Yesterday, more civil society groups from around the globe, in the company of digital pioneers such as Creative Commons founder Lawrence Lessig, CUNY journalism professor Jeff Jarvis, Wealth of Networks author Yochai Benkler, and former ICANN board member Susan Crawford-took a stand for the Internet in an improvised press conference at the E-G8 summit in France.
The initiative, strung together in the last few weeks by Access Now, consisted of a letter signed by more than 50 civil society actors, including SMEXbeirut, which asserts that:

Regrettably, certain policies being implemented in the most developed economies are undermining the open and neutral internet — the very qualities that represent the essence of its democratic and economic potential. We believe that G8 Member States should use the e-G8 meeting as an opportunity to publicly commit to expanding internet access for all, combating digital censorship and surveillance, limiting online intermediary liability, and upholding principles of net neutrality.

The letter also outlines points about universal access, freedom from online censorship and surveillance, intellectual property, and net neutrality. Read the full statement (PDF) (Arabic). You can view the press conference below or read the transcript.

[EN] La société civile s’en va t’en guerre à l’ e-G8 from OWNI on Vimeo.