[IRP] edits made to the charter

[Rebecca MacKinnon]

Dear all,
On the last call it was agreed that we'd post to the list after making major
additions or changes to the Charter of Human Rights and Principles on the
Internet.
http://irc.wiki.apc.org/index.php/Charter_of_Human_Rights_and_Principles_on_the_Internet

I added some bullet points to some of the various articles,
including: Article 6-11: Legal rights; Article 12 - Privacy; Article 19 -
Freedom of Expression; and Article 21 - Participation in Government. Please
click on the "history" tab to see the exact changes.

I also fleshed out the preamble, as promised. I based my changes and
additions primarily on some concepts from Lisa & Max's paper, as well as the
larger ongoing discussion about multi-stakeholderism, internet governance,
and human rights that has been taking place on this list and several other
lists, as well as various other things I've been reading and writing. It
aims to make a case for human rights as a core component of
multi-stakeholder Internet governance. Please feel free to add, improve, or
erase and start over if it's not the right thing. For everybody's
convenience, here's how the preamble currently reads:

--

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was the product of
negotiations between government representatives at the United Nations.
States have an obligation to uphold and advance these rights. This includes
taking action to protect people from the violation of rights by third
parties. Rights are balanced with responsibilities: the individual is
expected to respect others and their rights.

The Internet is emerging as the foundation of global communication, with
other communications media, from broadcast to mobile phones, gradually
converging around internet-based networks. Thus, the Internet offers
tremendous new opportunities for people all over the world to realize their
rights as enshrined in the UDHR.

This will only be possible, however, if the public interest and human rights
are held by governments, companies, and individuals to be the primary
criteria for decision-making in Internet governance, the setting of global
technical standards, and the passing of local, national and international
laws regulating the use or deployment of the Internet and related ICT's.

While the Internet began as a U.S.-government funded project, and while all
governments play an essential role in the deployment of Internet
infrastructure around the world, its growth and evolution has primarily been
driven by the private sector and the energies of more than a billion
individual Internet users. The Internet has become a globally interconnected
resource: actions taken by users, businesses, or governments in one country
shape the nature and function of the network for everybody all over the
world.

Thus, it is appropriate that the Internet should be governed by a truly
international, inclusive multi-stakeholder process bringing together public
administrations, governments, civil society as well as businesses as equal
participants.

Furthermore, while the UDHR was the product of government negotiation, it is
appropriate that this Charter of Human Rights and Principles on the Internet
be developed through an inclusive multi-stakeholder process.

The following principles are deemed by participants in this
multi-stakeholder process to be essential criteria in order to uphold and
protect human rights on the Internet, and to make sure that the Internet
continues to evolve in a way that supports and expands these rights.

--

Best,

Rebecca



-- 
Rebecca MacKinnon
Open Society Fellow | Co-founder, GlobalVoicesOnline.org
Assistant Professor, Journalism & Media Studies Centre, University of Hong
Kong

UK: +44-7759-863406
USA: +1-617-939-3493
HK: +852-6334-8843
Mainland China: +86-13710820364

E-mail: rebecca.mackinnon at gmail.com
Blog: http://RConversation.blogs.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/rmack
Friendfeed: http://friendfeed.com/rebeccamack
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