Resolution on Internet as Global Commons

WOMEN’S INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE FOR PEACE & FREEDOM UNITED STATES SECTION THIRTY-SECOND TRIENNIAL CONGRESS DETROIT, MICHIGAN August 3, 2014

Resolution passed unanimously by voice vote, as a statement of support for study and action by the appropriate committees and individuals, especially for the formation of an issue committee.

The United States Section of WILPF recognizes that

1. The Internet has become a global commons upon which media, education, health, finance and government systems rely, thereby impacting the 2 billion people who have Internet access and the 5 billion who do not;
2. Internet infrastructure is currently dominated by a handful of US companies, some of which have greater vertical and horizontal domination of the information industry than any oil company ever had – and information is today’s oil;
3. Over 100 countries have cyber war programs, developing or deploying cyber weapons that disrupt or destroy critical infrastructure or utilities like transportation, communications and energy;
4. Edward Snowden revealed grave breaches of international law by the Five Eyes governments (USA, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand), including mass dragnet surveillance, backdoors into software and hardware, the deliberate weakening of encryption, tampering with undersea fiber optic cable and economic espionage;
5. Whistleblowers, journalists and Internet activists that have revealed brutal war crimes, corruption and the massive control of the surveillance state are being aggressively surveilled, pursued, subjected to harassment, intimidation, harsh punishment, including long term prison terms.

WILPF commits to

1. Campaign for an immediate cessation of a. warrantless mass surveillance, b. economic espionage and c. tapping fiber optic cables on behalf of the Five Eyes governments;
2. Lobby for new laws and international agreements to ban cyber weapons and to ensure the full protection of the right to privacy, freedom of expression and freedom of association in the digital age;
3. Protest dangerous Internet monopolies that concentrate so much data and power in the hands of a few US corporations who share data with the governments in exchange. for weak regulation and tax breaks;
4. Advocate for an end to the US government’s control of the Internet through the US Department of Commerce relinquishing its “stewardship” over the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority;
5. Join with other organizations that seek to defend the potential of the Internet as an information sharing, problem solving and communications tool.