Fwd: Yahoo! and Google asked to respect free expression by RSF

Thu Dec 14 19:26:46 UTC 2006

I thought folks interested in Tor and 
circumvention might find this interesting...

SN

>X-Original-To: shava at efn.org
>Delivered-To: shava at efn.org
>Date: Thu, 14 Dec 2006 18:32:22 +0100
>To: internet at rsf.org
>From: "rsf.Internet" <internet at rsf.org>
>Subject: UNITED STATES : Yahoo! and Google asked 
>to respect free expression in
>  shareholder resolution filed by New York City Pension Fund / ETATS-UNIS : le
>   fonds de pension de la ville de New York, actionnaire de yahoo! et
>  google, demande
>  à ces entreprises de respecter la liberté
>  d'expression
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>English/ français
>14.12.06
>
>Reporters Without Borders / Internet Freedom desk
>
>UNITED STATES
>
>YAHOO! AND GOOGLE ASKED TO RESPECT FREE 
>EXPRESSION IN SHAREHOLDER RESOLUTION FILED BY NEW YORK CITY PENSION FUND
>
>Reporters Without Borders voiced support today 
>for a shareholder resolution about freedom of 
>expression that has been filed with Yahoo! and 
>Google by the New York City Pension Fund, which 
>owns around 400 million dollars of stock in the two companies.
>
>"More and more initiatives are being taken by 
>individual shareholders and investment funds to 
>force Internet companies to respect certain 
>ethical principles when operating in repressive 
>countries," the press freedom organisation said. 
>"The New York City Pension Fund's involvement is 
>excellent news because it is an investor with 
>both financial and symbolic weight."
>
>Reporters Without Borders added: "We call on all 
>shareholders in Yahoo! and Google, both 
>individuals and management companies, to vote in 
>support of this resolution at these companies' 
>next annual shareholders meetings."
>
>The shareholder resolution (full text below) was 
>announced today by New York city comptroller 
>William C. Thompson. The city's pension fund, 
>which mainly handles the retirement funds of 
>city employees, owns 687,244 shares in Google 
>worth 276 million dollars and 4,372,277 shares 
>in Yahoo! worth 110 million dollars.
>
>The resolution sets out a series of principles 
>to be respected by Internet companies, 
>especially when operating in the "13 countries 
>that restrict and monitor information." The 
>resolution names the same countries that appear 
>in the list of 13 "Internet enemies" which 
>Reporters Without Borders published in November: 
>http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=19603.
>
>The resolution affirms that: "Technology 
>companies in the United States that operate in 
>countries controlled by authoritarian 
>governments have an obligation to comply with 
>the principles of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights."
>
>Reporters Without Borders has for several years 
>been urging investment funds to take action in 
>support of online free expression. At the 
>organisation's initiative, 30 investors signed a 
>statement in 2005 about the moral 
>responsibilities of Internet sector companies (see:
>http://www.rsf.org/fonds-investissement-en.php3).
>
>Similar initiatives:
>
>A resolution calling on Cisco Systems to produce 
>a report on his activities in repressive 
>countries was backed by 29 per cent of 
>shareholders in a vote at the company's annual 
>shareholders meeting on 15 November: 
>http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=19782.
>
>Individual shareholders have filed a shareholder 
>resolution on freedom of expression with Yahoo! 
>Like the one filed by the New York City Pension 
>Fund, it will be put up for vote at the 
>company's next annual shareholders meeting.
>-----------------------
>
>ETATS-UNIS
>
>LE FONDS DE PENSION DE LA VILLE DE NEW YORK, 
>ACTIONNAIRE DE YAHOO! ET GOOGLE, DEMANDE A CES 
>ENTREPRISES DE RESPECTER LA LIBERTE D'EXPRESSION
>
>Reporters sans frontières soutient l'initiative 
>du fonds d'investissement de la ville de New 
>York (New York City Pension funds) qui vient de 
>soumettre aux entreprises Yahoo ! et Google une 
>résolution d'actionnaires portant sur la liberté 
>d'expression. Cet investisseur institutionnel 
>détient des actions de ces deux entreprises pour 
>un montant total de près de 400 millions de dollars.
>
>"Les initiatives d'actionnaires individuels et 
>de fonds d'investissements se multiplient pour 
>contraindre les entreprises du secteur 
>d'Internet à respecter certains principes 
>éthiques lorsqu'elles opèrent dans des pays 
>répressifs. L'engagement du fonds de pension de 
>la ville de New York est une excellente nouvelle 
>car c'est un investisseur qui pèse à la fois 
>financièrement et symboliquement. Nous appelons 
>tous les actionnaires de Yahoo ! et de Google, 
>aussi bien les particuliers que les sociétés de 
>gestion, à voter en faveur de cette résolution 
>lors des prochaines assemblées générales de ces 
>entreprises", a déclaré Reporters sans frontières.
>
>La résolution d'actionnaires (texte complet 
>ci-dessous) a été annoncée par l'administrateur 
>de la ville de New York (New York city 
>Comptroller), William C. Thompson, le 14 
>décembre 2006. Ce fonds de pension, qui gère 
>notamment les retraites des fonctionnaires de la 
