NationStates Jolt Archive

I recently made a proposal called the Internet Neutrality Act, which was aimed at maintaining peace and stability by prevent cyber attacks on other member states:

The United Nations,

RECOGNIZING that the Internet has become an incredibly large part of the international exchange of information,

REALIZES that misuse and abuse of the Internet by nations could lead to violence and increased criminal activity,

STATES that the Internet will not be abused by any state in the interest of maintaining order.

All member nations must refrain from:
-Endangering the ability of members of their own state or other states to access a connection to the Internet
-Using the Internet to attack other states, defined as attempting to cause harm to computers or other digital devices
-Impairing content accessible from the Internet if the content has been posted in another nation
-Gather personal information about citizens of another nation or attempt to bring harm to digital devices of citizens of another country

This resolution does not prevent, though it does not protect:
-The ability of countries to censor content including pornography
-Deny accesses to Internet of convicted criminal who have been convicted in a Fair Trial as defined by the resolution Definition of a 'Fair Trial'
-The intervention of nations to protect persons from exploitation

First, are you aware of the Computer Crimes Act (http://www.nationstates.net/page=UN_past_resolutions/start=103)? It may render some parts of your proposal redundant.

Otherwise, this seems something of a vague proposal, with some possible bizarre interpretations lurking at its edges, but this part also troubles us:
'Gather personal information about citizens of another nation'

We're absolutely in favour of data protection, but this goes way beyond that, because it seems to prohibit forms of intelligence gathering, and has no provision for consent. So, if someone comes to our nation for an operation, we can't access their medical records?

If that is ludicrous, I apologise; nonetheless, it's a little difficult to make out what the proposal does, given the looseness of its language.

-- George Madison
Legislative Director
Quintessence of Dust Department of UN Affairs