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FOR RELEASE
Tuesday, September 29, 1998
Global Internet Liberty Campaign
http://www.gilc.org

MINISTER JOHN MANLEY TO OPEN NGO INTERNET CONFERENCE

The Canadian Minister of Industry will be the opening speaker
at an upcoming conference on "The Public Voice in the Development
of Internet Policy" to be held in Ottawa on October 7.

The Public Voice conference is sponsored by the Global Internet
Liberty Campaign. GILC is an international coalition of more
than 50 civil liberties, human rights, and consumer organizations
from around the world. GILC is the first international group
formed specifically to address the interests of citizens and
consumers in the on-line world.

Marc Rotenberg, the director the Electronic Privacy Information
Center in Washington and one of the organizers of the GILC
conference, said he was very pleased that Mr. Manley will be
participating in the GILC conference. "We believe that successful
policies for the Internet must include the voices of consumers and
citizens. We welcome Mr. Manley and appreciate his efforts to
promote this exchange."

Marie Vallée, of the Federation Nationale des Associations de
Consommateurs du Quebec, said that Canadian NGOs were pleased
to help organize this important gathering of organizations. "It is a very
good opportunity and at a key moment, for consumer groups and other
NGOs to discuss and be able to articulate common objectives in order to
better protect consumers and citizens in this rapidly changing environment."

The GILC conference features several distinguished speakers. Mr.
Manley will be followed by Mr. David Johnston, the Former Chair
of the Canadian Information Highway Advisory Council and the
Former Provost of McGill University. Mr. Stephen Lau the Privacy
Commissioner for Personal Data in Hong Kong will address the
group in the afternoon. Experts from Belgium, Canada, Norway,
England, Germany, Austria, Australia, and the United States
will discuss a range of important issues affecting consumers
and citizens in the on-line world.

Topics to be discussed during the GILC conference include
"Consumer Protection in Electronic Commerce,"  "Speech
Online and Access," "Privacy and Encryption," and "Human
Rights in the 21st Century."

GILC has recently taken action on several Internet issues,
including free speech, privacy, and encryption. Earlier this
year GILC released a paper to the European Parliament on
Human Rights and the Internet and a study on encryption
policies around the globe.

Currently, the organization is working to revise the
Wassenaar Arrangement, an international agreement that limits
the availability of encryption and other techniques to protect
personal privacy.

The group is expected to release a new survey at the Public
Voice conference on the state of privacy around the globe.

The Public Voice conference is open to the public. Registration
information is available at http://www.gilc.org/events/ottawa98/.
Or contact Marie Vallée, FNACQ, 1215 de la Visitation, bur. 103,
Montréal (Québec), Canada, H2L 3B5, 514-521-6820 (tel)
514-521-0736 (fax). General information about GILC is available at
http://www.gilc.org/