSIS2 being held
in Tunisia if the human rights continue being trampelled there has been
discussed in  this list
- last but by far not least, Ms Sophie Elwarda regularly sends news about
censorship and repression of internet access in Tunisia, in particular
regarding the imprisonment of Zouhair Yahyaoui, the "editor of Tunezine"
mentioned in the quoted page on Tunisia below.

***

"Silenced is an independent research initiative managed jointly by Privacy
International [ http://www.privacyinternational.org/ ] and the GreenNet
Educational Trust [ http://www.greenneteducationaltrust.org.uk/ ]. The
twelve-month project was undertaken through a collaboration of more than
fifty experts and advocates throughout the world. The work was made possible
by a grant from the Open Society Institute."

For the rest of the description, see
http://www.privacyinternational.org/survey/censorship/index.html . At the
bottom of this page, there's a link to the report itself:
http://www.privacyinternational.org/survey/censorship/silenced.pdf
2Mb but contrary to WSIS pdf's, no silly pics of "important people": 136
pages of well-documented and well-referenced information. You will find the
pages on Tunisia and Switzerland below.

All the best

Claude

Claude Almansi
claude.almansi@bluewin.ch
www.adisi.ch

***

>From "silenced":

Africa

Tunisia

The Internet arrived in Tunisia in the mid 1990's
and is now the most developed environment in
Northern Africa. President Zein Al Abdeen Bin Aly
has embraced the Internet in order to promote
economic development.
Tunisia is considered the only Arab country that
retains Internet technological independence, and
has evolved its own Internet industry. Its creation
of a high tech net medium ranked the country
51st position (out of 72 countries) in a UNDP league
table of global technology achievements. The
Tunisian government has a strong online presence.
All Tunisian media have their own websites.
Tunisian radio and television are broadcast live
over the Internet.
The government has extensively invested
in developing the telecommunication and
telephone infrastructure and increasing the
Internet bandwidth to assure more Internet
penetration. It has allowed privatised companies
to work both as ISPs as well as establishing
cybercafes throughout the country. All universities
and secondary schools are connected. Internet
rates have been dropping, along with customs
duties on imported computer equipment, making
Internet access more affordable for Tunisians.

Although the government states that it advocates
Internet technology, the State Security Police
keeps the Internet under tight control, making
sure that the usage conforms to the government's
rules. The Internet regulations reflect the
government's restrictive approach to freedom of
expression and freedom of the press. In Tunisia,
all news media, including the Internet, should
promote the official line of the government
and avoid news and commentary that imply
criticism of government policies. The Agence
Tunisienne d'Internet (ATI) works not only as the
regulatory body for the Internet but also in the
role of cyber-police as a watchdog over Internet
usage and users. Like other media forms, Internet
users perform self censorship in order to escape
government restrictions.

The Tunisian government was an early adopter of
Internet restrictions. In 1997, it enacted a decree
that made ISPs responsible for their content and
required them to submit monthly lists of their users.
Encryption was also banned by a 1997 decree.
A law on digital signatures was approved in 2000
and a new law on telecommunications was
adopted in January 2001. The press code also
applies to the Internet.
Several cyber activists have been arrested and
questioned about their Internet activities and
papers, NGO sites, and independent weblogs
have been blocked. The editor of the Tunezine
web site was sentenced in 2002 to two year
imprisonment for criticising the government on his
web site.
Tunisia is co-hosting the World Summit on
Information Society (WSIS) in 2005. This has been
controversial given the Tunisian governments
actions against free speech on and off the
Internet. A number of press groups and NGOs
have called for the summit to be moved to a
country more respectful of free speech.

References

Comite pour le Respect des Libertes et des Droits
de l'Homme en Tunisie (CRLDHT)
http://www.maghreb-ddh.sgdg.org/crldht/index.html

Conseil National Pour Les Libert?s en Tunisie
http://www.cnlt98.org/

Article XIX, Tunisia: Surveillance and Repression
http://www.article19.org/docimages/660.htm

Human Rights Watch on Tunisian Internet
Censorship
http://www.hrw.org/advocacy/internet/mena/tunisia.htm

Tunezine
http://www.tunezine.com/

www.alternatives-citoyennes.sgdg.org

Agence Tunisienne d'Internet
http://www.ati.tn/

Arr?t? du ministre des communications du 9
septembre 1997, fixant les conditions d'utilisation
du cryptage dans l'exploitation des services ?
valeur ajout?e des t?l?communications.
http://www.infocom.tn/juridique/arrete9-9-97.htm

