[IRP] Meeting report

Fri Dec 18 13:21:23 EET 2009

Thanks Lisa - as always excellent work!

Max

--

"The future is here. It?s just not widely distributed yet."
?William Gibson

...........................................................................

Max Senges
Berlin

www.maxsenges.com

Mobile: 01622122755

On Thu, Dec 17, 2009 at 7:00 PM, Lisa Horner <lisa at global-partners.co.uk>wrote:

>  Hi all
>
>
>
> I?ve put together a report of the coalition meeting at the IGF to submit by
> tomorrow?s deadline (see below).  Do let me know if you have any comments or
> would like to make changes.  We can submit a revised version if people want
> to edit.  A massive thanks to Robert and Biel for taking notes ? they were
> really useful for compiling the report.
>
>
>
> All the best,
>
> Lisa
>
>
>
>
>
> *Internet Rights and Principles Dynamic Coalition Meeting*
>
> * *
>
> *Internet Governance Forum, Sharm el Sheikh.  18th November 2009-12-17*
>
>
>
>
>
> The annual meeting of the Internet Rights and Principles (IRP) Dynamic
> Coalition was held at the 4th Internet Governance Forum in Sharm el
> Sheikh.  Owing to organisational and scheduling issues in the wider Forum,
> the meeting was rescheduled to the early morning on a day when Forum
> participants had difficulty clearing security to get into the venue.  A
> number of participants therefore did not make it to the meeting or arrived
> late.  However, despite these issues, the meeting was still relatively
> well-attended and productive.
>
>
>
> The meeting took the form of an informal and open discussion amongst
> participants.  After a short presentation of the history of the coalition
> and projects undertaken over the course of the year, the discussion focused
> on the coalition?s work to build a Charter of Human Rights and Principles
> for the Internet.
>
>
>
> *Brief background to the IRP Coalition and its work*
>
> The IRP Coalition was founded in 2009 as a result of a merger between the
> coalitions for an Internet Bill of Rights and Framework of Principles for
> the Internet.  The aim of the coalition is to promote understanding of how
> international human rights standards apply in the internet environment, and
> to provide a coordinating umbrella platform for individuals and groups
> working on rights and internet governance issues.  The coalition has a broad
> membership of individuals from the civil society, government and business
> sectors.  Members share information and debate issues via the coalition
> mailing list and work together on collaborative projects.  Membership of the
> coalition has grown throughout 2009, and now has over 130 participants
> registered on its website, 360 fans on its Facebook page and over 160 people
> on its mailing list.
>
>
>
> The coalition held a mid-term meeting in Geneva in September 2009 which
> focused on work done by some members to explore the relationship between
> values, human rights and principles in internet governance.  Whilst
> discussion continued at Sharm el Sheikh as to what exactly the term
> ?principles? means in the context of the coalition?s work, there appears to
> be a growing consensus that the focus should be on ?implementation
> principles?; principles designed to apply human rights standards to specific
> policy and internet use issues that have arisen with the evolution of the
> internet.  The coalition meeting discussed the nature of the IRP coalition
> and strategies for its continued work.  It was stressed that coalition
> activities are rooted in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, aiming
> to build upon it so that human rights are protected and promoted on the
> internet.
>
>
>
> Discussion during the meeting highlighted the need for coordination between
> the different dynamic coalitions operating in the context of the IGF.  A
> workshop held by coalition members at the 2008 IGF brought the different
> dynamic coalitions together to discuss how human rights are relevant to
> their work.  Each coalition now has a representative who has agreed to be
> the liaison person with the IRP coalition.  However, more remains to be done
> to enhance cooperation and coordination, building a united front to push for
> better consideration of rights issues at the IGF.  Coalitions are also being
> encouraged to participate in the authoring of relevant sections of the new
> Charter of Human Rights and Principles for the Internet.  Meeting
> participants commented that dynamic coalitions are open spaces for
> collaboration and for the initiation of specific projects.  The dynamic
> coalitions dedicated to addressing human rights issues have tended to be
> dominated by civil society, although there has been growing interest from
> government and business stakeholders.
>
>
>
> *Focused discussion on the Charter of Human Rights and Principles for the
> Internet*
>
> Discussion began with a brief background to the rationale and motivation
> behind this coalition initiative.  The project is rooted in the early
> mission of the former Bill of Rights Dynamic Coalition to create a bill of
> rights for the internet.  Whilst the coalition has been renamed, many of its
> members are still keen to work on such a bill.  The coalition therefore
> accepted the Association for Progressive Communications? (APC) invitation to
> participate in a revision of its Internet Rights Charter.  The aim is to
> interpret what international human rights standards mean in the context of
> the internet, and to identify implementation principles that will help
> stakeholders to uphold these rights.  Implementation principles consider
> issues at broad ?layers? of the internet environment, from infrastructure
> through to code, applications and content.  Workshop participants discussed
> how the new Charter could be used as a tool for advocacy, and form the basis
> of a strategic plan for action and platform for multi-stakeholder
> collaboration.
>
>
>
> Progress has already been made in drafting the Charter, using APC?s
> original work as a starting point.  IRP coalition members and APC network
> members have brainstormed ideas and principles in a Wiki.  An expert group,
> led by Meryem Marzouki, Rikke Frank J?rgensen and Wolfgang Benedek, has been
> formed to review this work and produce an edit that is in line with
> international human rights standards and that builds on existing agreements
> and conventions.  The wiki remains open for public additions until the end
> of 2009, at which point the expert group will begin its work.  They plan to
> feed back to the wider coalition in Spring 2010.  The expert group is
> currently looking for human rights experts and practitioners from developing
> countries to participate in its work, and interested parties are invited to
> get in touch via the coalition mailing list.  Whilst the expert group will
> produce a ?version 1.0? of the Charter, the idea is to produce a living
> document that can be revised as technologies and contexts continue to
> evolve.  The overarching goal is to produce a practical, multi-dimensional
> Charter, with hypertext links to relevant case studies and material.  As the
> Charter is a work in progress, stakeholders are currently being invited to
> endorse the process rather than the document itself.
>
>
>
> Meeting participants were generally highly positive about the process of
> creating the Charter.  They commented that the initiative was timely, and
> that internet governance issues are rarely framed in terms of human rights.
> Some felt that the Charter shouldn?t be restricted to the IGF arena, but
> exported to the wider internet community.  It could be a common reference
> point for different international policy spaces, and could really influence
> and inspire change.  There was recognition, however, that the project is an
> ambitious one and will require considerable inputs of time, as well as human
> rights and technology expertise.
>
>
>
>
>
> *Steering Committee Elections*
>
> Following the coalition meeting, elections were held for the creation of a
> new steering committee with equal participation from the academic, civil
> society, private and governmental sectors.  The results are due to be
> announced by the end of 2009.  Max Senges has announced his intention to
> step down as Chair of the coalition, and a new Chair will be elected from
> the new steering committee members.
>
>
>
> The coalition is always seeking to expand its membership.  All interested
> stakeholders are invited to join the coalition mailing list at
> http://lists.internetrightsandprinciples.org/listinfo.cgi/irp-internetrightsandprinciples.org,
> and register on the coalition website,
> http://internetrightsandprinciples.org/.
>
>
>
>
>
>
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>
>
>
>
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>
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>
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