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<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Hi All,<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>A couple of things
before I propose some changes to the part of the 'rights' text which has attracted
some controversy.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>The present exercise of proposing
a rights discourse in the IGF is being done with a clear purpose in mind, and
not just as an academic pursuit. The purpose is to make progress towards public
interest based IG and internet policy (which is the avowed objective of the
IGC), in which space there is a kind of stalemate at present. One view, expressed
in our recent statement for September consultations, is that we attempt to
develop an anchor a rights-based discourse, and thereby probably a rights-based
framework in the IGF, which could become the basis of global Internet policy
regime. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>I think we are all
agreed up to this point, which is, more or less, the implication I draw from
our stated statement. (any dissent may please be registered.)<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Now, my humble
submission is that one must understand and appreciate that such a rights-based
discourse/framework for IG cannot be based only on FoE and the right to
privacy. If it has to have truly global legitimacy it has to accept a greater
width of rights discourse as articulated in various parts of the world, by
different people. And we all know that IG is in substantial measure indeed
global, or at least we want to keep it that way, and therefore if we as a part
of global civil society want to anchor a rights discourse we need to be more appreciative
of other people’s concern, which incidentally are a big majority. Else we
cannot move on. We cannot just go with a west-centred notions of a rights-discourse.
In fact, if we start engaging mutually, as we have seen in some recent emails
on this list, we can see that we can come close, or close enough, because at
the bottom I have this strong conviction that our concerns and values are
largely shared. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>In interest of not jeopardizing
one of the few attempts we have ever made to agree on substantive issues on
this list, I propose that in the controversial part of the text, the parts on
positive rights and collective rights vis a vis the Internet be written as
something we are only visiting and exploring. Accordingly, we can amend “Conceptions
of rights and the internet also extend to the area of positive rights….”
to “Conceptions of rights and the internet *may* also extend to the area
of positive rights….”. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>So that the part<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>“Freedom of
expression and openness of the internet are underpinned by recognized basic
human rights. Privacy in the digital space is increasingly understood as a very
important internet right. Conceptions of rights and the internet also extend to
the area of positive rights – for instance in the area of access, where a
possible right to the internet is being articulated by some, and to collective
rights such as those of cultural expression - including the right to have an
Internet in ones own language, which can inform the important IGF thematic area
of cultural diversity.”<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Reads as <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>“Freedom of
expression and openness of the internet are underpinned by recognized basic
human rights. Privacy in the digital space is increasingly understood as a very
important internet right. Conceptions of rights and the internet may also
extend to the area of positive rights – for instance in the area of
access, where a possible right to the internet is being articulated by some,
and to collective rights such as those of cultural expression - including the
right to have an Internet in ones own language, which can inform the important
IGF thematic area of cultural diversity.”<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Parminder<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>The full draft, if the
above change is made, will now read as <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=western style='margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><i><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-style:italic'>IGC’s
input -1 to the synthesis paper for IGF, Hyderabad.</span></font></i><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=western style='margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt' id=vn-n1><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>‘</span></font><b
id=vn-n4><font size=4 id=vn-n5><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-weight:bold'>Rights
and the Internet’ as the over-arching theme for IGF-4 in Egypt <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>The Internet Governance Caucus strongly recommends that ‘Rights
and the Internet’ be made the overarching theme for IGF-4 in Egypt, and
that the IGF-4’s program be framed by the desire for developing a
rights-based discourse in the area of Internet Governance. The Caucus has
already expressed support for the letter on this subject which was sent to the
MAG by the Dynamic Coalition on an Internet Bill of Rights. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=western style='margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The IGC offers the IGF
assistance in helping to shape such a discourse at the IGF meetings, and
specifically to help make ‘Rights and the Internet’ an overarching
theme for IGF-4 in Egypt. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=western style='margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt' id=vn-n41><b><i><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold;
font-style:italic'>A complex new emerging ecology of rights and the internet<o:p></o:p></span></font></i></b></p>
<p class=western style='margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Freedom of expression and
openness of the internet are underpinned by recognized basic human rights.
Privacy in the digital space is increasingly understood as a very important
internet right. Conceptions of rights and the internet may also extend to the
area of positive rights – for instance in the area of access, where a
possible right to the internet is being articulated by some, and to collective
rights such as those of cultural expression - including the right to have an
Internet in ones own language, which can inform the important IGF thematic
area of cultural diversity. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=western style='margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt' id=vn-n49><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Many important
internet policy areas, like network neutrality, are being framed in terms of
rights, such as a right to know, access to information and the right to share
information, including perhaps freedom of expression itself. The right to
public information presents itself in a wholly new manner in a digital
environment, where digitized information is publicly sharable at little or no
extra cost. Positive acts of withholding digital public information from
citizens in fact can be looked upon as a form of censorship. All of these
rights-based conceptions may be included in the IGF openness theme area. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=western style='margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt' id=vn-n55><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Many other rights
such as the right of association and the right to political participation may
have important new implications in the internet age, including the shaping of
internet policies that best serve public interests in these areas. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=western style='margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt' id=vn-n58><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>While the
internet opens unprecedented economic, social and political opportunities
in many areas, many fear that it may at the same time be further widening
economic, social and political divides. It is for this reason that development
has been a central theme for the IGF meetings to date. In this new, much
more globalized and digitized, context it might be useful to explore what the
term "right to development" means . <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=western style='margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt' id=vn-n61><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Corporations are
able to extend their digital tentacles of control into people’s houses
and their personal devices, in a manner as yet unsuspected by consumers.
Consumers of digital products thus face new challenges including the right<a
name=sdfootnote3anc id=vn-n65></a><a
href="http://docs.google.com/RawDocContents?docID=dcskr5r9_7n2dnxhs&justBody=false&revision=_latest×tamp=1220504586080&editMode=true&strip=true#sdfootnote3sym"></a>
to know and completely ‘own’ the products and services they pay
for. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=western style='margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt' id=vn-n69><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>While the
‘right to property’ has conventionally been considered of
considerable importance, its applicability and mutations in the the digital
environment, particularly in the form of Intellectual Property rights, is
current being widely contested. In fact, this issue is emerging as a primary
area of socio-economic conflict in the information society. The IGF can
explore issues surounding the public interest principles which underpin IPR and
the development of the concept of a right to access knowledge in the digital
space. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=western style='margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt' id=vn-n70><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Internet
governance has up to this time largely been founded in technical principles of
neutrality and, increasingly, on the internet’s functionality as a giant global
marketplace. With the internet becoming increasingly central to many
social and political institutions, an alternative foundation and conceptual
framework for IG can be explored. It is the view of the IG Caucus that a
right-based framework will be may be appropriate for this purpose. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=western style='margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt' id=vn-n73><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>It is the
Caucus’ view that the IGF is the forum best suited to take up this task.
This process should start at the IGF, Hyderabad, where workshops on rights
issues are being planned. These issues will also hopefully figure
prominently in the main sessions. The IGC fully expects that these discussions
will help the IGF work towards developing ‘Rights and the Internet’
as the over-arching theme of the IGF-4 in Egypt. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=western style='margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt' id=vn-n76><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=sdfootnote-western id=vn-n80><a name=sdfootnote1sym id=vn-n81></a><a
href="http://docs.google.com/RawDocContents?docID=dcskr5r9_7n2dnxhs&justBody=false&revision=_latest×tamp=1220504586080&editMode=true&strip=true#sdfootnote1anc"><br
id="w_rz">
</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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