Syracuse University School of Information Studies Professor Milton Mueller was a featured panelist at the annual State of the Net Conference in Washington, D.C. Sponsored by the Congressional Internet Caucus, the conference brings together some of the most prominent technology policy experts and industry leaders to discuss Internet policy, including such issues as privacy, security, telecommunications regulations, intellectual property and innovation.
On Jan. 18, Mueller discussed “Can the U.S. Continue to Support a Free Global Internet in the Age of Wikileaks, Cyberwar and Rampant Copyright Piracy?” Others serving on that panel were Stuart Baker, a highly-regarded Washington attorney who was the Department of Homeland Security’s first assistant secretary for policy; David Israelit, president and CEO of National Music Publishers’ Association; and Mark MacCarthy, professor at Georgetown University.
“Homeland security and national security are only of value if our homeland maintains liberty and due process for its citizens,” Mueller says. “All too often, the cause of ‘protecting’ us from various threats seems to involve treating all of us as criminals or prisoners. My belief is that even with all the obvious problems associated with Internet-based crime, the freedom and openness of communications has been a tremendous gain. To question the value of freedom because of inevitable social problems caused by new human capabilities is to get our priorities backwards; we need security only insofar as it enhances freedom, not as a trade-off.”
