IGC: EHJ Web Siteversin espaol
      Statements of Support for IGC
        NetAction, USA
        Association for Progressive Communications
        IBASE, Brazil
        Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, USA
        IPANEX, Spain


        Free Speech Internet Television hosts a mirror of the Euskal Herria
        Journal site.

        Internet Freedom hosted a mirror plus a Debate forum to discuss the
        Euskal Herria Journal and the "mailbombing" attack against IGC.


  Until July 18, 1997, this was the homepage of the Euskal Herria Journal, a 
Web
  site hosted by the Institute for Global Communications.
  IGC was forced to suspend the site, as a result of a sustained campaign of
  e-mail "mailbombing", a large volume of repetitive email intended to make 
our
  computers unusable. It is only under protest that we suspend the Euskal 
Herria
  Journal site, so that we can continue to provide basic Internet services, 
like
  e-mail, for our nearly 13,000 subscribers. We call on organizations and
  individuals concerned about freedom of expression on the Internet to stand
  with us in protest of these tactics, and join the statements of support 
below.
  The Institute for Global Communications is a 10-year old nonprofit
  organization that provides Web hosting, e-mail access and other Internet
  services primarily to activists working for peace, economic and social
  justice, human rights and environmental sustainability around the world.
  IGC hosted a Web site for the Euskal Herria Journal, a New York-based
  organization supporting Basque independence in Spain and France, whose 
goal
  was to publish "information often ignored by the international media, and 
to
  build communication bridges for a better understanding of the conflict."
  This month IGC has received a huge number of protest e-mail messages 
asking us
  to remove the Euskal Herria Journal site because of sections protestors 
say
  supported Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA), the armed independence group that 
has
  committed widely denounced political violence in Spain. The site also
  contained articles on human rights, politics, language, and other Basque
  groups working for autonomy, as well as a collection of hyperlinks to 
sites
  with views opposing ETA.
  Many, many messages to IGC were legitimate expressions of protest. We 
respect
  the people who wrote them and, as a humanitarian organization, we take 
their
  views into account.
  For the last week, however, IGC's system has suffered from organized,
  malicious attacks designed not to communicate with us, but simply to bring 
our
  servers to a standstill. These "mailbombings", or a volume of repetitive
  e-mail intended to render our computers unusable, include:
    hundreds of duplicate messages sent over and over again
    huge message files containing garbage, or one phrase repeated thousands 
of
    times
    mail with no return address, automated to go out continually to bog down 
our
    mail system
    large volumes of mail with forged return addresses routed through random
    Internet providers, so they can't be answered or traced
  This destructive campaign has overwhelmed our ability to keep our system
  running and we have made the difficult decision to suspend the Euskal 
Herria
  Journal Web site--under protest--so that we can continue to serve the many
  other individuals and organizations who depend on our services. While the 
site
  is suspended, we call on all those concerned that legal political speech 
can
  be forcibly censored by "mailbombing" attacks to protest the tactics used
  against us.
  If it can happen to us, it can happen to anyone.





  STATEMENTS OF SUPPORT
  Statement from NetAction (San Francisco, California)
  July 18, 1997
  IGC is under attack by cyberspace vigilantes because the organization 
provided
  a forum for proponents of a controversial political viewpoint. This is
  precisely why free speech in cyberspace is so important. It's crucial that 
the
  Internet community demonstrate support for IGC by mirroring the site that
  prompted this unwarranted attack. The mailbombers need to know that 
vigilante
  censorship is just as unacceptable as government censorship.
  Audrie Krause,
  Executive Director, NetAction