Arr?t? du ministre des communications du 22 mars
1997 portant approbation du cahier des charges
fixant les clauses particuli?res ? la mise en ouvre
et l'exploitation des services ? valeur ajout?e des
t?l?communications de type Internet
http://www.infocom.tn/juridique/arrete22-3-97_internet.htm

Loi n?2000-83 relative aux ?changes et commerce
?lectroniques
http://www.infocom.tn/juridique/ecommerce.htm

Loi n? 1-2001 du 15 janvier 2001 portant
promulgation du code des telecommunications
http://www.infocom.tn/juridique/code_telecom.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--

Europe

Switzerland

Despite Switzerland's relatively advanced
Internet infrastructure, there exists a digital divide.
According to data collected by the Bundesamt
f?r Statistik the typical Swiss Internet user is young,
male, relatively well educated, and relatively
affluent,. The main digital divide is between those
who are computer-literate and those who are
not, a gap that correlates strongly with the level
of formal education and therefore also with socioeconomic
status. In the past few years a publicprivate
partnership has worked to bring computers
to public schools, and by spring 2003 almost all
public schools had Internet access. However,
often this is not used because teachers lack
training. In the future this problem may accelerate:
the more access to Web sites (and other types
of Internet communication) is restricted the more
access to information will be limited to those with
special technical and social skills.

Switzerland is a signatory to the University
Declaration of Human Rights, and articles of
its constitution guarantee the right to access
information, data protection, and privacy of post
and telecommunications, and freedom of speech.

After 9/11, the Swiss government issued an
"emergency decree" that has since been
extended until the end of 2003 that requires such
institutions as hospitals and universities to hand
over "suspicious" data to the authorities even in
the absence of a formal request. In spring 2003,
the government proposed a new law intended to
further expand these powers.

The Parliament approved a new law on
interception of communications in 2001. The law
requires ISPs to retain communications data for six
months. In the case of mobile phones, such data
includes location data, requiring mobile network
operators to constantly track phones and store the
data they so collect. The law also requires ISPs to
have the capability of interception email in real
time. In case of an interception order, the ISP must
forward a copy of every email belonging to the
targeted individual to a special police service in
Berne. Lobbying organisations like the SIUG, as well
as consumer organisations and data protection
officers, regularly stress that email and Internet
traffic are not anonymous at all except when
using encryption programs like PGP. The SIUG and
Big Brother Awards Switzerland are organising
workshops on "safe surfing". Cryptography is
not restricted in Switzerland. In Spring 2003, the
Swiss Parliament decided to require compulsory
registration for all users of prepaid mobile phone
calling cards. It is, however, illegal to monitor
Internet traffic in enterprises.

Switzerland signed the Cybercrime Convention
in November 2001. A federal coordination unit
for cybercrime control (KOBIK), was formed
in February 2002 and became operational in
April 2003. The agency's mission is to look for
"illegal content" on the Internet and to prepare
prosecutions. Individuals may report crimes,
including hacking and pornography, to the unit.
The Criminal Code prohibits the posting of illegal
materials such as racist speech and online
incitement to violence. The question of ISPs' liability
for content hosted on their servers is not clear
and there have been no court cases. However,
in several instances the federal police have
issued advice to ISPs to delete or block access to
specific Web sites. For example, the examining
magistrate of the Canton of Vaud asked ISPs to
manipulate the DNS to block access to specific
Web sites, and there have been cases where a
big company tried to block employee access to
the site belonging to a union. The big commercial
ISPs especially have tended to honour requests
to block or delete sites, and they have added
paragraphs to their Acceptable Use Policies to the
effect that they may delete Web sites or accounts
without the client's consent. Legally, it seems that
ISPs can be made liable if they continue to host
Web sites with illegal content after being made
aware of them. However, ISPs are not required
to proactively check the content of the Web
sites they host. Some commercial enterprises use
filtering software, but these are not used by public
institutions.

There have been no court cases involving the use
of copyright law to limit speech on the Internet.
However, in November 2001 Microsoft Switzerland
sent a letter to many companies asking them to
hand over detailed data on all PCs and software
in use. There were protests over this letter, mainly
by the Union Syndikat (www.syndikat.ch).

