[governance] Consensus call on rights theme - yes or no response required.

[Milton L Mueller]

I would have to vote NO because the initial paragraph with the WSIS
Tunis Agenda's re-affirmation of FoE and privacy rights was deleted. I
can't understand why. 

 

________________________________

From: Ian Peter [mailto:ian.peter at ianpeter.com] 
Sent: Thursday, September 11, 2008 5:52 PM
To: governance at lists.cpsr.org
Subject: [governance] Consensus call on rights theme - yes or no
response required.

 

Please respond within 48 hours with a YESor NO to adoption of this
statement so it can be sent to the Secretariat before the deadline.

 

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.

 

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.  

It may also be useful to explore if and how other concepts may be
meaningful in relation to the Internet - for instance, a 'right to
access the Internet unconditional of the use being made of it (similar
to electricity and telephone). Similarly, a right of cultural
expression, and a right to have an Internet in ones own language, could
inform the important IGF thematic area of cultural diversity.  

 

Other 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
along with open standards Other rights such as the right of association
and the right to political participation may have important new
implications in the internet age, 

 

We recognize that while it is relatively easy to articulate and claim
"rights" it is much more difficult to agree on, 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, 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

 

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