  Statement from the Association for Progressive Communications (APC)
  July 20, 1997
  The Association for Progressive Communications (APC) and its member 
networks
  have received hundreds of e-mail messages in the last few days protesting
  against the presence of a user's publication in the Web site of the 
Institute
  for Global Communications (IGC). The publication, according to the 
protesters,
  contains texts which are intended to promote Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA), 
a
  Basque armed group.
  The IGC, the USA member of the APC where those pages were placed by one of 
its
  users has decided to suspend this publication and started a review of the
  complaints and allegations of these legitimate expressions of protest 
against
  violent actions promoted by ETA which APC and all its member organizations
  obviously condemn.
  The site including the ETA expressions was under the editorial 
responsibility
  of the Euskal Herria Journal (EHJ), a New York-based organization whose
  mission was to publish information on the movements for Basque 
independence in
  Spain and France "often ignored by the international media, and to build
  communication bridges for a better understanding of the conflict."
  The IGC is reviewing whether EHJ membership in the "progressive pages
  directory" promoted by IGC is consistent with IGC's mission "to serve, 
expand
  and inspire movements for peace, economic and social justice, human rights 
and
  environmental sustainability around the world."
  In these last days, the IGC has also faced an assault that threatened its
  ability to provide Internet services to more than 13,000 subscribers. 
These
  organized, malicious attacks were not designed to communicate with anyone, 
but
  simply to bring its servers to a standstill. These included 
"mailbombings", or
  a volume of e-mail intended to bring the computers handling e-mail 
physically
  to a halt, and "denial of service" assaults aimed at overwhelming IGC
  connections to the Internet.
    Huge volumes of mail arrived at IGC with forged return addresses, routed
    through other, unrelated Internet providers so they could not be traced 
or
    blocked. This form of electronic aggression has also been 
indiscriminately
    used against several other member networks of APC, affecting thousands 
of
    users worldwide and threatening to disrupt community network services in
    several countries.
    If those attacks had been successful, they would have blocked access to 
the
    Internet of 13,000 IGC users, hundreds of which are citizens' 
organizations
    working for peace, human rights and the environment. Attempting to 
achieve a
    result (in this case the closing down of an expression of ETA in the
    Internet) by threatening to close down the expression of thousands of 
users
    is the electronic equivalent of taking hostages, and the APC strongly
    condemns this method as an illegitimate use of the Net, which no cause 
can
    justify.
    The APC is particularly worried about the calls to "letter-bomb" the IGC
    made by "El Pais", one of the most prestigious Spanish newspapers. 
Writing
    protest letters or e-mail messages is a legitimate means of expression 
and
    protest, which the APC itself has encouraged on occasions. "Bombing" a 
site
    with methods such as those described above, carried out from anonymity 
and
    whose eventual success does not depend on the force of the arguments but 
on
    the mere power of computers and bandwidth available to the aggressor as
    compared with that of the victim is an illegitimate use of force.
  The APC strongly condemns these tactics. If one expression (even one we 
don't
  agree with at all) can be censored today by force, any other could be the
  victim tomorrow. The fight against terrorism does not justify the use of
  illegitimate methods and it would honor the democratic tradition of "El 
Pais"
  to dissociate itself from these methods of electronic aggression.
  The APC is an association of independent organizations whose mission is to
  empower and support organizations, social movements, and individuals in 
the
  use of information and communication technologies to build strategic
  communities and initiatives for the purpose of making meaningful 
contributions
  to human development, environmental preservation, social justice,
  participatory democracies and sustainable societies.
  Composed of a consortium of 25 international member networks, APC offers 
vital
  links of communication to over 50,000 NGOs, activists, educators,
  policy-makers, and community leaders in more than 130 countries. APC's 
defense
  of freedom of expression as a basic principle does not imply any 
endorsement
  of the points of view its users might express through its channels or 
those
  provided by its member networks.
  Carlos Afonso
  Chair, Executive Board, on behalf of the Council of the Association for
  Progressive Communications (APC)