References

Union of online workers
http://www.syndikat.ch/

Swiss Network Operators Group (Swinog)
homepage
http://www.swinog.ch/

2001 Wiretap law
http://www.admin.ch/ch/f/rs/c780_1.html

Laws on interception of telecommunications traffic
and email
http://cryptome.org/ch-ilets-regs.htm


From geneva at bkwsuch.com  Tue Oct  7 09:21:07 2003
From: geneva at bkwsuch.com (bkgeneva)
Date: Mon Sep 10 20:18:03 2007
Subject: [Values-ethics] contribution
References: <IEELKMLAPGGFMKFDNABAAEDFCAAA.bchaffers@bic.org>
Message-ID: <005101c38cab$f838e3c0$2301a8c0@BKGeneva>

Dear Bahhiya,

Greetings from Geneva!
Julia told us about the recent meeting of the Values Caucus - sounds good.

Many thanks for your recent emails.
We had a meeting last night. Unfortunately Rudolf could not come, but he
sent us some ideas.

Attached are a few paragraphs that we came up with (in square brackets!) for
your group to use as you think best.
Good luck!

Best wishes from us all,
Ana, Helen and Theresa
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From gd at gibgottdenzehnten.de  Tue Oct  7 13:33:27 2003
From: gd at gibgottdenzehnten.de (Gordon Detka)
Date: Mon Sep 10 20:18:03 2007
Subject: [Values-ethics] This mailinglist
Message-ID: <006101c38ccf$3593bf60$cb7bde8a@tcg.abb.de>

Hello,

the mailinglist is now working and we can organize our work with this list.
We discussed in Geneva the setting up of an additional bulletin board system
with WWW interface. At the moment i do not want to do this as i have to move
my companies office and i move my private flat too.

Sometimes a person will raise a question in this list. It is very easy just
to reply to the eMail, but than everybody in the list get the answer. Often
a private mail would be enough. So please keep in mind that a big group is
reading your answers. Before you press the "send" button, please check the
receiver. Thank you.

Karen Banks announced our list in the caucus shedule, as you can see in the
forwarded eMail. We need a clear understanding what we will discuss in this
mailing list. The current abstract is not very desciptive:

>About Values-ethics
>
>To see the collection of prior postings to the list, visit the
Values-ethics Archives. The current archive is only available >to the list
members.

Please, can somebody take the time and visit some of the other mailing lists
abstracts from other wsis caucus and than write a better abstract.

Gordon Detka

----- Original Message -----
From: "karen banks" <karenb@gn.apc.org>
To: <plenary@wsis-cs.org>; <ct@wsis-cs.org>
Sent: Monday, September 29, 2003 6:28 PM
Subject: [WSIS-CT] [WSIS CS-Plenary] RE: URGENT query and updated list


> hello again
>
> thanks to those of you who sent updated info so quickly. We need to
> finalise this list of focal points and clarification of caucus and working
> group names by Sep 31st.
>
> http://www.wsis-cs.org/caucuses.html
>
> here's an update on where we are:
>
> (1) The CS Bureau list: there are **two**, one - bureau@wsis-cs.org and
one
> managed by the Civil Society Division. COuld we have clarification of
which
> list will be used, whether the archives are public, and who a contact
point
> could be.
>
> [note: we can probably delegate working this out to someone else, could
> someone on the burea8u get some clarification on use of lists?,
> where/whether we can visit archives etc]
>
> (2) Regions:
> - i have no list/website info for western asia or arab countries
> - are there any other regions with active caucuses missing?
>
> (4) thematic caucuses and working groups
>
> - education and academia - the list is edulac - is this a LAC regional
list
> only? and if so, is there a global education an academia list/website?
>
> - indigenous peoples - no information
> - persons with disabilities - i have no list info
> - scientific information - i have no list info
> - working group on volunteers - no list info
> - cities and local authorities - no list/web info
>
> (5) i'm sure there are other groups missing  - please let me know..
>
> (6) if you need a list.. we can set them up @wsis-cs.org - please email
me..
>
> karen
>
> _______________________________________________
> Plenary mailing list
> Plenary@wsis-cs.org
> http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/plenary
> _______________________________________________
> Ct mailing list
> Ct@wsis-cs.org
> http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/ct
> Civil Society Plenary: http://www.wsis-cs.org/
> Content & Themes Documents:
> http://bscw.fit.fraunhofer.de/pub/bscw.cgi/0/42953798

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From Gordon at detkas.de  Tue Oct  7 13:10:45 2003
From: Gordon at detkas.de (Gordon Detka)
Date: Mon Sep 10 20:18:03 2007
Subject: [Values-ethics] This mailing list
Message-ID: <004101c38ccc$09d72ea0$cb7bde8a@tcg.abb.de>

Hello,

the mailinglist is now working and we can organize our work with this list.
We discussed in Geneva the setting up of an additional bulletin board system
with WWW interface. At the moment i do not want to do this as i have to move
my companies office and i move my private flat too.

