Internet Bill of Rights Dynamic Coalition

The Internet Bill of Rights Dynamic Coalition to advance discussion on fundamental human rights in the Information Age. The Coalition was spear-headed by the governments of Brazil and Italy and has been joined by civil society activists and academics from around the globe. The Internet Bill of Rights Dynamic Coalition maintains a website at www.internet-bill-of-rights.org, an open mailing list and a wiki for public input.

The Internet Bill of Rights Dynamic Coalition was formed in the aftermath of a 2006 IGF Meeting workshop in Athens, Greece (videos of workshop).

The Italian Government will host a “Dialogue Forum on Internet Rights” in cooperation with the IGF and this coalition in Rome, Italy on 27 September 2007.

  • A draft agenda for the 27 Sept. 2007 meeting is available here.

Contributions

The meeting’s organizers encourage the submission of short written contributions that will then be summarized and introduced to the audience during the conference. Such contributions should focus on the two issues raised by the IGF Dynamic Coalition on the Internet Bill of Rights as working items for this year, and specifically:

  • Which are the appropriate forms and instruments to implement and better define human rights and duties in the Internet environment?
  • What areas and types of rights and duties, relevant to the Information Society, should be part of this work and of its results?

Contributions should be submitted by September 20 through the conference web site. The contributions, as well as the results of the conference, will also be used as preparatory material for the workshop that the Dynamic Coalition will hold at the 2nd IGF in Rio de Janeiro in November 2007.

Another coalition related meeting will be held on 12-13 September 2007 in Rio de Janeiro and is organized by Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV) and NUPEF RITS.

Media Coverage of “Internet Bill of Rights”:

* BBC: “Internet Bill of Rights Proposed” (1 Nov 2007)
* Ars Technica: “Internet Bill of Rights Proposed in Athens” (1 Nov 2007)
* Pocket-lint: “United Nations Forum Considers Internet Issues” (1 Nov 2007)

The Association of Progressive Communications (APC) also maintains a webpage on an “Internet Rights Charter”.

Below: Video clip from 2006 IGF Athens workshop on an Internet Bill of Rights (more videos of workshop). Robin Gross of IP Justice discusses the importance of balanced Intellectual Property Rights in Cyberspace: