[governance] NYT opinion by Vint Cerf: Internet Access is not a HR

[Ivar A. M. Hartmann]

I think the title might actually be misleading. It all depends on what
conceptions of 'human rights' and 'civil rights' are adopted.
Cerf clearly opts for the concept of human rights as rights "intrinsic to
us as human beings". While that has been historically a popular notion,
it's certainly not void of flaws and there are points to be made in favor
of another notion, that human rights are "conferred upon us by law" (not
declared by law, rather created by it). Indeed, a working distinction is
that of human rights as those conferred by international law and
fundamental/constitutional rights as those conferred by national
constitutions.
So Cerf's notion of civil rights seems to actually be the same as that of
human rights, for people who believe that these are rights created by law,
in whatever political level. And he concedes Internet access might be
considered a civil right.

Also, he puts forward the notion that human rights are timeless. If
something is "among the things we as humans need in order to lead healthy,
meaningful lives" today, but maybe wasn't tomorrow (or yesterday), then it
can't be a human right. Cerf states that "[i]t is a mistake to place any
particular technology in this exalted category, since over time we will end
up valuing the wrong things." I firmly disagree with this view, as I
believe Norberto Bobbio and others have offered a better explanation of
what constitute human rights: historical achievements of society that begin
to exist when they can and must. So there's no difficulty in acknowledging
that something might be a human right today but not in 100 years - and vice
versa.

Lastly, on the "means to an end" issue. It can reasonably be argued that
all human rights are means to enabling human dignity or the pursuit of
happiness. That is to say, they aren't ends in themselves and therefore
there's isn't a problem in recognizing that (a right to) Internet access
isn't an end in itself.

I fully support Carlos' remark on a vital point: saying Internet is merely
a technology depends on one's concept of what the Internet is. I don't
support the view that it is merely a technology.

Best,
Ivar

On Thu, Jan 5, 2012 at 07:38, Roland Perry
<roland at internetpolicyagency.com>wrote:

> In message <4F05927F.3040302 at cafonso.ca>, at 10:07:27 on Thu, 5 Jan 2012,
> Carlos A. Afonso <ca at cafonso.ca> writes
>
>  Hmmm... strange indeed. Internet access is access to the huge and
>> diversified space which represents this network of networks in its
>> multiple instances, levels, layers etc. It is far from being "just
>> technology", as the very extensive debate on Internet governance going
>> on since the WSIS process exhaustively demonstrates -- not forgetting as
>> well that the right to communicate is a fundamental right.
>>
>
> What Vint is saying is that while there's strong support for a right to
> communicate, that doesn't mean there's a right to have every means of
> communication (that's where he's coming from with analogy about horses).
>
> There's also a right to free movement, but this doesn't prevent most
> administrations making the holding of a driving licence a privilege rather
> than a right, which can be taken away for comparatively minor infringements.
>
>
>  The question is not whether Dr Cerf is way off the mark here -- this is
>> trivial -- but why did this accomplished engineer and corporate
>> executive decide to descend from his "interplanetary Internet" dreams
>> and delve into the communication rights debate?
>>
>
> You could try asking him.
> --
> Roland Perry
>
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