Sometimes a person will raise a question in this list. It is very easy just
to reply to the eMail, but than everybody in the list get the answer. Often
a private mail would be enough. So please keep in mind that a big group is
reading your answers. Before you press the "send" button, please check the
receiver. Thank you.

Karen Banks announced our list in the caucus shedule, as you can see in the
forwarded eMail. We need a clear understanding what we will discuss in this
mailing list. The current abstract is not very desciptive:

>About Values-ethics
>
>To see the collection of prior postings to the list, visit the
Values-ethics Archives. The current archive is only available >to the list
members.

Please, can somebody take the time and visit some of the other mailing lists
abstracts from other wsis caucus and than write a better abstract.

Gordon Detka

----- Original Message -----
From: "karen banks" <karenb@gn.apc.org>
To: <plenary@wsis-cs.org>; <ct@wsis-cs.org>
Sent: Monday, September 29, 2003 6:28 PM
Subject: [WSIS-CT] [WSIS CS-Plenary] RE: URGENT query and updated list


> hello again
>
> thanks to those of you who sent updated info so quickly. We need to
> finalise this list of focal points and clarification of caucus and working
> group names by Sep 31st.
>
> http://www.wsis-cs.org/caucuses.html
>
> here's an update on where we are:
>
> (1) The CS Bureau list: there are **two**, one - bureau@wsis-cs.org and
one
> managed by the Civil Society Division. COuld we have clarification of
which
> list will be used, whether the archives are public, and who a contact
point
> could be.
>
> [note: we can probably delegate working this out to someone else, could
> someone on the burea8u get some clarification on use of lists?,
> where/whether we can visit archives etc]
>
> (2) Regions:
> - i have no list/website info for western asia or arab countries
> - are there any other regions with active caucuses missing?
>
> (4) thematic caucuses and working groups
>
> - education and academia - the list is edulac - is this a LAC regional
list
> only? and if so, is there a global education an academia list/website?
>
> - indigenous peoples - no information
> - persons with disabilities - i have no list info
> - scientific information - i have no list info
> - working group on volunteers - no list info
> - cities and local authorities - no list/web info
>
> (5) i'm sure there are other groups missing  - please let me know..
>
> (6) if you need a list.. we can set them up @wsis-cs.org - please email
me..
>
> karen
>
> _______________________________________________
> Plenary mailing list
> Plenary@wsis-cs.org
> http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/plenary
> _______________________________________________
> Ct mailing list
> Ct@wsis-cs.org
> http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/ct
> Civil Society Plenary: http://www.wsis-cs.org/
> Content & Themes Documents:
> http://bscw.fit.fraunhofer.de/pub/bscw.cgi/0/42953798


From gd at gibgottdenzehnten.de  Tue Oct  7 14:28:17 2003
From: gd at gibgottdenzehnten.de (Gordon Detka)
Date: Mon Sep 10 20:18:03 2007
Subject: [Values-ethics] The Geneva documents
Message-ID: <008a01c38cd7$d6dbeb60$cb7bde8a@tcg.abb.de>

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From claude.almansi at bluewin.ch  Tue Oct  7 21:03:52 2003
From: claude.almansi at bluewin.ch (Claude Almansi)
Date: Mon Sep 10 20:18:03 2007
Subject: [Values-ethics] contribution - "Value-based and ethical insights must be brought to bear on the search for ways to harness scientific, technical and economic creativity": No.
References: <IEELKMLAPGGFMKFDNABAAEDFCAAA.bchaffers@bic.org> <005101c38cab$f838e3c0$2301a8c0@BKGeneva>
Message-ID: <023901c38d11$b1c82430$74a703d5@nom00cl76thy97>

Hi, Ana, Theresa and Helen

I'm copying the content of your attachment here, for those of us who do not
use MS Word (1), before answering you about it.

