sanctions - User contributions [en]

Frequently Asked Questions

2022-06-11T16:11:36Z

Erica1: /* Is anyone required to use this project? */

=== What is the purpose of this project? ===
This project allows Internet organizations to comply with precisely-targeted sanctions, which affect only the military and propaganda agencies of sanctioned countries, rather than sweeping sanctions which principally effect the civilian populations of those countries.

=== Who is it for? ===
This project is operated by and for Internet organizations which are required by governmental regulation to comply with sanctions. Since this project is never inherently ''pro sanction'', we do not anticipate, nor advocate, that organizations which are not regulatorily required to comply with sanctions automate action based on the project's data feeds (e.g. the project does wants to help avoid over-compliance with sanctions by Internet organizations, rather than contributing to it).

=== How does it work? ===
The project uses standardized protocols (BGP and RPZ) to distribute lists of Internet networks and domain names associated with sanctioned entities in ways that Internet network operators already use for blocking spam senders, DDoS attackers, malware distribution, and other threats against the Internet's infrastructure.

=== Who runs it? ===
This is a typical Internet governance organization. It is operated by volunteers, and decisions are made by those who show up and do the work. There are no barriers to entry which would prevent any other organization from forming to perform the same function in a different way, or a competing effort in the same way.

=== Does this project advocate for sanctions? ===
No, this project is agnostic with regard to whether sanctions should or should not exist, or should or should not be levied by any government against any party. Sanctions exist, and have done for centuries, and governments and society (particularly those in the Global North) generally regard them as deescalatory and preferable to violent alternatives. The aim of this project is to assist governments (that wish to impose sanctions) and network operators (that wish to comply with governmental requirements) to reach a mutually-satisfactory state. If you don't like the idea of sanctions, you can take that up with the government of your choice; this is not a forum for debate on fundamental questions such as whether sanctions should exist.

=== Do Internet sanctions disconnect anyone from the Internet? ===
No, Internet sanctions remove the societal subsidy from the cost of Internet access to sanctioned entities. In the same way that banking sanctions don't prevent sanctioned entities from using money, they just increase the friction and cost of doing so, Internet sanctions don't disconnect sanctioned parties from the Internet, they just ensure that they pay the full cost of using it, without the subsidies which would normally be provided as a function of societal cooperation.

=== Is anyone required to use this project? ===
No, this project is entirely voluntary. The relationship between this project and Internet network operators is exactly the same as the relationship between many preexisting organizations which provide similar blocklists identifying spam, malware, phishing, DDoS, and other forms of abuse to network operators, and the functional mechanisms are identical. Network operators choose to subscribe to the data-feeds we provide, or not, and choose to act upon the data, or not. The obligation to comply with sanctions imposed by the governments, regional organizations or international organizatinos in which the network operators are incorporated, however, is not voluntary, it's mandatory under law. This project gives network operators a mechanism for complying with those mandatory requirements and helping to avoid operators from over-complying with measures that might otherwise arise due to lack of clarity of sufficient information on sanctions designations and legal requirements.

=== What is the beacon? ===
The beacon is a set of artificial IP addresses and domain names which are not associated with any real-world organization or users, which will always be "sanctioned" and can thus be used by researchers to measure the reach and effect of the system. If the beacon is visible to you, the Internet sanctioning feeds are not being consumed by your transit providers or DNS recursive resolver operators. Beacons are a frequently-implemented diagnostic feature of Internet routing security systems.

=== Is that really supposed to be a logo in the top left corner? ===
Yes, well, it wasn't the highest priority at the time, and these things are always stickier than you hope. A better project logo would be very welcome. Consensus is, as always in open projects, the difficult part.

Frequently Asked Questions

2022-06-11T16:05:31Z

Erica1: /* Does this project advocate for sanctions? */

=== What is the purpose of this project? ===
This project allows Internet organizations to comply with precisely-targeted sanctions, which affect only the military and propaganda agencies of sanctioned countries, rather than sweeping sanctions which principally effect the civilian populations of those countries.

=== Who is it for? ===
This project is operated by and for Internet organizations which are required by governmental regulation to comply with sanctions. Since this project is never inherently ''pro sanction'', we do not anticipate, nor advocate, that organizations which are not regulatorily required to comply with sanctions automate action based on the project's data feeds (e.g. the project does wants to help avoid over-compliance with sanctions by Internet organizations, rather than contributing to it).

=== How does it work? ===
The project uses standardized protocols (BGP and RPZ) to distribute lists of Internet networks and domain names associated with sanctioned entities in ways that Internet network operators already use for blocking spam senders, DDoS attackers, malware distribution, and other threats against the Internet's infrastructure.

