Rebecca MacKinnon Quotes

A free and open Internet is essential to our democracy, economy, and modern way of life.

It is not inevitable that the Internet will evolve in a manner compatible with democracy.

Much of the civil rights work of this century will entail championing digital rights.

I'm for Internet openness. We're all for Internet openness. If you asked the American people, I think they support it. Internet companies, broadband companies are all in favor of it.

Any outcome, any deal that doesn't preserve the freedom and openness of the Internet for consumers and entrepreneurs will be unacceptable.

In whatever number of years I have on Earth, I think that promoting the values of free expression, the openness of the Internet, that's the best use of my time.

The question is not whether we want to keep this open, neutral Internet - we do, or should - but whether government rulemaking can give us the result we want.

Defending a free and open global Internet requires a broad-based global movement with the stamina to engage in endless - and often highly technical - national and international policy battles.

The internet interprets censorship as damage and routes around it.

Information on the Internet must be as free as in the newspapers.

Congress should consult experts and consider alternatives and make 100% sure that any step it takes to police the Internet doesn't change the Internet as we know it.

The Internet is unpoliceable essentially.

We support an open Internet and having rules - the right kind of rules that are legally enforceable and allow for investment and innovation.

Net neutrality is the right thing for our democracy, economy, and global competitiveness. And Americans support an open Internet.

I support a free and open Internet.

I know that fundamentally, changes to the fabric of the internet, and sort of our methods of communication, can enforce our rights.

We’re at a point in history that whether the Internet is going to evolve in a way that’s compatible with democracy and human rights is really kind of up in the air.

Remember, 'governance' is a big word that includes human rights, freedom of speech, economic transactions on a worldwide basis - it touches everything. It's everywhere, and that's why Internet governance is Topic A in many corners.

I want to prevent us reifying 'the Internet' as something to be preserved like some people want to preserve the American Constitution as it was written.

The Internet has introduced an enormously accessible and egalitarian platform for creating, sharing and obtaining information on a global scale. As a result, we have new ways to allow people to exercise their human and civil rights.

I have been involved in Internet-related policy for approximately one decade, and I have been using the Internet myself for almost that period of time.

The first legislation that I produced relating to the Internet was a bill to overturn a restriction inside of the law that prohibited the Internet backbone from being used for anything other than research and scientific and educational communication.

As the web becomes more and more of a part of our every day lives, it would be a horrible tragedy if it was locked up inside of companies and proprietary software.

It's an incredibly important thing to make sure we preserve net neutrality.

We must all rise to the challenge to demonstrate that security and prosperity in the Internet age are not only compatible with liberty, they ultimately depend on it.