<< The ethical dimension of the information society involves the creation of
a code of practice - based on values such as cooperation, equity, honesty,
integrity, respect and solidarity - that will have a significant impact on
the quality of interaction between cultures and the promotion of meaningful
dialogue among civilizations.



Value-based and ethical insights must be brought to bear on the search for
ways to harness scientific, technical and economic creativity. Every person
and every nation has a part to play - and a responsibility - in building a
peaceful, prosperous and sustainable global society based upon harmony and
understanding. The fostering of an ethic of service for the common good is a
means to implement noble aspirations such as those expressed in the
Declaration of Principles and the Plan of Action




Knowledge, wisdom and values have always been transmitted orally, especially
in traditional and indigenous cultures. The value of this type of human
communication should not be underrated in the face of modernization. Only
when information is based on truth and integrity, and technology is used to
facilitate and enhance human interaction and education that expands the
creative potential of the human mind, can we envisage a better society.




Real social and economic development cannot be created through simple
formulae based merely on finance or the propagation of technological
programmes. Materialistic approaches alone will never succeed in building
capacity of individuals and communities to determine their future.>>

"Value-based and ethical insights must be brought to bear on the search for
ways to harness scientific, technical and economic creativity", though
well-meaning, is a dangerous sentence. The Church forcing Galileo to retract
was acting on value-based and ethical insghts and harnessing a scientific
creativity that threatened a world model, it could be argued. Then there is
"v?rit? en de?a, mensonge en del? des Pyrenn?es" factor. Some school-boards
in Kansas tried to censor all mention of Darwin in the curriculum and
banning all books mentioning evolutionism from schoo libraries because it
went against their members' creationist creed.

But without going to such extremes in integrism, think of the debate about
therapeutic cloning and reproductive cloning research, or about GMO's. In
the latter case, it is legitimate to try to harness the commercial
exploitation of organisms whose properties are not yet fully known. It is
NOT legitimate to hinder research in that field. In the cloning example,
which is indeed an ethically complex issue, some governments are just
clamping down on all cloning research, whether therapeutic or reproductive.

What should be harnessed is the ruthless exploitation of  "scientific,
technical and economic creativity" - not the creativity itself.

And I wouldn't be surprised if the Tunisian government could come up with
plausible "ethical values" for censoring internet access for people's own
good (though  finding such values to justify imprisoning and torturing those
who bypass the censorship might be tougher). The Holy Inquisition was full
of "value-based and ethical insights" too. Not ours, but still "value-based"
and "ethical"

(1) Anyway, can you please avoid attachments of any kind for texts that can
be put within the e-mails? There was no special  formatting in yours. I had
to fish out your e-mail from the ashcan where all e-mails with attachments
go straight.




From claude.almansi at bluewin.ch  Tue Oct  7 22:48:36 2003
From: claude.almansi at bluewin.ch (Claude Almansi)
Date: Mon Sep 10 20:18:03 2007
Subject: [Values-ethics] The Geneva documents "read the eMail from Richard Stallmann again": indeed, do.
References: <008a01c38cd7$d6dbeb60$cb7bde8a@tcg.abb.de>
Message-ID: <02ba01c38d1c$c3d06100$74a703d5@nom00cl76thy97>

Mr Detka

Your "If the document will not look like the printed versions, please keep
calm and read the eMail from Richard Stallmann again. The documents were
produced with Microsoft software. Due to the guidlines of that company you
have to buy always the latest release to open the documents properly." is
deeply puzzling.

Richard Stallman's point was precisely that  users should not bend over to
Microsoft's dictates. He explained how to produce documents that can be read
by people who do not have Microsoft's latest releases, by saving documents
as .rtf or .html files.

Moreover, in the case of your e-mail, sent to the whole list, the problem is
also the pachydermic size of the attachments. Your e-mail weighs 3513 kb.
Please bear in mind that some web e-mail accounts have a total storage
capacity of 2Mb ca. By sending a 3.5 Mb e-mail, you cut them off
automatically. Even a 100+kb e-mail can block these web e-mail accounts.

To all members of this list: if you do not have a website where you can put
the texts you want to share and then just send the link by e-mail, please
put them up at www.mayeticvillage.com/valuesandethics , then send the link
to the page you've just added by e-mail.

Username: Values
Password    summit

will give you author's status.

I just opened www.mayeticvillage.com/valuesandethics after getting Mr
Detka's 3.5Mb e-mail. I know MayeticVillage is far from ideal, but at least
it's a way to avoid attachments, it's more or less ad-free (save for MV's
own ads), has printable versions for all pages, an inner search engine, and
is very easy to use.

