Michael Geist Quotations

The delegates have found a diplomatic way to leave this issue for a future fight. The creation of the governance forum sounds much like WSIS itself: multilateral, multi-stakeholder, nonbinding, U.N.-created, and able to address a wide range of Internet and technology policy issues.

Contrary to many published reports, the E.U. has not advocated a U.N.-controlled system. Rather, it has called for the creation of a new forum built on existing structures.

Although it is true that national governments would be free to establish controls over Internet use within their own borders, they already enjoy such powers. China may have instituted troubling censorship controls, but many democratic countries have also created national rules that limit online freedoms.

No judicial oversight. No advance paperwork. No privacy.

It's a bill that has been driven largely by the music industry, so there's very little to address the concerns that I think the education community ought to have.

This is a dangerous thing to engage in.

This has been a common trend for years as file sharers move between services.

At a minimum, the governance forum certainly looks like the obvious method for continuing the work that WSIS started. Notwithstanding the creation of a review clause after five years, there is every reason to think that the governance forum will provide the venue for continuing dialogue on possible Internet governance reform.

Education for many people would be the core copyright issue, yet it's largely neglected in this bill,

Not only does the proposal ... create new surveillance powers, but it actually reduces the level of privacy protection and oversight associated with that surveillance,