[governance] Call for final comments - rights as a theme for cairo

[Ian Peter]

The following suggestion was sent to me off list

For your paper, it would be desirable to include a reference to the general
principle that the right to access the Internet is not conditional on the
use that may be made of it (c.f. electricity and water supply, telephone
services ...), particularly not putative and non-proven IPR infringements.

Any comments? 


Ian Peter
Ian Peter and Associates Pty Ltd
PO Box 10670 Adelaide St  Brisbane 4000
Australia
Tel (+614) 1966 7772 or (+612) 6687 0773
www.ianpeter.com
 
 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ian Peter [mailto:ian.peter at ianpeter.com]
> Sent: 11 September 2008 06:36
> To: governance at lists.cpsr.org
> Subject: [governance] Call for final comments - rights as a theme for
> cairo
> 
> Attached a final draft for comments for this paper. Please make specific
> suggestions for change or deletion on list in reply to this topic within
> 24 hours  - Google Docs is now closed.
> 
> I must confess to not following the detail of this debate, so I may have
> missed some points - and Google Docs was getting messy towards the end.
> So any omissions are unintentional and I ask that you suggest
> appropriate changes.
> 
> 
> 
> '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
> 
> 
> 
>  One important purpose of a discourse on rights should be to clarify and
> reach greater consensus on how rights with respect to the Internet are
> defined, how they relate to pre-existing definitions of human rights,
> and which ones need to be internationally recognized and strengthened.
> Within this context, we acknowledge that, even within the civil society
> caucus, differences of opinion exist as to the nature of various rights
> and conceptual rights and the degree to which they should be emphasized
> in internet governance discussions.
> 
> 
> 
> The openness and diversity of the internet provide an avenue for widely
> recognized (but still imperfectly enforced) basic human rights: the
> individual right to freedom of expression and to privacy. It may also be
> useful to explore if and how concepts such as positive and collective
> rights may be meaningful in relation to the Internet - for instance,
> respectively, a 'right to the Internet', or a right 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 access and share
> information, or as an extension of freedom of expression itself. The
> right of the public to access government-produced information presents
> itself in a wholly new manner in a digital environment, where
> information is often 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.
> 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 right to participate in the shaping of globally applicable
> internet policies.
> 
> 
> 
> While the internet opens unprecedented economic, social and political
> opportunities in many areas, many fear that it may at the same time be
> further widening 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 new, more global and digital context it might be useful to
> explore what the term "right to development" means.
> 
> 
> 
> With respect to privacy rights, corporations and governments are
> increasingly able to extend digital tentacles into people's homes and
> personal devices, in manners invisible to consumers and citizens.
> Consumers of digital products thus face new challenges including the
> right
> <http://docs.google.com/RawDocContents?docID=dcskr5r9_7n2dnxhs&justBody=
> false&revision=_latest&timestamp=1220550114112&editMode=true&strip=true#
> sdfootnote3sym>  to know and completely 'own' the products and services
> they pay for. Technological measures to monitor and control user
> behavior on the internet are becoming increasingly sophisticated, and
> often outrun public policies and traditional concepts of what rights
> users have.
> 
> 
> 
> While property rights are of considerable importance, their
> applicability and mutations in the digital environment have led to
> widespread political contention over the proper scope of copyrights,
> trademarks and patents. In fact, intellectual property is emerging as a
> primary area of socio-economic conflict in the information society.  The
> IGF can explore issues surrounding the public interest principles which
> underpin intellectual property claims alongside the concept of a right
> to access knowledge in the digital space. It can also explore how
> individuals' property right to own, build, test, and use consumer
> electronics, computers and other forms of equipment can be reconciled
> with the regulation of technical circumvention to protect copyrights.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> We recognize that while it is relatively easy to articulate and claim
> "rights" it is much more difficult to implement and enforce them. We
> also recognize that rights claims can sometimes conflict or compete with
> each other. There can also be uncertainty about the proper application
> of a rights claim to a factual situation. The change in the technical
> methods of communication often undermines pre-existing understandings of
> how to apply legal categories.
> 
> 
> 
> These complexities, however, only strengthen the case for using the IGF
> to explicitly discuss and debate these problems. There is no other
> global forum where such issues can be raised and explored in a
> non-binding context.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Internet governance has up to this time largely been founded in
> technical principles 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 rights-based framework will be appropriate
> for this purpose.
> 
> 
> 
> A rights-based  IG shouldn't be seen as threatening to governments or
> companies, but rather rights provide a set of international standards
> and guiding principles that can help to inform complex policy decisions.
> It is pertinent to recollect that WSIS called for a people-centric
> information society, and a rights framework helps develop people-centric
> IG agenda and polices.
> 
> 
> 
> It is 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.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Ian Peter
> 
> Ian Peter and Associates Pty Ltd
> 
> PO Box 10670 Adelaide St  Brisbane 4000
> 
> Australia
> 
> Tel (+614) 1966 7772 or (+612) 6687 0773
> 
> www.ianpeter.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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> 1:22 PM

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