[IRP] The Nature and Objectives of the Charter

[Dixie Hawtin]

Dear all,

At the last Coalition conference call we decided upon a process for looking at the Version 1.1 Draft within the Coalition. A few topics were identified as requiring in-depth discussion - I would now like to introduce the first topic - "the Nature and Objectives of the Charter".

The plan is for us to discuss this issue on the mailing list from now until the 22nd (next Monday), and then to have a conference call on Tuesday 23rd of November to make any decisions which need to be made. Please join this call if at all possible.  Please respond to the doodle poll to let us know what time would be good for you: http://doodle.com/7dpgwxbtstdrt2pn

What do we need to discuss? Essentially, while there is widespread (although not unanimous) agreement that the aim of the Charter is to "layout and explain how existing agreed-upon human rights standards apply to the specific context of the Internet" (preamble, Version 1.0)there are many differences in opinion as to what exactly this phrase means. Are we trying to create a document that is strictly legal? Are we being aspirational? Is it a reference document? Is it an advocacy document? What are our sources?

If we try to make the Charter all things to all people, it is very unlikely to end up doing anything really well. This discussion should help us to come up with a clear idea of  what the Charter is and what it is trying to do. I have tried to outline what I think are the main issues and the main decisions which we need to make as a Coalition in this document: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1T8XlzILsfqboa9nSRs5fk9V7sa8bspd9Zx0RqGQqEl0/edit?hl=en&authkey=CPGrxpAG

I look forward to this very important discussion!
All the 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
dixie at global-partners.co.uk<mailto:lisa at global-partners.co.uk>  www.global-partners.co.uk<http://www.global-partners.co.uk/>

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