Sincerely

Claude Almansi
claude.almansi@bluewin.ch
www.adisi.ch


From claude.almansi at bluewin.ch  Wed Oct  8 09:20:41 2003
From: claude.almansi at bluewin.ch (CAlmansi)
Date: Mon Sep 10 20:18:03 2007
Subject: [Values-ethics] [ valuesandethics] - How to post documents at this joint
Message-ID: <OF6617D468.AE427B1B-ONC1256DB9.002DD6F3@mayeticvillage.com>

Dear Members

You can use this place to post your documents rather than sending them in
attachment, and use the "notify" link to notify the list as I'm doing now.

Username: values
Password: summit

This place - for the time being - is not viewable by outsiders.

Cheers

Claude

--------------------------------------------------------
A Notification from CAlmansi
--------------------------------------------------------

Please visit the page "How to post documents at this joint" in the
ecommunity valuesandethics.


The page begins:
Dear Members of the Values and Ethics list       ?I've copy-pasted Mr
Detka's documents under:     PrepCom3 VE Documents?If you wish to post
other documents here because you do not have a site of your own where to do
so, look at the                          Welcome?page....

You can access this page either by clicking on the link below, or by
copying and pasting it into your browser.

http://www.mayeticvillage.com/QuickPlace/valuesandethics/Main.nsf/h_Discussion/BE3EA03F1F25FBD0C1256DB90028C89D/?OpenDocument


________________________________________________________________________
Do you need collaborative workspaces ?
Create your eCommunities for free at http://www.mayeticvillage.com


From rms at gnu.org  Wed Oct  8 16:41:35 2003
From: rms at gnu.org (Richard Stallman)
Date: Mon Sep 10 20:18:03 2007
Subject: [Values-ethics] The Geneva documents
In-Reply-To: <008a01c38cd7$d6dbeb60$cb7bde8a@tcg.abb.de>
	(gd@gibgottdenzehnten.de)
References: <008a01c38cd7$d6dbeb60$cb7bde8a@tcg.abb.de>
Message-ID: <E1A7GRT-0003tq-CE@fencepost.gnu.org>

You sent the attachment in Microsoft Word format, a secret proprietary
format.  By doing this, you put pressure on people to submit to the
domination of a powerful corporation that prohibits cooperation,
spreads inequity, cares nothing for honesty, and tempts people to
break solidarity.

Claude translated it for us, but you shouldn't make that necessary.
Actions speak louder than words, so if you want to promote values of
cooperation and solidarity, please use a medium that doesn't oppose
those values.

See http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.html for more
about this issue.  http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/ holds other articles
about the ethics of free software.

From vasanti at bkwsugch.demon.co.uk  Fri Oct 10 07:32:12 2003
From: vasanti at bkwsugch.demon.co.uk (Vasanti Patel)
Date: Mon Sep 10 20:18:03 2007
Subject: [Values-ethics] The Geneva documents
Message-ID: <368F31EA521AC8468F469A7E41AA60C31F1067@gch-exchange.bkwsu.org.uk>

Gordon,

 

Hi. I am off to India for a month and so will not be able to manage the mail
group - do you think I could hand that over to you?

Please let me know today as I am off in the morning.

 

Thanks

Vasanti

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Gordon Detka [mailto:gd@gibgottdenzehnten.de] 
Sent: 07 October 2003 14:28
To: Values
Subject: [Values-ethics] The Geneva documents

 

Hello,

 

please find attached the Geneva documents. You will find the values & ethics
caucus documents only. If the filename contains a "FD" this means "Final
Draft". If the filename starts with "A" the documents refers to the "Plan of
Action" and if the filename starts with "D" the documents refers to the
"Declaration of Principles". A double digit number in the filename is the
paragraph the documents refers to. But please keep in mind that the
documents refer to the latest draft that was aviable, and unfortunately the
paragraphs were renumbered in Geneva more than once.

 

You will find further information about the document in the head of the
document section.

 

I the document will not look like the printed versions, please keep calm and
read the eMail from Richard Stallmann again. The documents were produced
with Microsoft software. Due to the guidlines of that company you have to
buy always the latest release to open the documents properly.

