[bestbits] Net of Rights

[Seth Johnson]

Sure, unless you set rights limits (real ones that actually work)
standards-making processes become subject to intergovernmental
policies you might never have expected.

On Fri, Mar 4, 2016 at 10:02 AM, Niels ten Oever
<lists at digitaldissidents.org> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> Today, 4 March, ARTICLE 19 and Coding Rights are launching ‘Net of
> Rights’, a short film which explores the link between internet protocols
> and human rights online. The film will screen at 6pm at the Internet
> Freedom Festival.
>
> Please find the film Net of Rights here:
> https://hrpc.io/wp-content/uploads/videos/netofrights.io.mp4
>
> and the teaser here:
> https://hrpc.io/wp-content/uploads/videos/netofrights.io_teaser.mp4
>
> If the teaser doesn't show in your browser, you can also use this link:
> https://vimeo.com/157722482
>
> Here is the press release (also below):
> http://is.gd/kqYjc3
>
> and please get involved in the work at: https://hrpc.io/
>
> It is too-often assumed that there is no link between protocols (the
> standards which underpin the way the internet functions) and human
> rights, but this is simply not the case, as the film argues.
>
> The Internet aspires to be the global ‘network of networks’, providing
> connectivity for all users, at all times, for any content. Connectivity
> increases the capacity for individuals to exercise their rights, meaning
> that the architectural design of the internet is, necessarily,
> intertwined with the human rights framework.
>
> Promoting open, secure and reliable connectivity is essential for the
> rights to privacy, expression and assembly. But how are these concepts
> addressed at the protocol level? Without proper definition, the human
> rights-enabling characteristics of the internet are at risk.
>
> The role of human rights in Internet policy is slowly becoming part of
> the general discourse. Former United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on
> the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and
> expression, Frank La Rue, explicitly spoke of the replationship, leading
> to the approval of the landmark resolution "on the promotion, protection
> and enjoyment of human rights on the Internet" at the UN Human Rights
> Council, and the resolution "The right to privacy in the digital age" at
> the UN General Assembly.
>
> Mapping the relationship between human rights and internet protocols and
> architectures is a new research challenge, which requires the
> development of a consistent methodology, bringing human rights experts
> together with the community of researchers and developers of Internet
> standards and technologies. The Human Rights Protocol Research Group is
> a group chartered to research how standards and protocols (the rules by
> which the internet functions) can enable, strengthen, or threaten human
> rights.
>
> The rights-enabling characteristics of the Internet will be increasingly
> endangered if they are not properly defined, described and protected as
> such. And, indeed, the other way around: by not protecting these
> characteristics, we risk loss of functionality and connectivity in the
> architecture of the internet itself.
>
> To protect human rights online, it will be necessary to explore and map
> the link between rights and protocol, ensuring the survival of a
> decentralized and collaborative internet, in which freedom of expression
> through unimpeded connectivity remains a central principle, and a
> guiding force.
>
> Conceived in partnership between ARTICLE 19 and Coding Rights, this film
> aims to highlight the importance of addressing this issue within the
> technical community and human rights advocates, but also to feed into
> the work of the Human Rights Protocol Considerations research group
> (HRPC) in the Internet Research Task Force (IRTF). This group is
> currently mapping the relation between human rights and Internet
> protocols, in order to strengthen the Internet as a human rights
> enabling environment, in which freedom of expression through unimpeded
> connectivity remains a central principle and guiding force.
>
> All the best,
>
> Niels
>
> --
> Niels ten Oever
> Head of Digital
>
> Article 19
> www.article19.org
>
> PGP fingerprint    8D9F C567 BEE4 A431 56C4
>                    678B 08B5 A0F2 636D 68E9
>
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