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

Wed Sep 10 19:53:04 EDT 2008

There is something to note here, when the rights based discussion
begins, stakeholders that are being mentioned in this document can
express and contribute to the Internet if it continues to stay both
Open and Accessible.

Within the context of developing world stakeholders, Free and Open
Source Software FOSS or Open Standards or Open ICT Ecosystems help
evolve and sustain human rights and nurture that perception and
practice and without these, corporations will continue to assert undue
ownership and violate privacy.

In the WSIS 2005 declaration and action lines as well as the Civil
Society Seoul Declaration, the need for wide consensus in FOSS, Open
Standards and Openness has been evident but if future pursuits and
interventions from Civil Society lack this in their statements, we are
continuing to be far from the freedom oriented nature of the Internet
and giving in our rights to capitalist forces.

I must assert here that the current nature of the services being
deployed over the Internet by human beings or social entrepreneurs or
entrepreneurs in general through the World Wide Web are mostly FOSS
based. People are organizing themselves and promoting their causes
through websites like Facebook.com which shows that Civil Society is
trying to continue its struggle for rights through existing
corporation offerings that are open in nature.

I believe that until the benefits of FOSS, Open Standards and Open ICT
Ecosystems are not recognized by us, civil society, we are not
struggling to promote human rights because these three things bring
freedom and rights to human beings over the Internet.

Rights to the Internet should never be conditional, they should be
open, freedom oriented and respected. FOSS, Open Standards and Open
ICT Ecosystems ensure that Human Rights as well right to expression
remain sustainable over the Internet otherwise the time isn't far when
Patenting the Internet will start and no forum will be able to compete
that..........or detest it...........

Fouad Bajwa

On Thu, Sep 11, 2008 at 1:36 AM, Ian Peter <ian.peter at ianpeter.com> wrote:
> 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 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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-- 

Regards.
--------------------------
Fouad Bajwa
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