=== Who runs it? ===
This is a typical Internet governance organization. It is operated by volunteers, and decisions are made by those who show up and do the work. There are no barriers to entry which would prevent any other organization from forming to perform the same function in a different way, or a competing effort in the same way.

=== Does this project advocate for sanctions? ===
No, this project is agnostic with regard to whether sanctions should or should not exist, or should or should not be levied by any government against any party. Sanctions exist, and have done for centuries, and governments and society (particularly those in the Global North) generally regard them as deescalatory and preferable to violent alternatives. The aim of this project is to assist governments (that wish to impose sanctions) and network operators (that wish to comply with governmental requirements) to reach a mutually-satisfactory state. If you don't like the idea of sanctions, you can take that up with the government of your choice; this is not a forum for debate on fundamental questions such as whether sanctions should exist.

=== Do Internet sanctions disconnect anyone from the Internet? ===
No, Internet sanctions remove the societal subsidy from the cost of Internet access to sanctioned entities. In the same way that banking sanctions don't prevent sanctioned entities from using money, they just increase the friction and cost of doing so, Internet sanctions don't disconnect sanctioned parties from the Internet, they just ensure that they pay the full cost of using it, without the subsidies which would normally be provided as a function of societal cooperation.

=== Is anyone required to use this project? ===
No, this project is entirely voluntary. The relationship between this project and Internet network operators is exactly the same as the relationship between many preexisting organizations which provide similar blocklists identifying spam, malware, phishing, DDoS, and other forms of abuse to network operators, and the functional mechanisms are identical. Network operators choose to subscribe to the data-feeds we provide, or not, and choose to act upon the data, or not. The obligation to implement sanctions imposed by the governments of the nations in which the network operators are incorporated, however, is not voluntary, it's mandatory under law. This project gives network operators a mechanism for complying with those mandatory requirements, in countries which have accepted this mechanism as sufficient.

=== What is the beacon? ===
The beacon is a set of artificial IP addresses and domain names which are not associated with any real-world organization or users, which will always be "sanctioned" and can thus be used by researchers to measure the reach and effect of the system. If the beacon is visible to you, the Internet sanctioning feeds are not being consumed by your transit providers or DNS recursive resolver operators. Beacons are a frequently-implemented diagnostic feature of Internet routing security systems.

=== Is that really supposed to be a logo in the top left corner? ===
Yes, well, it wasn't the highest priority at the time, and these things are always stickier than you hope. A better project logo would be very welcome. Consensus is, as always in open projects, the difficult part.

Frequently Asked Questions

2022-06-11T16:03:49Z

Erica1: /* Who is it for? */

=== What is the purpose of this project? ===
This project allows Internet organizations to comply with precisely-targeted sanctions, which affect only the military and propaganda agencies of sanctioned countries, rather than sweeping sanctions which principally effect the civilian populations of those countries.

=== Who is it for? ===
This project is operated by and for Internet organizations which are required by governmental regulation to comply with sanctions. Since this project is never inherently ''pro sanction'', we do not anticipate, nor advocate, that organizations which are not regulatorily required to comply with sanctions automate action based on the project's data feeds (e.g. the project does wants to help avoid over-compliance with sanctions by Internet organizations, rather than contributing to it).

=== How does it work? ===
The project uses standardized protocols (BGP and RPZ) to distribute lists of Internet networks and domain names associated with sanctioned entities in ways that Internet network operators already use for blocking spam senders, DDoS attackers, malware distribution, and other threats against the Internet's infrastructure.

=== Who runs it? ===
This is a typical Internet governance organization. It is operated by volunteers, and decisions are made by those who show up and do the work. There are no barriers to entry which would prevent any other organization from forming to perform the same function in a different way, or a competing effort in the same way.

=== Does this project advocate for sanctions? ===
No, this project is agnostic with regard to whether sanctions should or should not exist, or should or should not be levied by any government against any party. Sanctions exist, have for thousands of years, and governments and society generally regard them as deescalatory and preferable to violent alternatives. The aim of this project is to assist governments which wish to impose sanctions, and network operators who wish to comply with governmental requirements, to reach a mutually-satisfactory state. If you don't like the idea of sanctions, you can take that up with the government of your choice, this is not a forum for debate on fundamental questions such as whether sanctions should exist.

