[IRP] Outcomes of call on right to access/right to the Internet.

[Michael Gurstein]

Discussion around matters concerning "rights" and the tactics, strategies,
terminology of this and so on is not something I have a lot of experience or
knowledge concerning...
 
So the issues that both Shaila and Dixie are presenting are ones that I have
a gut (but only a gut) reaction to... My preference as I have indicated is
with "a Right to the Internet" and I still would be interested to see who
would rally to that flag... (or not) and for what reasons...
 
I don't know that the issues around the "Right to Communicate" (or the
larger political context are the same)...given the way in which that was
entangled with the McBride Commission and the Cold War/3rd Worldist politics
of the time, but again I've no particular knowledge or expertise.
 
One thing I do "know" though is that the current spreading tsunami around
Wikileaks is making an extremely powerful case for (and for certain parties
against) a Right to the Internet (not simply to "access" but also to make
"effective use" of the Internet) and if positioned correctly a campaign
around Right to the Internet could ride this particular wave alongside those
who could and should be our allies in this effort while drawing fire from
those who would likely oppose even the mildest positioning around a "Right
to Access the Internet".
 
Best,
 
Mike

-----Original Message-----
From: irp-bounces at lists.internetrightsandprinciples.org
[mailto:irp-bounces at lists.internetrightsandprinciples.org] On Behalf Of
Dixie Hawtin
Sent: Thursday, December 09, 2010 8:26 AM
To: irp at lists.internetrightsandprinciples.org
Subject: Re: [IRP] Outcomes of call on right to access/right to the
Internet.



Hi Parminder, Michael, Shaila, Lisa et al.,

 

I don't want to take up all of your time, so my position can be summarized
as: I don't think we should put a Right to the Internet in Version 1.1 of
the Charter.

 

The details of why I think that are as follows: 

In the first article of the Charter we are talking about access issues, thus
it is semantically accurate to call this article "access to the Internet". A
"right to the Internet" is a different right. My understanding is that the
"right to the Internet" would demand all of the same things that we are
currently asking for in the Charter, only they would all form part of one
overarching right: the right to the Internet. 

 

In which case, the Charter would look very different. It would become the
Charter on the Right to the Internet, and all of the current provisions
would become different constituent parts of that right, much like the
Declaration on the Right to Development (see
http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/rtd.htm)

 

If the "Right to the Internet" incorporates something above and beyond what
we already have in the Charter, please say so.

 

So: if the substance is the same, what is the benefit in presenting it as
one overarching right? From what I understand the main advantage in
demanding a "Right to the Internet" is that everything to do with that right
is contained within the same four words and that this can have great
rhetorical and political power. 

 

This is true, but I think there are also risks in this approach, and in my
eyes the risks outweigh the benefits. For me the risks are as follows:

1.       I can't find anybody arguing for a Right to the Internet. I have
been looking all morning, and everything I find is arguing for a "Right to
Access the Internet." In this case, it will be far more effective (in my
opinion) to add our voices to this momentum which already exists.

2.       If we talk about a Right to the Internet I don't think we can deny
that we are asking for a new right (in fact I think, Parminder, you would
like us to be explicitly demanding a new right) and the exercise will change
purpose (in my view) and become essentially a campaign for a new right to
the Internet. First I question whether we have the resources and the will to
run such a campaign, but more importantly from what I've heard about the
"Right to Communication" campaign, I feel we will be shooting ourselves in
the foot, and as Shaila said, our Charter will fall at the first hurdle.

3.       Finally I think that "a right to the Internet" implies that the
Internet is analogous with a Right to education, or the right to an adequate
standard of living, or the right to self-determination. In my eyes it is
not. Those rights are ends in themselves, whereas I believe the only reason
any of us are arguing for this Charter is because the Internet is one of the
best tools for realizing existing rights, both civil and political and
economic , social and cultural. I think this distinction is captured in the
"right to access the Internet".

 

I recognize that some people in the Coalition that the risks also outweigh
the benefits in claiming a right to access the Internet. To my eyes it is
different, there is growing evidence that more and more people are seeing
"access to the Internet" as a fundamental right because it is critical to
the full enjoyment of so many existing human rights. Thus I think it can be
argued that we are not arguing for a new right, but rather that the rights
remain the same  (e.g. freedom of expression, right to an adequate standards
of living, right to self-determination), but the reality of the world has
changed, and in this new world those rights imply a right to access. 

 

Finally, I just want to say, I'm not against a "Right to the Internet" in
principle, I've taken a strategic position. And therefore I believe it would
be very valuable to talk to as many people about this as possible while we
are consulting on Version 1.1, and then if we discover that we can argue for
this right without undermining the Charter, we can put it into Version 2.0.

 

What about including this compromise paragraph in the Preamble?

This Charter reinterprets and explains universal human rights in the context
of the Internet; in doing so it may be interpreted as defining the necessary
elements of a new right to the Internet, should such a right emerge.

 

Best, Dixie

___________________________________________________________

Dixie Hawtin

Researcher Global Partners and Associates

338 City Road, London, EC1V 2PY, UK

Office: + 44 207 239 8251     Mobile: +44 7769 181 556

 <mailto:lisa at global-partners.co.uk> dixie at global-partners.co.uk
<http://www.global-partners.co.uk/> www.global-partners.co.uk 

 

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