 

good luck

 

Gordon Detka

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From bchaffers at bic.org  Wed Oct 15 23:59:35 2003
From: bchaffers at bic.org (Bahiyyih Chaffers)
Date: Mon Sep 10 20:18:03 2007
Subject: [Values-ethics] WSIS Ethis&Values Caucus
Message-ID: <IEELKMLAPGGFMKFDNABAKEFICAAA.bchaffers@bic.org>

Dear Friends,

Thank you Geneva group of the Caucus for working on the text!  The NY group
thought there were wonderful concepts that were added to the text.

As agreed at Prepcom 3, the New York group met on Monday to enhance the text
received from the Geneva group.    Here is the most recent draft from the
Caucus for the Civil Society Declaration.

Please respond to me individually if you have any specific questions
otherwise feel free to reply to the group.

Hope you are all well.

Warm Regards,
Bahiyyih Chaffers

-----
WSIS Ethics & Values Caucus
Monday, October 13, 2003

The Information Society cannot be created through simple formulae based
merely on finance or the propagation of technology. Materialistic approaches
alone can never succeed in building capacity of individuals and communities
to determine their future.

The ethical dimension of the Information Society, where the common good is
its driving force, involves the development of a code of practice at the
individual, community, national and international levels that protects the
dignity of every human life. This ethical dimension is where the oneness of
humanity is recognized and respected and where each human being born into
the world is acknowledged as a trust of the whole.

The information society based on values such as cooperation, equity,
honesty, integrity, respect and solidarity will have a significant impact on
the quality of interaction between cultures and the promotion of meaningful
dialogue among civilizations.

Knowledge, wisdom and values have always been transmitted orally, especially
in traditional and indigenous cultures. The value of this type of human
communication should not be underrated or ignored in the face of current
scientific and technological creativity.

Only when information and technology are used to facilitate and enhance
human interaction and education can the potential of each human being be
released and a prosperous global society be sustained.


From ipsbox at ipsgeneva.com  Fri Oct 17 19:18:31 2003
From: ipsbox at ipsgeneva.com (IPSGeneva)
Date: Mon Sep 10 20:18:03 2007
Subject: [Values-ethics] WSIS Ethis&Values Caucus
In-Reply-To: <IEELKMLAPGGFMKFDNABAKEFICAAA.bchaffers@bic.org>
References: <IEELKMLAPGGFMKFDNABAKEFICAAA.bchaffers@bic.org>
Message-ID: <v04210101bbb5df762a02@[194.230.171.182]>

Dear Bahyyih,

Thank you for the draft from the Caucus for the Civil Society 
Declaration. We find this text excellent, congratulations for your 
good work!

All the best,

Rudolf and Alice

>Dear Friends,
>
>Thank you Geneva group of the Caucus for working on the text!  The NY group
>thought there were wonderful concepts that were added to the text.
>
>As agreed at Prepcom 3, the New York group met on Monday to enhance the text
>received from the Geneva group.    Here is the most recent draft from the
>Caucus for the Civil Society Declaration.
>
>Please respond to me individually if you have any specific questions
>otherwise feel free to reply to the group.
>
>Hope you are all well.
>
>Warm Regards,
>Bahiyyih Chaffers
>
>-----
>WSIS Ethics & Values Caucus
>Monday, October 13, 2003
>
>The Information Society cannot be created through simple formulae based
>merely on finance or the propagation of technology. Materialistic approaches
>alone can never succeed in building capacity of individuals and communities
>to determine their future.
>
>The ethical dimension of the Information Society, where the common good is
>its driving force, involves the development of a code of practice at the
>individual, community, national and international levels that protects the
>dignity of every human life. This ethical dimension is where the oneness of
>humanity is recognized and respected and where each human being born into
>the world is acknowledged as a trust of the whole.
>
>The information society based on values such as cooperation, equity,
>honesty, integrity, respect and solidarity will have a significant impact on
>the quality of interaction between cultures and the promotion of meaningful
>dialogue among civilizations.
>
>Knowledge, wisdom and values have always been transmitted orally, especially
>in traditional and indigenous cultures. The value of this type of human
>communication should not be underrated or ignored in the face of current
>scientific and technological creativity.
>
>Only when information and technology are used to facilitate and enhance
>human interaction and education can the potential of each human being be
>released and a prosperous global society be sustained.
>
>_______________________________________________
>Values-ethics mailing list
>Values-ethics@wsis-cs.org
>http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/values-ethics

Institute for Planetary Synthesis
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