=== Do Internet sanctions disconnect anyone from the Internet? ===
No, Internet sanctions remove the societal subsidy from the cost of Internet access to sanctioned entities. In the same way that banking sanctions don't prevent sanctioned entities from using money, they just increase the friction and cost of doing so, Internet sanctions don't disconnect sanctioned parties from the Internet, they just ensure that they pay the full cost of using it, without the subsidies which would normally be provided as a function of societal cooperation.

=== Is anyone required to use this project? ===
No, this project is entirely voluntary. The relationship between this project and Internet network operators is exactly the same as the relationship between many preexisting organizations which provide similar blocklists identifying spam, malware, phishing, DDoS, and other forms of abuse to network operators, and the functional mechanisms are identical. Network operators choose to subscribe to the data-feeds we provide, or not, and choose to act upon the data, or not. The obligation to implement sanctions imposed by the governments of the nations in which the network operators are incorporated, however, is not voluntary, it's mandatory under law. This project gives network operators a mechanism for complying with those mandatory requirements, in countries which have accepted this mechanism as sufficient.

=== What is the beacon? ===
The beacon is a set of artificial IP addresses and domain names which are not associated with any real-world organization or users, which will always be "sanctioned" and can thus be used by researchers to measure the reach and effect of the system. If the beacon is visible to you, the Internet sanctioning feeds are not being consumed by your transit providers or DNS recursive resolver operators. Beacons are a frequently-implemented diagnostic feature of Internet routing security systems.

=== Is that really supposed to be a logo in the top left corner? ===
Yes, well, it wasn't the highest priority at the time, and these things are always stickier than you hope. A better project logo would be very welcome. Consensus is, as always in open projects, the difficult part.

Frequently Asked Questions

2022-06-11T16:00:45Z

Erica1: /* What is the purpose of this project? */

=== What is the purpose of this project? ===
This project allows Internet organizations to comply with precisely-targeted sanctions, which affect only the military and propaganda agencies of sanctioned countries, rather than sweeping sanctions which principally effect the civilian populations of those countries.

=== Who is it for? ===
This project is operated by and for Internet organizations which are required by governmental regulation to enact sanctions. Since this project is never inherently ''pro sanction'', we do not anticipate, nor advocate, that organizations which are not regulatorily required to enact sanctions automate action based on the project's data feeds.

=== How does it work? ===
The project uses standardized protocols (BGP and RPZ) to distribute lists of Internet networks and domain names associated with sanctioned entities in ways that Internet network operators already use for blocking spam senders, DDoS attackers, malware distribution, and other threats against the Internet's infrastructure.

=== Who runs it? ===
This is a typical Internet governance organization. It is operated by volunteers, and decisions are made by those who show up and do the work. There are no barriers to entry which would prevent any other organization from forming to perform the same function in a different way, or a competing effort in the same way.

=== Does this project advocate for sanctions? ===
No, this project is agnostic with regard to whether sanctions should or should not exist, or should or should not be levied by any government against any party. Sanctions exist, have for thousands of years, and governments and society generally regard them as deescalatory and preferable to violent alternatives. The aim of this project is to assist governments which wish to impose sanctions, and network operators who wish to comply with governmental requirements, to reach a mutually-satisfactory state. If you don't like the idea of sanctions, you can take that up with the government of your choice, this is not a forum for debate on fundamental questions such as whether sanctions should exist.

=== Do Internet sanctions disconnect anyone from the Internet? ===
No, Internet sanctions remove the societal subsidy from the cost of Internet access to sanctioned entities. In the same way that banking sanctions don't prevent sanctioned entities from using money, they just increase the friction and cost of doing so, Internet sanctions don't disconnect sanctioned parties from the Internet, they just ensure that they pay the full cost of using it, without the subsidies which would normally be provided as a function of societal cooperation.

=== Is anyone required to use this project? ===
No, this project is entirely voluntary. The relationship between this project and Internet network operators is exactly the same as the relationship between many preexisting organizations which provide similar blocklists identifying spam, malware, phishing, DDoS, and other forms of abuse to network operators, and the functional mechanisms are identical. Network operators choose to subscribe to the data-feeds we provide, or not, and choose to act upon the data, or not. The obligation to implement sanctions imposed by the governments of the nations in which the network operators are incorporated, however, is not voluntary, it's mandatory under law. This project gives network operators a mechanism for complying with those mandatory requirements, in countries which have accepted this mechanism as sufficient.

=== What is the beacon? ===
The beacon is a set of artificial IP addresses and domain names which are not associated with any real-world organization or users, which will always be "sanctioned" and can thus be used by researchers to measure the reach and effect of the system. If the beacon is visible to you, the Internet sanctioning feeds are not being consumed by your transit providers or DNS recursive resolver operators. Beacons are a frequently-implemented diagnostic feature of Internet routing security systems.

