[governance] IGF workshop: Internet for All

[Parminder]

I request that comments etc be provided on this proposal in the next 48
hours, so that if approved by the caucus we can submit it by end of
Thursday. Pl also indicate if more time is needed for discussion, though we
have very little maneuvering space vis a vis the deadline which, in fact, is
already past.

  Thanks

Parminder 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: karen banks [mailto:karenb at gn.apc.org]
> Sent: Tuesday, July 01, 2008 2:47 PM
> To: governance at lists.cpsr.org
> Subject: [governance] IGF workshop: Internet for All
> 
> Hi everyone
> 
> Please find below a reworked text for the
> 'internet for all' workshop - which has evolved
> and in fact changed focus significantly since first posted to the caucus
> list.
> 
> The caucus group working on this proposal
> (internet for all) have also been working with
> the Bill of Rights Coalition - who are
> submitting  a 'mainstreaming-rights-into-IGF proposal'
> 
> We have discussed at length how best to approach
> human rights and IG - how to bring a rights
> perspective to the IGF - and we will have a long
> way to go - but it is certainly a good start.
> 
> The caucus folk and Bill of Rights folk will also
> express inhterest in helping to shape the main
> session of openness, security and privacy
> 
> The proposal below is not in the workshop
> proposal format (yet) but parminder has asked the
> secretariat for a short extension - wherein we
> will need to get the proposal into the template and identify some
> speakers..
> 
> karen
> 
> "Internet for All - Exploring a Rights-based Approach"
> 
> Internet for All has been proposed as the overall
> theme for the IGF, Hyderabad. The program
> document also states that this description is
> adapted from the UNESCO's 'Education for All'
> initiative. Education for All takes a rights
> based approach to education, and also a very
> nuanced view of 'what kind of education' as well
> as the enabling conditions that are required for
> providing education for all (
> http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.php-
> URL_ID=47044&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
> ) . This workshop will explore what does a
> 'Rights-based Approach to Internet for All'
> means, and whether it provides the basis of an
> appropriate and viable set of guidelines in the area of Internet policies.
> 
> Universal service and universal access are widely
> accepted policy principles in case of telecom
> policies. However, the meaning and context of
> these terms in case of Internet is still not
> clear. Unlike telephony, Internet is much more
> than a 'connection' that 'either you have or you
> don't'. A draft resolution recommended by the
> 11th session of CSTD for adoption by the ECOSOC
> (http://www.unctad.org/sections/wcmu/docs//ecn162008_r004_en.pdf
> ) recently noted that 'a new form of digital
> divide is emerging in terms of difference in
> quality and speed of access to ICTs' ( OECD has
> also been grappling with definitional issues
> regarding universal access in terms of the
> Internet ( http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/32/57/40629067.pdf ).
> 
> Apart from the issues about what width of the
> pipe can constitute universal entitlement or a
> right, if at all, there are also at least two
> other sets of issues which need to be explored
> from a rights perspective (1) enabling conditions
> for making effective use of the available access
> and (2) the kind of the Internet one has access
> to.  A rights based approach to "Internet for
> All' or what may be called as a 'right to the
> Internet' therefore has to explored in terms of
> many issues that go beyond mere access to the
> Internet, while including this important element.
> 
> Enabling conditions could be in terms of training
> and capacity building as well as the social,
> organizational, and managerial infrastructure.
> The "Education for All' movement recognizes such
> conditions that are outside and beyond mere
> access to schools which are pertinent to ensuring education for all.
> 
> Other set of issues are about what kind of
> Internet does one have access to. This
> corresponds to quality and appropriateness of
> education in the 'education for all' movement.
> For instance, is one entitled to an Internet that
> recognizes one's own language? It is significant
> to note in this respect that a recent UNESCO
> document speaks about ''the right to learn in the
> mother tongue' (
> http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0012/001297/129728e.pdf
> ). The WSIS declaration of Principles speaks of
> an "information society where everyone can
> create, access, utilize and share information".
> Does it translate into a right to do so? What
> implication would such a right have on Internet
> policies, for instance with respect to network
> neutrality debate. Similarly, issues like online
> security, privacy and FoE may be possible to
> explore from a rights perspective to 'Internet for all'.
> 
> Another set of issues are with respect to groups
> needing special consideration like people with
> disabilities, whose right to access to 'new
> information and communications technologies and
> systems, including the Internet' is recognized by
> the 'International Convention on the Rights of
> Persons with Disabilities' which came into force recently.
> 
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