[governance] [Bill-of-Rights] Rights in IG research
Jaco Aizenman
skorpio at gmail.com
Mon Aug 11 21:43:29 EDT 2008
Dear Lisa,
Thank you for the FoE link, which is very impressive and I support. Let me
know if I can help in any way the FoE from Costa Rica.
Please also note that a new virtual personality fundamental right is
complementary to FoE, and can enhance even more the FoE initiative. Of
course it has to be done in the right way....
If Constitutional Courts worldwide will have a clear and good virtual
personality fundamental right (Internet rights) it will be much easier to
implement fully the FoE initiative and vice versa.
Don´ t you like or support the first, worldwide, "internet right", made a
few months ago by the German Constitutional Court?.
Thanks a lot for your time.
Best regards,
Jaco
On Fri, Aug 8, 2008 at 5:31 AM, Lisa Horner <lisa at global-partners.co.uk>wrote:
> Hi Max and all
>
>
>
> Thanks for your interest in what we're doing. I'm equally interested in
> your work and in exploring potentials for collaboration. Maybe we could
> start a 'research ideas' and 'research in progress' page on the bill of
> rights wiki?
>
>
>
> Apologies in advance for the length of this email – those who aren't
> interested can delete email or go into skim-read mode now!
>
>
>
> The research we're doing is as part of the ongoing Freedom of Expression
> Project. I think I've mentioned before that we're working with 6 key
> partner organizations in different countries to develop policy principles
> that, if adhered to, would shape a global communications environment that
> would support human rights and a 'public interest' communications
> environment. They address issues spanning infrastructure, code and
> content. The latest draft of the principles is available and open for
> comment at
> http://www.freedomofexpression.org.uk/resources/public+interest+principles+for+the+networked+communications+environment.
>
>
>
>
> The principles and values that they express are purposefully broad so that
> they can be tailored to specific contexts. The idea is for them to provide
> an overarching framework for policy discussion and advocacy at different
> scales. For example, our project partners are currently working to
> elaborate what they might mean in different country contexts, and this in
> turn will provide the foundations for policy work. A major aim is to
> identify spaces where different stakeholders can agree that they share
> certain values and principles, and work to shape policy accordingly.
>
>
>
> We have been working to base all of our work so far in international human
> rights standards, in particular freedom of expression, the right to culture
> and the right to participation in government. We've taken an expansive
> definition of freedom of expression that many (but not all) human rights
> institutions and lawyers around the world take. This includes positive
> dimensions of freedom of expression, including the notion that governments
> are responsible for putting the necessary structures/infrastructures in
> place for the right to be realized. Incidentally, that's why I don't
> believe that we need to be advocating for new rights such as the right to
> the internet or to communication. The sentiments and demands expressed by
> these 'new' rights are already contained within the human rights system. In
> my opinion, our energy should be focused on further developing and upholding
> what we have already, for example, further embedding expansive definitions
> of freedom of expression in rights and policy institutions. And, as
> Anriette and Milton importantly pointed out, in furthering/developing
> understanding about what international rights standards and compliance with
> them actually means in practice.
>
>
>
> The research that I referred to before is intended to contribute to this
> effort, illustrating how an expansive definition of freedom of expression is
> being supported in contemporary legal and philosophical thought and case
> law, and identifying areas where further work needs to be done. It is
> taking our policy principles framework as a starting point, ensuring that it
> is firmly rooted in the international human rights system. In this way, if
> the framework was used as a basis for policy discussion, human rights
> standards would effectively be 'mainstreamed' within the discussions.
>
>
>
> Whilst I'm sure some would make the argument that these aren't IG issues,
> we hope that we're making a positive contribution towards ensuring that the
> 'shared norms and principles that shape the use and evolution of the
> internet' are rooted in human rights standards. These are the most widely
> accepted and acknowledged ethical standards in the world, which (in
> reference to earlier conversations) is why it makes sense to us to work with
> them and build on them, rather than try to reinvent or disregard them.
>
>
>
> I'll leave it there for now, but I'm interested to hear anybody's thoughts
> on the work we're doing, and am keen to explore opportunities to
> collaborate on further research on any of these issues.
>
>
>
> Many thanks,
>
>
>
> Lisa
>
>
>
> *From:* bill-of-rights-bounces at ipjustice.org [mailto:
> bill-of-rights-bounces at ipjustice.org] *On Behalf Of *Max Senges
> *Sent:* 06 August 2008 17:36
> *To:* governance at lists.cpsr.org; Anriette Esterhuysen;
> bill-of-rights at ipjustice.org
> *Subject:* [Bill-of-Rights] Rights in IG research
>
>
>
> dear lisa and all
>
> Lisa wrote:
> > We've just commissioned some research into how policy principles based
> > around notions such as net neutrality, interoperability, universal
> > access and content diversity can be rooted in the international human
> > rights system which will hopefully yield some interesting insights...
>
> that sounds very interesting. Stanford lawschool's Center for Internet and
> Society has offered to collaborate by contributing research and i agreed to
> frame research opportunities/themes for student projects to be taken up in
> the fall.