=== Is that really supposed to be a logo in the top left corner? ===
Yes, well, it wasn't the highest priority at the time, and these things are always stickier than you hope. A better project logo would be very welcome. Consensus is, as always in open projects, the difficult part.

Policy:Policy Group

2022-06-03T10:44:34Z

Erica1: /* Afghanistan vs. United States et al. */

{{TOC right}}
The '''policy group''' monitors the political situation and the sanction initiatives of national governments, and evaluates proposed sanctions in light of the project's [[Policy:Guiding Principles|guiding principles]] and precedents in [[Policy:International Law and Norms|international law and norms]], including those governing fundamental human rights of [[Policy:Freedom of Expression and Access to Information|freedom of expression and access to information]]. If a sanction is deemed in-scope, the policy group defines the sanctioned entities and passes them to the OSINT group. The policy group is also responsible for determining when existing sanctions should be repealed.

The work of the policy group is done on the discussion mailing list (which you're [https://lists.sanctions.net/mailman/listinfo/discuss welcome to join], or you can consult its [https://lists.sanctions.net/pipermail/discuss/ archives of past discussion]) and its results are published here.
----
== Thoughts and Articles ==
* [[Policy:The Goals of Sanctions|The goals of sanctions]]

== Open Issues ==
* [[Policy:The "Human Shield" Problem|The "human shield" problem]]
* [[Policy:More Specific Domains|The "more specific domain" question]]
* [[Policy:Data Formatting Issues|Data formatting issues]]
* [[Policy:Intake Database|Intake database]]
* [[Policy:Conflict with Privacy Law|Conflict with Privacy Law]]

----

== Specific Sanction Reviews ==
=== 2022 ===
==== Multiple vs. Russia and Belarus ====
Near the end of February 2022, a number of governments and regional organizations adopted sanctions against a wide range of targets in Russia and Belarus more than a thousand entities in Russia, in connection with Russia's military invasion of Ukraine. This included asset freezes against a range of individuals and entities, travel bans against individuals and restrictions on a wide number of sectors, goods and activities, including financial transactions and sanctions against technology companies. In some cases, the sanctions supplemented preexisting ones associated with Russia's 2014 military invasion of Ukraine. [[Policy:Multiple vs. Russia and Belarus, 2022 |Discussion of these sanctions can be found here.]] The adoption of new sanctions was accompanied by a widespread voluntary boycott of Russia of companies around the world, which amplifies the impact of the sanctions in place.

==== Afghanistan vs. United States et al. ====
A number of actions taken by governments or other groups may resemble sanction, but are not considered as such in legal terms. An example is the banning of access to certain media outlets. In March, 2022, the Afghan government banned Voice of America, the British Broadcasting Corporation, and Deutsche Welle. [[Policy:Afghanistan vs. Western Broadcasters, 2022|Discussion of these sanctions can be found here.]]

==== United States vs. Iran ====
In March, 2022, the United States government added Iranian procurement agent Mohammad Ali Hosseini and his associated companies to existing sanctions aimed at Iran's ballistic missile development program. [[Policy: United States vs. Iranian Ballistic Missile Program, 2022|Discussion of these sanctions can be found here.]]

Policy:Policy Group

2022-06-02T15:02:23Z

Erica1: /* Multiple vs. Russia and Belarus */

{{TOC right}}
The '''policy group''' monitors the political situation and the sanction initiatives of national governments, and evaluates proposed sanctions in light of the project's [[Policy:Guiding Principles|guiding principles]] and precedents in [[Policy:International Law and Norms|international law and norms]], including those governing fundamental human rights of [[Policy:Freedom of Expression and Access to Information|freedom of expression and access to information]]. If a sanction is deemed in-scope, the policy group defines the sanctioned entities and passes them to the OSINT group. The policy group is also responsible for determining when existing sanctions should be repealed.

