[governance] Inputs for synthesis paper

[Parminder]

Hanane

> If you agree we can adjust the following paragraph ( the last two
> sentences).


I have included the changes suggested by you in the document on google docs.
Thanks. Parminder 

The current form of the doc is as below ......


IGC's input -1 to the synthesis paper for IGF, Hyderabad.


'Rights and the Internet' as the over-arching theme for IGF-4 in Egypt



The Internet Governance Caucus strongly recommends that 'Rights and the
Internet' be made the overarching theme for IGF-4 in Egypt, and that the
IGF-4's program be framed by the desire for developing a rights-based
discourse in the area of Internet Governance. The Caucus has already
expressed support for the letter on this subject which was sent to the MAG
by the Dynamic Coalition on an Internet Bill of Rights.


The IGC offers the IGF assistance in helping to shape such a discourse at
the IGF meetings, and specifically to help make 'Rights and the Internet' an
overarching theme for IGF-4 in Egypt.


A complex new emerging ecology of rights and the internet


Freedom of expression and openness of the internet are underpinned by
recognized basic human rights. Privacy in the digital space is increasingly
understood as a very important internet right. Conceptions of rights and the
internet also extend to the area of positive rights - for instance in the
area of access, where a possible right to the internet is being articulated
by some, and to collective rights such as those of cultural expression -
including the right to have an Internet in ones own language, which can
inform the important IGF thematic area of cultural diversity.


Many important internet policy areas, like network neutrality, are being
framed in terms of rights, such as a right to know, access to information
and the right to share information, including perhaps freedom of expression
itself. The right to public information presents itself in a wholly new
manner in a digital environment, where digitized information is publicly
sharable at little or no extra cost. Positive acts of withholding digital
public information from citizens in fact can be looked upon as a form of
censorship. All of these rights-based conceptions may be included in the IGF
openness theme area.


Many other rights such as the right of association and the right to
political participation may have important new implications in the internet
age, including the shaping of internet policies that best serve public
interests in these areas.


It is a widely held fear that while the internet gives unprecedented new
economic, social and political opportunities in many new areas, it may
further widen economic, social and political divides. It is for this reason
that development has been a central theme for the IGF meetings to date. In
this context, it might be useful to explore what the term "right to
development" means in this new, much more globalized and digitized, context.


Consumers of digital products face new challenges and the consumer's right
to know and completely 'own' the products and services they pay for is
another emerging area of importance. This has great relevance in a context
where corporations are able to extend their digital tentacles of control
into people's houses and their personal devices, in a manner as yet
unsuspected by consumers.


The 'right to property' has conventionally been considered of considerable
importance. However its applicability and mutations in the the digital
environment, particularly in the form of Intellectual Property rights, is
current being widely contested. In fact, this issue is emerging as a primary
area of socio-economic conflict in the information society.  The IGF can
explore issues surounding the public interest principles which underpin IPR
and the development of the concept of a right to access knowledge in the
digital space.


Internet governance has up to this time largely been founded in technical
principles of neutrality and, increasingly, on the internet's functionality
as a giant global marketplace. With the internet becoming  increasingly
central to many social and political institutions, an alternative foundation
and conceptual framework for IG can be explored. It is the view of the IG
Caucus that a right-based framework will be may be appropriate for this
purpose.


It is the also the Caucus' view that the IGF is the forum best suited to
take up this task. This process should start at the IGF, Hyderabad, where
workshops on rights issues are being planned.  These issues will also
hopefully figure prominently in the main sessions. The IGC fully expects
that these discussions will help the IGF work towards developing 'Rights and
the Internet' as the over-arching theme of the IGF-4 in Egypt.





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