  Rio de Janeiro, July 22, 1997.
  IBASE condemns cyberterrorism against IGC
  The Brazilian Institute of Social and Economic Analyses, IBASE, the 
Brazilian
  NGO which conceived and is coordinating the National Campaign Against 
Hunger
  in Brazil since 1993, and which has had significant participation in the
  struggle for democratization and social justice in Brazil, including
  democratization of Internet services in the country, condemns the massive
  aggression against the Institute for Global Communications (IGC), 
manifested
  in a form of cyberterrorism called "mailbombing".
  As a founding member of the Association for Progressive Communications 
(APC),
  IBASE fully endorses APC's and IGC's press releases on the issue.
  As one of IGC's directors clearly summarizes this aggression, it amounts 
to
  "vandalizing a bookstore to protest a book". The "book", in this case, was 
a
  publication by one of IGC's users in the WWW space of IGC which contained
  sympathetic references to ETA, a Basque armed group.
  While IBASE joins its protest with thousands of people horrified by the
  brutality of tactics such as the ones adopted by ETA, including the recent
  murder of Basque politician Miguel Angel Blanco, it cannot endorse any
  terrorist response which affected thousands of legitimate civil society 
groups
  and communities legally struggling for just sustainable development, 
social
  justice and human rights.
  Instituto Brasileiro de Anlises Sociais e Econmicas (IBASE)
  Rio de Janeiro, Brasil



  Statement from Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR)
  July 29, 1997
  Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, which has been assessing 
the
  impacts of computer networking on society for years, lends its support to 
the
  Institute for Global Communications in its attempts to give alternative
  political organizations a voice. We condemn the orchestrated campaign to 
shut
  down IGC services because of one Web site they hosted promoting Basque
  independence.
  We understand that a large segment of the Spanish public feel outrage 
toward
  the recent assassination of Miguel Angel Blanco by the Basque separatist
  organization Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA). However, the presentation of
  political viewpoints is a matter of free speech, independent of the 
actions of
  any one organization. A government can prosecute an organization for 
violence
  without suppressing its right, or other organizations' right, to discuss
  political viewpoints. We note that:
    Apart from legitimate protest messages, attacks were carried out on IGC 
Web
    and electronic mail servers with the goal of shutting them down. This is 
a
    well known (and in many countries, prosecutable) type of disruption that
    falls in the category of "denial-of-service" attacks.
    Many people sending huge numbers of mail messages ("electronic 
mail-bombs")
    disguised the messages so that they could not be traced back to the
    perpetrators.
    Several individuals on the Internet and at least one Spanish newspaper
    reported the attacks and asked readers to send their own mail messages, 
thus
    forming a campaign to disrupt IGC. This campaign goes beyond protest to
    become a form of censorship and should be criticized by anyone concerned
    with freedom of speech.
    IGC provides services to hundreds of organizations around the world, all 
of
    whom were effectively deprived of online access by attacks meant to 
protest
    one organization.
    IGC was not hosting the ETA itself, but another Basque separatist
    organization (the Basque Congress for Peace), which was based in the 
United
    States and carried some material complimentary to the ETA. If 
organizations
    can be censored for such tenuous connections to an organization that 
people
    find objectionable, all political discussion is threatened.
  CPSR takes no stand on the Basque question and does not support the use of
  violence by the ETA. We simply support the rights of organizations to 
carry on
  electronic communications without deliberate disruption, and the right to
  freedom of expression.
  We also condemn denial-of-service attacks in general. Not only are they an
  undemocratic way of trying to censor a particular speaker, but they misuse 
the
  Internet by weighing down a Internet provider and the networks through 
which
  the attacks pass, thus forcing users across the Internet to pay for the 
attack
  and suffer some of its consequences.
  We have helped IGC find mirror sites for the censored Web site and to 
install
  Internet security mechanisms that cut down on denial-of-service attacks. 
We
  urge other supporters of free speech to back IGC and condemn the 
disruptions.
  CPSR is a 16-year-old organization with over 1500 members in the computer
  field and other fields with a concern for the use of technology and
  information. Our campaigns have included opposition to SDI (Star Wars),
  promoting privacy, and making computers and the Internet available to low-
  income people.