The work of the policy group is done on the discussion mailing list (which you're [https://lists.sanctions.net/mailman/listinfo/discuss welcome to join], or you can consult its [https://lists.sanctions.net/pipermail/discuss/ archives of past discussion]) and its results are published here.
----
== Thoughts and Articles ==
* [[Policy:The Goals of Sanctions|The goals of sanctions]]

== Open Issues ==
* [[Policy:The "Human Shield" Problem|The "human shield" problem]]
* [[Policy:More Specific Domains|The "more specific domain" question]]
* [[Policy:Data Formatting Issues|Data formatting issues]]
* [[Policy:Intake Database|Intake database]]
* [[Policy:Conflict with Privacy Law|Conflict with Privacy Law]]

----

== Specific Sanction Reviews ==
=== 2022 ===
==== Multiple vs. Russia and Belarus ====
Near the end of February 2022, a number of governments and regional organizations adopted sanctions against a wide range of targets in Russia and Belarus more than a thousand entities in Russia, in connection with Russia's military invasion of Ukraine. This included asset freezes against a range of individuals and entities, travel bans against individuals and restrictions on a wide number of sectors, goods and activities, including financial transactions and sanctions against technology companies. In some cases, the sanctions supplemented preexisting ones associated with Russia's 2014 military invasion of Ukraine. [[Policy:Multiple vs. Russia and Belarus, 2022 |Discussion of these sanctions can be found here.]] The adoption of new sanctions was accompanied by a widespread voluntary boycott of Russia of companies around the world, which amplifies the impact of the sanctions in place.

==== Afghanistan vs. United States et al. ====
In March, 2022, the Afghan government sanctioned Voice of America, the British Broadcasting Corporation, and Deutsche Welle. [[Policy:Afghanistan vs. Western Broadcasters, 2022|Discussion of these sanctions can be found here.]]

==== United States vs. Iran ====
In March, 2022, the United States government added Iranian procurement agent Mohammad Ali Hosseini and his associated companies to existing sanctions aimed at Iran's ballistic missile development program. [[Policy: United States vs. Iranian Ballistic Missile Program, 2022|Discussion of these sanctions can be found here.]]

Welcome to the Internet Sanctions Project

2022-06-02T14:29:26Z

Erica1: /* Why does this project exist? */

__NOTOC__
This is an [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_standard open], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_governance Internet community governed], project which produces real-time [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_Gateway_Protocol BGP] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Response_policy_zone RPZ] data feeds of network resources ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IP_address IP addresses], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomous_system_(Internet) Autonomous System numbers], and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain_name domain names]) associated with [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_sanctions sanctioned] entities. These data feeds facilitate [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_service_provider Internet network operators] in complying with governmentally-mandated sanctions against violators of international and human rights law.

=== Why does this project exist? ===
Sanctions have been used as a tool of statecraft for [https://foreignpolicy.com/2012/04/23/smart-sanctions-a-short-history/ thousands of years], but their use has become particularly widespread in the latter part of the Twentieth Century. Most sanctions used since the Second World War and until the start of the new Millennium were employed through the United Nations. Over the past 20 years, however, impasse at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has meant that a number of national governments and regional organisations also use their own autonomous (or unilateral) sanctions. These can supplement multilateral (UN) sanctions, or can be imposed entirely in their absence. All sanctions regimes employed today are supposed to be "targeted" or "smart" (geared to only impact on certain targets and not a country's entire population).

The United States (US) is the most prolific user of autonomous sanctions, followed by the European Union (EU). A number of other nations, such as the United Kingdom (UK), Canada, Australia and Japan also use autonomous sanctions; often in close coordination with one another. All regional organisations (such as the African Union and the League of Arab States) use sanctions against their own members, but the EU is the only one to use it as a tool of external foreign and security policy.

In contemporary times, the private sector within each nation is responsible for complying with sanctions adopted by the government where a given company is based. This can include multilateral and autonomous sanctions. In some cases, the US employs secondary sanctions, which have an extraterritorial reach, which means that all individuals, companies and other entities can be subject to US sanctions under certain regimes. The most common types of sanctions used by all actors are asset freezes (against individuals or entities), travel bans (against individuals) and arms embargoes. Since the early 2010s, there have been a rise in sectoral sanctions, such as those against finance, banking, energy and other commodities (in part, or in full). Some sanctions regimes have become so broad and hard-hitting that they can be considered de-facto comprehensive embargoes (or comprehensive sanctions) .

In the case of sanctions targeting banking sectors, compliance is facilitated by the fact that, while superficially appearing to be multinational, banks are actually collections of individual, autonomous, independently-regulated entities, each existing within a single country, though they may share a common brand. In the case of the "flat" global, transnational nature of the Internet, compliance with diverse sanctions regimes is rendered much more difficult for Internet organizations. Large Internet networks operate as single networks spanning the world, with unitary policy and technical choices implemented globally. Thus a policy imposed by a single government on a global network, if implemented, has [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraterritorial_jurisdiction extraterritorial effects] in every other country, violating those countries' [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westphalian_sovereignty Westphalian] rights of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-determination self-determination]. And conflicting policies imposed by different governments cannot be resolved without breaking the fundamental nature of Internet connectivity.