>
> It would be great to team up or at least be aware of all the other research
> undertaken to better understand a Rights based approach to IG.
>
> Lisa could you share a bit more info about Global Partners research?
>
> Everybody else doing research work in this area is very much invited to get
> in touch so we can ensure we complement, share and avoid duplication
>
> best
> max
>
> On Wed, Aug 6, 2008 at 5:37 AM, Anriette Esterhuysen <anriette at apc.org>
> wrote:
>
> Hallo all
>
> Lisa, you are correct in that the SA Human Rights Commission is the
> appropriate
> institution to deal with this. In fact they deal with hate speech issues
> quite often.
>
> They are under-resourced, but they do do excellent work. Here is their URL
> http://www.sahrc.org.za/sahrc_cms/publish/cat_index_26.shtml
>
> Draft hate speech legislation has been before parlaiment a few times here
> in South
> Africa. I am not sure what the status is. If I remember correctly the
> draft bill was badly
> not well conceived and very controversial.
>
> I certainly think that making a formal complaint to the HRC (human rights
> commission) would the way to start if the intension is to create public
> awareness of
> the issue.
>
> It will also drive lots of traffic to the site.... which is less desirable.
> Personally, Rui, I
> would just ignore it.
>
> Lisa, I completely agree with you about the relationship between rights and
> internet
> governance. Sadly I think that we have lost ground since WSIS. As you say
> there is a
> lot of work to be done to get beyond rights rhetoric and to work out what
> the
> implementable rights-based public policy principles are that we can work
> with on
> specific issues, e.g. those you mention, for example net-neutrality. APC
> tries to adopt
> this approach in our access work.
>
> I also think that the mainstream human rights movement has not engaged this
> terrain
> enough, altough there are exceptions.
>
> Anriette
>
>
> Date sent: Wed, 6 Aug 2008 12:09:58 +0100
> From: "Lisa Horner" <lisa at global-partners.co.uk>
> To: <governance at lists.cpsr.org>,
> "Rui Correia" <correia.rui at gmail.com>
> Subject: RE: [governance] Taking down a site [was: beijing
> ticket scam]
> Send reply to: governance at lists.cpsr.org,"Lisa Horner"
> <lisa at global-
> partners.co.uk>
>
> > Echoing Ian, I wonder if it would be worth filing a complaint with the
> > South African Human Rights Commission? The SA bill of rights states
> > that freedom of expression doesn't extend to "advocacy of hatred that
> > is based on race, ethnicity, gender or religion, and that constitutes
> > incitement to cause harm." Is this supported by any other legislation
> > in SA?
> >
> > So many of our discussions around internet governance issues can be
> > approached from a rights perspective, but human rights lawyers and
> > institutions are usually absent from the debate. Human rights and
> > their associated tools and mechanisms are arguably one of the only
> > global governance institutions that is 'thickening' in the current age
> > of 'globalisation'. Human rights approaches also have an inbuilt
> > framework for balancing out tensions between different rights and
> > responsibilities. However, there's still a lot of work to be done in
> > bringing them up to date and ensuring that they're capable of dealing
> > with new issues, including those relating to freedom of expression and
> > the internet. I wonder if engaging directly with national human
> > rights institutions is one way of starting that process?
> >
> > In a way, this is linked to Anriette's comment that many new campaigns
> > around rights are a-historical. Similarly, I think that they should
> > be rooted in, or at least have a firm understanding of, existing human
> > rights institutions, both formal and informal and at all scales.
> > We've just commissioned some research into how policy principles based
> > around notions such as net neutrality, interoperability, universal
> > access and content diversity can be rooted in the international human
> > rights system which will hopefully yield some interesting insights...
> >
> > Any thoughts?
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Lisa
>
> ------------------------------------------------------
> Anriette Esterhuysen, Executive Director
> Association for Progressive Communications
> anriette at apc.org
> http://www.apc.org
> PO Box 29755, Melville, South Africa. 2109
> Tel. 27 11 726 1692
> Fax 27 11 726 1692
>
> ____________________________________________________________
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>
>
> --
> -------------------------------------------------
> "It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong
> man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit
> belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by the
> dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short
> again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and
> spends himself in a worthy cause; ... so that his place shall never be with
> those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat."
> - THEODORE ROOSEVELT
> (Paris Sorbonne,1910)
>
> -------------------------------------------------
> Dr. Max Senges
> Stanford Post-Doc Visiting Scholar
> UOC Research Associate
> Freelance Consultant
>
> 98 Loyola Ave., Menlo Park, California 94025
>
> US-Phone: (001) 650 714 9826
>
> www.maxsenges.com
> www.knowledgeentrepreneur.com
> ------------------------------------------------------------
>
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>
>
--
Jaco Aizenman L.
My iname is =jaco (http://xri.net/=jaco)
XDI Board member - www.xdi.org
Tel/Voicemail: 506-83461570
Costa Rica
What is an i-name?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I-name
--
Jaco Aizenman L.
My iname is =jaco (http://xri.net/=jaco)
XDI Board member - www.xdi.org
Tel/Voicemail: 506-83461570
Costa Rica
What is an i-name?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I-name
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