  Statement from IPANEX (Pangea, Nodo50, Eusnet y Xarxaneta)
  July 31, 1997
  "For Freedom of Speech and Information and for Non-Violent Conflict
  Resolution"
  IPANEX, a federation of nodes formed by Pangea, Nodo50, Eusnet and 
Xarxaneta
  and member of APC (Association for Progressive Communications), an
  international NGO recognized by the UN and with Consulting Level Status 1 
in
  that organization,
  DECLARES THAT
    Recently various servers or nodes of the APC have been harassed by
    mailbombings, designed to shut down and to invalidate their normal
    operations.
    The best way of explaining what APC is and what APC does is to reproduce 
the
    third point of the principled Statement included in the Constitution and
    Bylaws of APC:
      "3.APC aims to provide globally interconnected electronic 
communications
      networks dedicated to a free and balanced flow of information. APC's
      member organizations serve people working toward goals including 
peace,
      the prevention of warfare, elimination of militarism, protection of 
the
      environment, furtherance of human rights and the rights of peoples,
      achievement of social and economic justice, elimination of poverty,
      promotion of sustainable and equitable development, health, education,
      advancement of participatory democracy, and nonviolent conflict
      resolution."
    So one of the basic goals of APC is the search for PEACE, concretely by
    providing ways of finding solutions to conflicts through dialogue.
    To carry out any type of discussion or dialogue to seek solutions to a
    conflict, IT IS NECESSARY TO KNOW THE POINT OF VIEW OF BOTH SIDES. 
Because
    otherwise, one cannot have the information necessary to judge the 
overall
    situation and to reach fair solutions. Neither can the people involved 
in
    the conflict base their opinion on the data provided by the two sides.
    Dialogue does not exist if both sides do not know each other and do not 
know
    the other's reasons, arguments, proof, aspirations, needs, feelings and
    desires.
    There are examples of how, before a conflict, various organizations of 
APC
    have made great efforts to find ways of allowing all sides to know the 
point
    of view of their opoponents. To cite only a recent case, the role played 
by
    ZAMIR (APC of the Balkans) in the war of Bosnia, and the help that it 
gave
    to the process of establishing a peace process, is well known.
    The organizations that make up APC have always been (and we intend to
    continue so) a world-wide bastion of freedom of expression, continually
    defending and putting into practice the maxim that THOUGHT CANNOT COMMIT
    CRIMES.
    The organizations that belong to APC already have a long history of 
acting
    as THE LOUDSPEAKER OF THE OTHER VOICES OF THE PLANET. This history
    demonstrates that to act as the loudspeaker of the other voices of the
    planet DOES NOT MEAN TO ASSUME OR TO SHARE ALL OR IN PART WHAT THOSE 
VOICES
    SAY. It only means to guarantee that their voices can be heard.
  CONDEMNS:
    The antidemocratic behavour and the attacks on basic freedom of speech 
from
    those who have encouraged or participated in the systematic attacks on 
the
    APC nodes via mailbombings, insulting or threatening messages, etc.
    Particularly serious is the fact that part of the mass media, such as EL
    PAIS, and directors of commercial nodes like SKIOS and OLE, should have
    encouraged actions in cyberspace which are the equivalent in real space 
of
    the burning of newspapers on news stands and sabotaging the printing
    presses.
  CALLS ON THE INTERNET COMMUNITY:
    To reject and criticise such behavior, to express their solidarity with 
the
    victim of these attacks, and to help to stop them.
    To reflect on the demonstrated uselessness of all censorship, on the
    uselessness of attempting to hide reality. In the same way that thought 
does
    not commit a crime, gagging people will not stop them from thinking.
    To recognise that stopping one of the sides in a conflict from 
expressing
    itself is not the same as making that conflict disappear. And it is thus 
no
    solution to the conflict.
    To take advantage of the essential benefit of the Net to be able to
    communicate from a great distance without any physical contact, 
something
    which without doubt will help opponents in conflict to go through the
    difficult process of beginning dialogue.
  AND FINALLY, IT PROPOSES:
  To support the proposal by PANGEA and BCNET which invites APC to begin the
  following initiatives and actions:
    The setting up of an ELECTRONIC FORUM FOR A PEACE CONFERENCE FOR 
EUSKADI, to
    provide an opportunity to open a digital process of conversations about
    peace, and to offer new ways of carrying out negotiations designed to 
the
    resolution of the conflict.
    Carrying out this FORUM through a web site open to both parts, some 
public,
    moderated conferences for dialogue btween all sides, and other 
instruments
    conducive to dialogue and to peace.
    These actions, and any others which may be implemented in the world of
    telecommunications, to be supervised by "neutral" bodies experienced in 
the
    non-violent resolution of conflicts.