At the same time, broadly-defined Internet sanctions tend to disproportionately affect the civilian population of sanctioned countries; this is both counterproductive and violates their human rights to freedom of communication and access to information as recognized by [[Policy:Freedom of Expression and Access to Information|the United Nations, the European Union, the Council of Europe, the Organization of American States, the African Union, and others]].

This project brings together governments, Internet organizations, civil society, and academia to provide a globally-harmonized Internet sanctions imposition mechanism that combines the expertise and perspectives of different stakeholders to develop proportional and effective sanctions that aim to not impinge upon civilians' access to information and communications. '''This project is neither pro-sanction nor anti-sanction'''; it exists to facilitate public-sector/private-sector coordination while ensuring that the human rights of civilians are protected.

=== Origin of the project ===
This project originated in an [[The Open Letter|open letter]] from leaders of the multistakeholder Internet governance community, calling for constructive dialog about the imposition of Internet-related sanctions, and for a principled, structured, and transparent approach to sanctions, with the explicit aim of maintaining connectivity to civilian populations.

=== Structure ===
The project is implemented by five working groups:

* A [[Policy:Policy Group|'''policy group''']] monitors the political situation and the sanction initiatives of national governments, and evaluates whether a situation or proposed sanctions is relevant in light of the project's principles. If a sanction is deemed in-scope, the policy group defines the situation and (potentially) sanctioned entities and passes them to the [[Open Source Intelligence|OSINT group]]. The policy group is responsible for determining the limited scope of measures, analyzing when existing sanctions should be repealed, and for liaising with governments which are considering declaring this mechanism to be sufficient compliance with their nationally-defined sanctions.

* An [[Open Source Intelligence|'''intelligence group''']] investigates and catalogs the Internet resources (IP addresses, Autonomous System numbers, and domain names) held by sanctioned entities. This helps the [[Policy Group|policy group]] understand the (potential) impact of measures and assess their proportionality.

* An [[Oversight Board|'''oversight board''']] provides a final check on which resources are included in the blocking feed, verifying its conformity with international and human rights law. When anything is added to the feed, an announcement will be posted to the (read-only) [https://lists.sanctions.net/mailman/listinfo/announce announcement email list], which you're welcome to subscribe to, to keep track of the project's outcomes.

* An [[Operations Group|'''operations group''']] keeps the BGP and RPZ feed publishing mechanisms working and gather feedback from implementers.

* A [[Research Group|'''research group''']] is responsible for metrics and monitoring of the system and its effectiveness, and liaises with the academic community.

=== Participation ===
This is a community volunteer effort, and your participation is welcome! Please consider [[Frequently Asked Questions|reading the FAQ]] and subscribing to the [[E-Mail Discussion Lists|email discussion lists]] as starting-points.

Welcome to the Internet Sanctions Project

2022-06-02T14:26:14Z

Erica1: /* Why does this project exist? */

__NOTOC__
This is an [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_standard open], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_governance Internet community governed], project which produces real-time [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_Gateway_Protocol BGP] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Response_policy_zone RPZ] data feeds of network resources ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IP_address IP addresses], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomous_system_(Internet) Autonomous System numbers], and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain_name domain names]) associated with [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_sanctions sanctioned] entities. These data feeds facilitate [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_service_provider Internet network operators] in complying with governmentally-mandated sanctions against violators of international and human rights law.

=== Why does this project exist? ===
Sanctions have been used as a tool of statecraft for [https://foreignpolicy.com/2012/04/23/smart-sanctions-a-short-history/ thousands of years], but their use has become particularly widespread in the latter part of the Twentieth Century. Most sanctions used since the Second World War and until the start of the new Millennium were employed through the United Nations. Over the past 20 years, however, impasse at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has meant that a number of national governments and regional organisations also use their own autonomous (or unilateral) sanctions. These can supplement multilateral (UN) sanctions, or can be imposed entirely in their absence. All sanctions regimes employed today are supposed to be "targeted" or "smart" (geared to only impact on certain targets and not a country's entire population).

The United States (US) is the most prolific user of autonomous sanctions, followed by the European Union (EU). A number of other nations, such as the United Kingdom (UK), Canada, Australia and Japan also use autonomous sanctions; often in close coordination with one another. All regional organisations (such as the African Union and the League of Arab States) use sanctions against their own members, but the EU is the only one to use it as a tool of external foreign and security policy.

