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<font size=3>hi milton, all<br><br>
in terms of defining rights.. just to remind (and apologies if i sound
like a broken record) that several groups now have attempted to do this
including APC, the BOR coalition, global partners, UNESCO, the work of
the WSIS CS Human Rights caucus and the CRIS campaign<br><br>
so let's build on the collective work done this past 10 years or
so<br><br>
if i recall correctly (lisa - please correct me if i'm wrong) - global
partners put together a document that mapped such documents.. it might be
useful to refer to that (and update if necessary) in this work<br><br>
i think we have a good chance of influencing the cairo agenda if we build
this work carefully and inclusively (not to suggest we aren't already)
over the next 6-12 months<br><br>
karen<br><br>
At 19:51 04/09/2008, Milton L Mueller wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">Content-class:
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<br>
</font><font size=2 color="#0000FF">OK, I just made some extensive edits
to the rights statement. A lot of the small stuff was editorial, there
was redundancy and awkwardness in many sentences, perhaps reflecting the
fragmentary approach of a shared doc. I hope people agree on the
stylistic improvements. <br>
</font><font size=3> <br>
</font><font size=2 color="#0000FF">Substantively, I tried to do two
things: <br>
</font><font size=3> <br>
</font><font size=2 color="#0000FF">First, make it clearer that the
definition and application of rights talk is contested and complicated --
and use that to bolster the argument that that makes it a good focus for
IGF Egypt. In line with this, I added a quotation from the Tunis Agenda
at the beginning. <br>
</font><font size=3> <br>
</font><font size=2 color="#0000FF">Second, group and expand certain
discussions to run in a more coherent and structured manner. For example,
there were scattered references to privacy which I tried to consolidate
in a single para. and expand a bit. <br>
</font><font size=3> <br>
</font><font size=2 color="#0000FF">For those not on the Google docs list
I append the statement below<br>
</font><font size=3><br>
</font><font size=2>Milton Mueller<br>
Professor, Syracuse University School of Information Studies<br>
XS4All Professor, Delft University of Technology<br>
------------------------------<br>
Internet Governance Project:<br>
<a href="http://internetgovernance.org">http://internetgovernance.org</a>
<br>
</font><font size=3> <br>
</font><font size=2 color="#0000FF"><br>
</font><font size=2><i>IGC’s input -1 to the synthesis paper for IGF,
<?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
/>Hyderabad.<br>
</i></font><font size=2 color="#0000FF"><br>
</font><font size=2>‘<b>Rights and the Internet’ as the over-arching
theme for IGF-4 in Egypt <br>
</b></font><font size=2 color="#0000FF"><br>
</font><font size=2>The Tunis Agenda (para. 42) invoked human rights when
it reaffirmed a global "commitment to the freedom to seek, receive,
impart and use information" and affirmed that "measures
undertaken to ensure Internet stability and security, to fight cybercrime
and to counter spam, must protect and respect the provisions for privacy
and freedom of expression as contained in the relevant parts of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Geneva Declaration of
Principles." However, little follow up work has been done to enact
these commitments to basic human rights in Internet governance. <br>
</font><font size=2 color="#0000FF"><br>
</font><font size=2>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 goal of 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. 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. <br>
</font><font size=2 color="#0000FF"><br>
</font><font size=2><b><i>A complex new emerging ecology of rights and
the internet<br>
</i></b></font><font size=2 color="#0000FF"><br>
</font><font size=2> One important purpose of a discourse on rights
should be to clarify and reach greater consensus on how Internet rights
are defined, how they relate to pre-existing definitions of human rights,
and which ones need to be internationally recognized and strengthened.
There are currently basic philosophical differences, even among civil
society actors, over what constitutes a right and whether human rights
inhere only in individuals or can also be assigned to collectivities.
<br>
</font><font size=2 color="#0000FF"><br>
</font><font size=2><br>
The openness and diversity of the internet are underpinned by widely
recognized (but still imperfectly enforced) basic human rights: the
individual right to freedom of expression and to privacy. To some,
conceptions of rights and the internet may also extend to the area of
positive and collective rights – for instance a right to Internet access,
or a right 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. Others contest these positive and
collective claims, viewing them as worthy policy goals but not as
rights.<br>
</font><font size=2 color="#0000FF"><br>
</font><font size=2>Many important internet policy areas, like network
neutrality, are being framed in terms of rights, such as a right to
access and share information, or as an extension of freedom of expression
itself. The right of the public to access government-produced information
presents itself in a wholly new manner in a digital environment, where
information is often 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.
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 right to participate in the shaping of globally applicable
internet policies. <br>
</font><font size=2 color="#0000FF"><br>
</font><font size=2>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, more global and digital
context it might be useful to explore what the term "right to
development" means. <br>
</font><font size=2 color="#0000FF"><br>
</font><font size=2><a name="sdfootnote3anc"></a>With respect to privacy
rights, corporations and governments are increasingly able to extend
digital tentacles into people’s homes and personal devices, in manners
invisible to consumers and citizens.Consumers of digital products thus
face new challenges including the right to know and completely ‘own’ the
products and services they pay for. Technological measures to monitor and
control user behavior on the internet is becoming increasingly
sophisticated, and often outrun public policies and traditional concepts
of what rights users have.<br>
</font><font size=2 color="#0000FF"><br>
</font><font size=2>While property rights are of considerable importance,
their applicability and mutations in the the digital environment have led
to widespread political contention over the proper scope of copyrights,
trademarks and patents. In fact, intellectual property is emerging as a
primary area of socio-economic conflict in the information society.
The IGF can explore issues surrounding the public interest principles
which underpin IPR alongside the concept of a right to access knowledge
in the digital space. It can also explore how individuals' property right
to own, build, test, and use consumer electronics, computers and other
forms of equipment can be reconciled with the regulation of technical
circumvention to protect copyrights. <br>
</font><font size=2 color="#0000FF"><br>
<br><br>
</font><font size=2>We recognize that while it is relatively easy to
articulate and claim “rights” it is much more difficult to implement and
enforce them. We also recognize that rights claims can sometimes conflict
or compete with each other. For example, a claim that there is a “right
to Internet access” may imply an obligation on states to fund and provide
such access, but it is likely that if states are responsible for
supplying internet access that there will also be strong pressures on
them to exert controls over what content users can access using public
funds and facilities. There can also be uncertainty about the
proper application of a rights claim to a factual situation. The change
in the technical methods of communication often undermines pre-existing
understandings of how to apply legal categories. <br>
</font><font size=2 color="#0000FF"><br>
<br><br>
</font><font size=2>These complexities, however, only strengthen the case
for using the IGF to explicitly discuss and debate these problems. There
is no other global forum where such issues can be raised and explored in
a non-binding context. <br>
</font><font size=2 color="#0000FF"><br>
</font><font size=2><br>
Internet governance has up to this time largely been founded in technical
principles 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. <br>
</font><font size=2 color="#0000FF"><br>
</font><font size=2> 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. <br>
</font><font size=2 color="#0000FF"><br>
</font><font size=2> <br>
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