[governance] Rights (was Re: oversight)

[Vittorio Bertola]

Il giorno mar, 11-10-2005 alle 18:10 -0400, Milton Mueller ha scritto:

>I think we would emphatically agree that the nature of these rules must
>be defined by civil society and private sector, not just governments. In
>other words, the concept of "oversight" has to be conceived in a way
>that makes its purpose _the protection of the rights of the general
>population of Internet users and suppliers_,
>  
>
I'll digress a little about this.

When I raised the "bill of Internet rights" idea to this list, it didn't 
fly. However, I did so because I knew that some people in Italy really 
intended to push it to the Summit, even if they perhaps weren't fully 
aware of all the procedural bits and pieces of the Summit.

So, there now is an appeal going on in five languages, though mostly 
through offline channels (they however told me they're working on a 
website). It was launched by the Italian MP Fiorello Cortiana (the one 
who spoke at the WSIS Workshop at the ICANN meeting in Rome, for those 
of you who were there) and the current list of subscribers includes 
Gilberto Gil, Larry Lessig and Richard Stallman, plus a long list of 
Italians (full list at http://web.fiorellocortiana.it/html/ ).

I think they will try to get the EU officially endorse the idea, even if 
it looks hard given the timeframes. In any case, I imagine they will try 
to organize some related event at the Summit. So, as a caucus, we might 
think whether and how we want to react.

I have received an English version of the appeal, and even if they 
didn't take my generous offer to polish the wording, I will post it here:

=====
All World Countries will be meeting in November in Tunis under the aegis 
of the United Nations for the World Summit on Information Society.

It’s a great chance. The conclusion of this meeting should be a document 
ushering in a new Era: a Charter of the Rights of the Net.

The internet is the widest Public Space Humanity has ever known.

A space where everybody can have their say, acquire knowledge, create 
ideas and not just information, exercise their right to critic, to 
dialogue, to take part in the wider political life and in so doing try 
and build a different World of which everybody can claim to be a citizen.

But the internet is also creating a new, big redistribution of Power.

That’s why it is constantly under threat.

In the name of Security we restrict liberties.

In the name of a short-sighted Market logic we restrict the chance of a 
fair access to Knowledge.

Big enterprises and authoritarian States try to impose new forms of 
censorship.

The internet must not become an instrument to better control the 
millions of people who use it, to get personal data from people against 
their will, to use property rights to restrict new forms of knowledge.

To avert these dangers we can not just be confident that the Internet 
will show its natural resiliency.

It is high time to state some Principles as part of the new Planetary 
Citizenship: freedom of access, freedom of use, right to knowledge, 
respect of the privacy, recognition of new common Goods.

Only the full respect of these Constitutional Rights will allow us to 
find the correct democratic balance between the needs of security, the 
role of the Market and Intellectual Property.

It’s time for these Principles to be recognized by a Charter of Rights.

We ask all men and women being part of the “People of the net” to take 
part in this project with their freedom and creativity, and to let their 
voce be heard by their respective Governments to support it.
=====

-- 
vb.             [Vittorio Bertola - v.bertola [a] bertola.eu.org]<-----
http://bertola.eu.org/  <- Prima o poi...
      

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