In contemporary times, the private sector within each nation is responsible for complying with sanctions adopted by the government where a given company is based. This can include multilateral and autonomous sanctions. In some cases, the US employs secondary sanctions, which have an extraterritorial reach, which means that all individuals, companies and other entities can be subject to US sanctions under certain regimes. The most common types of sanctions used by all actors are asset freezes (against individuals or entities), travel bans (against individuals) and arms embargoes. Since the early 2010s, there have been a rise in sectoral sanctions, such as those against finance, banking, energy and other commodities (in part, or in full). Some sanctions regimes have become so broad and hard-hitting that they can be considered de-facto comprehensive embargoes (or comprehensive sanctions).

Recent sanctions regimes This has historically worked well with banking, since banks (which may superficially appear to be multinational) are actually collections of individual, autonomous, independently-regulated entities, each existing within a single country, though they may share a common brand. But the "flat" global, transnational nature of the Internet makes compliance with diverse sanctions regimes much more difficult for Internet organizations. Large Internet networks operate as single networks spanning the world, with unitary policy and technical choices implemented globally. Thus a policy imposed by a single government on a global network, if implemented, has [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraterritorial_jurisdiction extraterritorial effects] in every other country, violating those countries' [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westphalian_sovereignty Westphalian] rights of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-determination self-determination]. And conflicting policies imposed by different governments cannot be resolved without breaking the fundamental nature of Internet connectivity.

At the same time, broadly-defined Internet sanctions tend to disproportionately affect the civilian population of sanctioned countries; this is both counterproductive and violates their human rights to freedom of communication and access to information as recognized by [[Policy:Freedom of Expression and Access to Information|the United Nations, the European Union, the Council of Europe, the Organization of American States, the African Union, and others]].

This project brings together governments, Internet organizations, civil society, and academia to provide a globally-harmonized Internet sanctions imposition mechanism that combines the expertise and perspectives of different stakeholders to develop proportional and effective sanctions that aim to not impinge upon civilians' access to information and communications. '''This project is neither pro-sanction nor anti-sanction'''; it exists to facilitate public-sector/private-sector coordination while ensuring that the human rights of civilians are protected.

=== Origin of the project ===
This project originated in an [[The Open Letter|open letter]] from leaders of the multistakeholder Internet governance community, calling for constructive dialog about the imposition of Internet-related sanctions, and for a principled, structured, and transparent approach to sanctions, with the explicit aim of maintaining connectivity to civilian populations.

=== Structure ===
The project is implemented by five working groups:

* A [[Policy:Policy Group|'''policy group''']] monitors the political situation and the sanction initiatives of national governments, and evaluates whether a situation or proposed sanctions is relevant in light of the project's principles. If a sanction is deemed in-scope, the policy group defines the situation and (potentially) sanctioned entities and passes them to the [[Open Source Intelligence|OSINT group]]. The policy group is responsible for determining the limited scope of measures, analyzing when existing sanctions should be repealed, and for liaising with governments which are considering declaring this mechanism to be sufficient compliance with their nationally-defined sanctions.

* An [[Open Source Intelligence|'''intelligence group''']] investigates and catalogs the Internet resources (IP addresses, Autonomous System numbers, and domain names) held by sanctioned entities. This helps the [[Policy Group|policy group]] understand the (potential) impact of measures and assess their proportionality.

* An [[Oversight Board|'''oversight board''']] provides a final check on which resources are included in the blocking feed, verifying its conformity with international and human rights law. When anything is added to the feed, an announcement will be posted to the (read-only) [https://lists.sanctions.net/mailman/listinfo/announce announcement email list], which you're welcome to subscribe to, to keep track of the project's outcomes.

* An [[Operations Group|'''operations group''']] keeps the BGP and RPZ feed publishing mechanisms working and gather feedback from implementers.

* A [[Research Group|'''research group''']] is responsible for metrics and monitoring of the system and its effectiveness, and liaises with the academic community.

=== Participation ===
This is a community volunteer effort, and your participation is welcome! Please consider [[Frequently Asked Questions|reading the FAQ]] and subscribing to the [[E-Mail Discussion Lists|email discussion lists]] as starting-points.

Welcome to the Internet Sanctions Project

2022-06-02T14:18:53Z

Erica1: /* Why does this project exist? */

__NOTOC__
This is an [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_standard open], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_governance Internet community governed], project which produces real-time [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_Gateway_Protocol BGP] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Response_policy_zone RPZ] data feeds of network resources ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IP_address IP addresses], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomous_system_(Internet) Autonomous System numbers], and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain_name domain names]) associated with [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_sanctions sanctioned] entities. These data feeds facilitate [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_service_provider Internet network operators] in complying with governmentally-mandated sanctions against violators of international and human rights law.

