"Democracy and Freedom Must Be An Integral Part of Cyberspace"
: A Statement from the Participants of the Asia Internet Rights Conference

1. 
We, the participants of the Asia Internet Rights Conference on November 8-10,
discussed the issues and the challenges of promoting and protecting internet
rights in our respective countries. 
We hereby believe the importance of the internet rights for Asian people and the
capacity of Asian people's solidarity, despite the diversity of experiences shared
by each participant.

Through presentations and dialogue, we reaffirmed the sad reality that neo-liberal
globalization is ravaging the lives of Asians.  Asian people must cooperate with
each other in order to overcome these powerful, oppressive forces. Internet can be
a very useful chance for this solidarity.
But more daunting tasks lie ahead of us as the potential, and the problems, of the
internet continues to grow at a rapid pace.  It is pertinent that more and more
Asian people enjoy the universal service of internet on their own terms.
It is an unforgivable injustice that intellectual property suppress access to
information denies Asian people the right to share knowledge with each other and
with others around the world.
When formulating international internet governance, the voices of Asian people
must be heard loud and clear.  Freedom of expression and privacy rights in
cyberspace must be guaranteed for all Asians.  

2. 
We would like to state that the disaster which happened in New York and
Washington, D.C. on September 11th was a shock to the global community.  We wish
to express our deep condolences to those who died. At the same time, we are also
sorrowful for the Afghanistan people who are now suffering and dying from the
United States bombing of Afghanistan. 
Also it deeply worries us that countries are going to a great extent to closely
monitor and censor information on the internet by the name of anti-terrorism. We
would like to emphasis the global vision of civil rights as the foundation for a
just, humane, and democratic society in the spirit of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights.

3.
We, the participants of the Asia Internet Rights Conference, representing over
fifteen different countries and organizations across Asia, Europe, and the United
States, adamantly express our objection to the internet content rating system,
recently implemented by the South Korean government.  Women and children must be
protected from offensive practices, but this cannot justify government censorship
of internet content.  In particular, the restriction of internet access using
blocking software is highly problematic and dangerous.  We must seriously
reconsider regulatory policies that threatens the Korean people's freedom of
expression and access of information.

The participants of this conference strongly believe in the values of democracy
and freedom.  They must go hand-in-hand with the internet.

November 11, 2001
Participants of Asia Internet Rights Conference, Seoul, Korea