[governance] Tech giants in human rights deal

Wed Oct 29 00:58:24 EDT 2008

Hello

This is a very positive contribution from Business to the global society.
Business Corporations, however big they are, could be arm twisted into a
position favorable to the Authority. Microsoft went through severe problems
a few years ago by way of anti-trust proceedings, which might not have been
aimed at winning Microsoft's support for anything, but that is one of the
examples to show that the Authorities have the power to make or break a
business corporation, even  the ones that are healthy and huge.

Microsoft, Google and Yahoo could take this deal further and include other
business entities, big and small, not only in India but the world over to
enhance the capacity of Business to resist pressures from Authorities to
cause Businesses compromise on issues related to freedom of speech and other
rights and civil liberties.

Sivasubramanian Muthusamy

On Wed, Oct 29, 2008 at 10:05 AM, kwasi boakye-akyeampong <
kboakye1 at yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

> My apologies for cross posting.
>
> Kwasi
> **
> *Tech giants in human rights deal*
>
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7696356.stm
>
>   By Maggie Shiels
> Technology reporter, BBC News, Silicon Valley
>
>   [image: People using the internet in Beijing] Google was accused of
> censoring 2% of search results in China
>
> *Microsoft, Google and Yahoo have signed a global code of conduct
> promising to offer better protection for online free speech and against
> official intrusion.*
> The Global Network Initiative follows criticism that companies were
> assisting governments in countries like China to censor the Internet. The
> guidelines seek to limit what data should be shared with authorities, in
> cases where free speech is an issue. "This is an important first step,"
> said Mike Posner of Human Rights First. He told the BBC "What this is is a
> recognition by all these tech companies, the human rights groups and social
> investors that there has to be a collective response to this growing
> problem. "Companies need to step up to the plate and be more aggressive in
> challenging unwarranted government interference," he said. The initiative
> states that privacy is "a human right and guarantor of human dignity," and
> the agreement commits the companies to try to resist overly broad demands
> for restrictions on freedom of speech and the privacy of users. They will
> also assess the human rights climate in a country before concluding business
> deals and make sure their employees and partners follow suit. "These
> principles are not going to be a silver bullet, but the most important point
> for me is to provide transparency," said Danny O'Brien of the Electronic
> Frontier Foundation. "We have joined this initiative because we know that
> a wide range of groups working together can achieve much more than the
> company acting alone," said Andrew McLaughlin, Google's director of global
> public policy. *'Valuable roadmap'* The impetus for such an agreement
> follows years of criticism that a number of businesses, including Google,
> Yahoo and Microsoft have complicity built what has been dubbed the "Great
> Firewall of China".   [image: Screen grab of Skype website] Skype say they
> are abiding by Chinese laws over internet use
> Google has been accused of complying with Chinese government demands to
> filter internet searches to eliminate query results regarding topics such as
> democracy or Tiananmen Square. Microsoft has come under attack for
> blocking the blog of a prominent Chinese Media researcher who posted
> articles critical of a management purge at the Beijing News Daily. Canadian
> researchers uncovered that a Skype joint venture in China monitored users'
> communications. And a Chinese reporter Shi Tao was jailed for 10 years
> after Yahoo China provided his personal information to the Chinese
> government. Today Yahoo co-founder and CEO Jerry Yang welcomed the new
> code of conduct. "These principles provide a valuable roadmap for
> companies like Yahoo operating in markets where freedom of expression and
> privacy are unfairly restricted.   [image: Shi Tao, file picture] Shi
> Tao's jailing sparked a controversy of Yahoo business practices in China
> "Yahoo was founded on the belief that promoting access to information can
> enrich people's lives and the principles we unveiled today reflect our
> determination that our actions match our values around the world," said Mr
> Yang. While China has been painted as the worst abuser, Colin Maclay of
> the Berkman Centre for Internet and Society at Harvard University said there
> are other countries and governments all over the world at fault. "The
> number of states actively seeking to censor online content and access
> personal information is growing. "And the means employed - technical,
> social, legal, political - are increasingly sophisticated, often placing
> internet and telecommunications companies in difficult positions." *'Business
> case'* The Global Network Initiative was drawn up by the internet
> companies along with human rights groups, academics and investors. Adam
> Kanzer who is the managing director and general counsel at Domini Social
> Investments said as well as being the right thing to do, it also makes good
> business sense. He told BBC News "When you see the industry being caught
> up in the tactics of various regimes around the world, the business case is
> very clear. Freedom of expression and privacy is core to their business. "They
> depend on a wide open, freely accessible and secure internet. That's what
> they are about. If people don't trust the internet and believe they are
> secure, then that is counterproductive to their business."   [image:
> Computer keyboard, Eyewire] The plan has yet to receive the support of
> internet companies in China
> The effort is already being seen by some as not going far enough. "After
> two years of effort, they have ended up with so little," said Morton Sklar
> executive director for the World Organisation for Human Rights USA. "It is
> very little more than a broad statement of support for a general principle
> without any concrete backup mechanism to ensure that the guidelines will be
> followed." Mr Posner of Human Rights First disputes that and said this
> agreement has not been set up as a "gotcha system" but as a way "to work
> with companies to get them to improve what they are doing, credit them when
> they do it and call them out if they fail." While it is hoped many more
> companies will sign up, two European telecommunications firms, France
> Telecom and Vodafone, are already said to be considering adding their names.
>
>
>
>
> *
> ..............................................................................................................................
> *
> *"If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am not for others, what
> am I?    And if not now, when?"* - Rabbi Hillel
> *
> ..............................................................................................................................
> <http://agyakwasi.blogspot.com/>
> *
>
>
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-- 
http://www.linkedin.com/in/sivasubramanianmuthusamy
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