-------- Original Message -------- Subject: [ NNSquad ] Internet Freedom Alert: Obama Admin Pushing Ahead Today with Dangerous "Internet Trusted Identity" Scheme Date: Fri, 7 Jan 2011 12:13:00 -0800 From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren@vortex.com> To: nnsquad@nnsquad.org Internet Freedom Alert: Obama Admin Pushing Ahead Today with Dangerous "Internet Trusted Identity" Scheme http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000798.html Greetings. At this moment -- as I type this -- the Obama administration is pushing forward with its horrendous DHS-linked "Trusted Internet Identity" scheme (formally - "NSTIC": "National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace") via a meeting and announcements today at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research ( http://bit.ly/g03T71 [Churchill Club] ). As I've discussed in "Why the New Federal 'Trusted Internet Identity' Proposal is Such a Very Bad Idea" ( http://bit.ly/9j4X0w ) and postings linked within that article, NSTIC is an incredibly dangerous concept fraught with all manner of major direct and collateral risks to individuals, organizations, freedom of speech, and civil rights in general. In contrast to the benign concepts of Net Neutrality -- which despite right-wing claims to the contrary will not result in a government "takeover" of the Internet or the muzzling of free speech -- NSTIC in fact carries very much those actual risks. NSTIC will never remain "voluntary" as its proponents claim. It will ultimately put the government firmly into every networked computing device that we use, and become the key mechanism to track users, control access to information, eliminate legitimate anonymity, and otherwise convert the Internet into a tool more suited for future oppression than open communication. So to Glenn Beck, FOX News, and the various legislators who have been burning so much air time with anti-Net Neutrality rants, take a good look at NSTIC. Even by your own standards, NSTIC is a fire-breathing, city-smashing Godzilla compared with Net Neutrality's Bambi. And to everyone else who cares about an Open Internet, free expression, and civil liberties, get ready for Internet freedom battles like you've never seen before. The war to protect our freedoms on the Internet has only just begun. --Lauren-- Lauren Weinstein (lauren@vortex.com) http://www.vortex.com/lauren Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 Co-Founder, PFIR (People For Internet Responsibility): http://www.pfir.org Founder, NNSquad (Network Neutrality Squad): http://www.nnsquad.org Founder, GCTIP (Global Coalition for Transparent Internet Performance): http://www.gctip.org Founder, PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurenweinstein Google Buzz: http://bit.ly/lauren-buzz