=== Why does this project exist? ===
Sanctions have been used as a tool of statecraft for [https://foreignpolicy.com/2012/04/23/smart-sanctions-a-short-history/ thousands of years], but their use has become particularly widespread in the latter part of the Twentieth Century. Most sanctions used since Second World War and until the start of the new Millennium were employed through the United Nations. Over the past 20 years, however, impasse at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has meant that a number of national governments and regional organisations also use their own autonomous (or unilateral) sanctions. These can supplement multilateral (UN) sanctions, or can be imposed entirely in their absence. The United States (US) is the most prolific user of autonomous sanctions, followed by the European Union (EU). A number of other nations, such as the United Kingdom (UK), Canada, Australia and Japan also use autonomous sanctions; often in close coordination with one another. All regional organisations (such as the African Union and the League of Arab States) use sanctions against their own members, but the EU is the only one to use it as a tool of external foreign and security policy.

In contemporary times private sector within each nation is responsible for enacting sanctions defined by their government. This has historically worked well with banking, since banks (which may superficially appear to be multinational) are actually collections of individual, autonomous, independently-regulated entities, each existing within a single country, though they may share a common brand. But the "flat" global, transnational nature of the Internet makes compliance with diverse sanctions regimes much more difficult for Internet organizations. Large Internet networks operate as single networks spanning the world, with unitary policy and technical choices implemented globally. Thus a policy imposed by a single government on a global network, if implemented, has [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraterritorial_jurisdiction extraterritorial effects] in every other country, violating those countries' [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westphalian_sovereignty Westphalian] rights of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-determination self-determination]. And conflicting policies imposed by different governments cannot be resolved without breaking the fundamental nature of Internet connectivity.

At the same time, broadly-defined Internet sanctions tend to disproportionately affect the civilian population of sanctioned countries; this is both counterproductive and violates their human rights to freedom of communication and access to information as recognized by [[Policy:Freedom of Expression and Access to Information|the United Nations, the European Union, the Council of Europe, the Organization of American States, the African Union, and others]].

This project brings together governments, Internet organizations, civil society, and academia to provide a globally-harmonized Internet sanctions imposition mechanism that combines the expertise and perspectives of different stakeholders to develop proportional and effective sanctions that aim to not impinge upon civilians' access to information and communications. '''This project is neither pro-sanction nor anti-sanction'''; it exists to facilitate public-sector/private-sector coordination while ensuring that the human rights of civilians are protected.

=== Origin of the project ===
This project originated in an [[The Open Letter|open letter]] from leaders of the multistakeholder Internet governance community, calling for constructive dialog about the imposition of Internet-related sanctions, and for a principled, structured, and transparent approach to sanctions, with the explicit aim of maintaining connectivity to civilian populations.

=== Structure ===
The project is implemented by five working groups:

* A [[Policy:Policy Group|'''policy group''']] monitors the political situation and the sanction initiatives of national governments, and evaluates whether a situation or proposed sanctions is relevant in light of the project's principles. If a sanction is deemed in-scope, the policy group defines the situation and (potentially) sanctioned entities and passes them to the [[Open Source Intelligence|OSINT group]]. The policy group is responsible for determining the limited scope of measures, analyzing when existing sanctions should be repealed, and for liaising with governments which are considering declaring this mechanism to be sufficient compliance with their nationally-defined sanctions.

* An [[Open Source Intelligence|'''intelligence group''']] investigates and catalogs the Internet resources (IP addresses, Autonomous System numbers, and domain names) held by sanctioned entities. This helps the [[Policy Group|policy group]] understand the (potential) impact of measures and assess their proportionality.

* An [[Oversight Board|'''oversight board''']] provides a final check on which resources are included in the blocking feed, verifying its conformity with international and human rights law. When anything is added to the feed, an announcement will be posted to the (read-only) [https://lists.sanctions.net/mailman/listinfo/announce announcement email list], which you're welcome to subscribe to, to keep track of the project's outcomes.

* An [[Operations Group|'''operations group''']] keeps the BGP and RPZ feed publishing mechanisms working and gather feedback from implementers.

* A [[Research Group|'''research group''']] is responsible for metrics and monitoring of the system and its effectiveness, and liaises with the academic community.

=== Participation ===
This is a community volunteer effort, and your participation is welcome! Please consider [[Frequently Asked Questions|reading the FAQ]] and subscribing to the [[E-Mail Discussion Lists|email discussion lists]] as starting-points.