>ville, est propriétaire de 687 244 actions de 
>Google (pour un montant de 276 203 364 dollars) 
>et de 4 372 277 actions de Yahoo! (pour un montant de 110 531 277 dollars).
>
>La résolution définit une série de principes qui 
>devraient être respectés par les entreprises du 
>secteur d'Internet, en particulier quand elles 
>exercent leur activité dans les "treize pays qui 
>censurent et surveillent Internet" (la 
>résolution mentionne les mêmes pays qui figurent 
>sur la liste des treize "ennemis d'Internet" 
>publiée en novembre par Reporters sans 
>frontières : 
>http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=19601). 
>Elle rappelle par ailleurs que les entreprises 
>américaines du secteur des nouvelles 
>technologies "doivent impérativement respecter 
>les principes définis par la Déclaration 
>universelle des droits de l'homme" et fait 
>référence à l'article 19 de ce texte, qui porte sur la liberté d'expression.
>Depuis plusieurs années, Reporters sans 
>frontières demande aux fonds d'investissements 
>de se mobiliser en faveur de la liberté 
>d'expression sur Internet. A l'initiative de 
>Reporters sans frontières, 30 investisseurs ont 
>signé, en 2005, une déclaration insistant sur 
>les responsabilités morales des entreprises du 
>secteur de l'Internet (voir : http://www.rsf.org/fonds-investissement.php3).
>
>Initiatives similaires :
>
>Une résolution qui demandait à Cisco Systems de 
>produire un rapport sur son activité dans des 
>pays répressifs a recueilli 29% des voix des 
>actionnaires lors de l'assemblée générale de 
>l'entreprise, le 15 novembre 2006 : 
>http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=19779
>
>Des actionnaires individuels ont déposé une 
>résolution d'actionnaires portant sur la liberté 
>d'expression auprès de Yahoo !. Ce texte sera, 
>comme celui du fonds de pension de la ville de 
>New York, porté au vote lors de la prochaine 
>assemblée générale de cette entreprise.
>
>------------
>
>FULL RESOLUTION
>
>INTERNET CENSORSHIP
>
>Whereas, freedom of speech and freedom of the 
>press are fundamental human rights, and free use 
>of the Internet is protected in Article 19 of 
>the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which 
>guarantees freedom to "receive and impart 
>information and ideas through any media regardless of frontiers", and
>
>Whereas, the rapid provision of full and 
>uncensored information through the Internet has 
>become a major industry in the United States, and one of its major exports, and
>
>Whereas, political censorship of the Internet 
>degrades the quality of that service and 
>ultimately threatens the integrity and viability 
>of the industry itself, both in the United States and abroad, and
>
>Whereas,  some authoritarian foreign governments 
>such as the Governments of Belarus, Burma, 
>China, Cuba, Egypt, Iran, North Korea, Saudi 
>Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, 
>Uzbekistan, and Vietnam block, restrict, and 
>monitor the information their citizens attempt to obtain, and
>
>Whereas, technology companies in the United 
>States such as Google, that operate in countries 
>controlled by authoritarian governments have an 
>obligation to comply with the principles of the 
>United  Nations Declaration of Human Rights, and
>
>Whereas, technology companies in the United 
>States have failed to develop adequate standards 
>by which they can conduct business with 
>authoritarian governments while protecting human 
>rights to freedom of speech and freedom of expression,
>
>Therefore, be it resolved, that shareholders 
>request that management institute policies to 
>help protect freedom of access to the Internet 
>which would include the following minimum standards:
>1) Data that can identify individual users 
>should not be hosted in Internet restricting 
>countries, where political speech can be treated 
>as a crime by the legal system.
>2) The company will not engage in pro-active censorship.
>3) The company will use all legal means to 
>resist demands for censorship. The company will 
>only comply with such demands if required to do 
>so through legally binding procedures.
>4) Users will be clearly informed when the 
>company has acceded to legally binding 
>government requests to filter or otherwise 
>censor content that the user is trying to access.
>5) Users should be informed about the company's 
>data retention practices, and the ways in which 
>their data is shared with third parties.
>6) The company will document all cases where 
>legally-binding censorship requests have been 
>complied with, and that information will be publicly available.
>
>
>--
>
>Bureau Internet et libertés / Internet Freedom desk
>___________________________________________
>
>Reporters sans frontières / Reporters Without Borders
>TEL: ++ 33 (0) 1 44 83 84 71
>FAX: ++ 33 (0) 1 45 23 11 51
>internet at rsf.org
>www.internet.rsf.org
>
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>- Release Date: 12/13/2006 6:13 PM

Shava Nerad
Executive Director
http://tor.eff.org/
http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/anonymous/
shava at freehaven.net
+1 617-776-2659
+1 617-767-6735 (cell)
skype:  shava23 