Fwd: Seoul
rafik dammak
on Behalf of our friend Katitza
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Katitza Rodriguez Pereda <kat...@datos-personales.org>
Date: Tue, Jun 17, 2008 at 9:14 AM
Subject: Seoul
To: karen banks <kar...@gn.apc.org>, anri...@apc.org, Marc Rotenberg
<rote...@epic.org>, Sherwin Siy <ss...@publicknowledge.org>, Gwen
Hinze <gw...@eff.org>, Parminder Singh <parm...@itforchange.net>,
michael gurstein <gurs...@gmail.com>, willem...@beuc.eu, Anna
Fielder <a.fi...@ncc.org.uk>, Ginger Paque <gpa...@gmail.com>,
Renata Avila <renata.av...@gmail.com>, rafik dammak
<rafik....@gmail.com>, Carolina Rossini
<carolina...@gmail.com>, "Lisa M. Dr. McLaughlin"
<mcla...@muohio.edu>
Cc: coal...@mailman.thepublicvoice.org
Dear all,
A diverse group of civil society groups have worked on a joint Civil
Society Declaration to the OECD 2008 Ministerial on the Future of the
Internet Economy, which is currently taking place in Seoul. It raises
a number of issues of major importance to the civil society community
and makes a number of recommendations to move us towards the future of
the Internet that meets the essential needs of all the world's
citizens.
The declaration has been signed by (so far) EPIC, EFF, EDRi, IRIS,
IT4Change, Public Knowledge, Association for Progressive
Communications, Consumers Korea, Jinbonet, CIPPIC- Canadian Internet
Policy and Public Interest Clinic, BEUC - The European Consumers'
Organisation, BEUC - The European Consumers' Organisation, Centre for
Community Informatics Research, Training and Development, Consumer
Council of Canada and many individuals (William Drake, Adam Peake, Urs
Gasser, Jisuk Woo, Fouad Riaj Bajwaw, Gerry Morgan Foundation,
Carolina Rossini, Lisa M.Dr. Mc Lauglin, Esteba Urbie Restrepo Public
Internet Advocacy Center)
The full text of the Declaration is at:
<http://thepublicvoice.org/events/seoul08/seoul-declaration.pdf>
Find below the Seoul Declaration in Txt
The declaration is open for sign on by civil society organizations and
individual CS representatives by Tuesday 12:00 US EST. If your
organization / you are interested in signing on, please email Katitza
Rodriguez Pereda of EPIC at kat...@datos-personales.org.
Many thanks and all best,
---
June 2008 1 "The Civil Society-TUAC Seoul Declaration"
CIVIL SOCIETY - TUAC
"THE SEOUL DECLARATION"
TO THE OECD MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
ON THE FUTURE OF THE INTERNET ECONOMY
Seoul, Korea
16 June 2008
This gathering of civil society organizations and organized labor at
the OECD Ministerial
Conference on the Future of the Internet Economy provides a unique
opportunity to bring to the attention of the OECD Ministers assembled
and the OECD member countries the concerns and aspirations of people
around the globe, those who are on the Internet and those who are not.
We thank the OECD and the Government of Korea for the opportunity to
organize a civil
society and labor event and to participate in the OECD Ministerial
Conference. Civil society and labor together prepared a paper for the
OECD and organized a conference "Making the future of the Internet
work for citizens, consumers and workers." A wide range of
organizations participated in this effort, and this Declaration builds
on its results.
A BROAD FRAMEWORK FOR THE FUTURE OF THE INTERNET ECONOMY
The policy goals for the Future Internet Economy should be considered
within the broader
framework of protection of human rights, the promotion of democratic
institutions, access to
information, and the provision of affordable and non-discriminatory
access to advanced
communication networks and services. Compliance with international
human rights standards and respect for the rule of law, as well as
effective human rights protection, must be the baseline for assessing
global information society policies. Economic growth should be for the
many and not the few. The Internet should be available to all. We
therefore call attention of the OECD to Ministers to the following
issues and we make the following recommendations:
* Freedom of expression. Freedom of expression is being violated
around the globe by state censorship and by more subtle measures such
as content filtering, privatized censorship and restrictions on
so-called "harmful content." We urge the OECD to defend freedom of
expression and to oppose mandated filtering, censorship of Internet
content, and criminalization of content that is protected under
international freedom of expression standards.
* Protection of Privacy and Transparency, We reaffirm our support for
the OECD Privacy
Guidelines as a fundamental policy instrument setting out minimal
requirements for the
transborder flow of personal data. We recommend adoption of the recent
policy guidance on
RFID and Online Identity Theft as Council Recommendations. We call on
OECD countries to
adopt and enforce data protection laws covering all sectors, both
online and offline, and to
establish international data protection standards that are legally
enforceable. We further urge
member states to ensure fairness, transparency, and accountability for
all data processing for
border security, identification, and decision-making concerning individuals.
* Consumer Protection. Trust and confidence are critical to the
success of the Internet economy.
The OECD should ensure that consumer protection laws are properly
enforced and cover digital
products to the same extent that other consumer goods and services are
covered. We recommend
that the OECD adopt the policy proposals on Empowering Consumers in
Communications
Services and in Mobile Commerce as Council Recommendations, and that
the OECD member
countries implement these recommendations. We support the OECD's
efforts to facilitate cross-
border enforcement of anti-spam laws and to develop effective online
dispute resolution
mechanisms.
* Employment, Decent Work and Skills. We recommend that OECD Member
countries promote
learning and training opportunities for workers and address the
technological and organizational
change in the workplace. We further urge the OECD to lower the carbon
footprint of the ICT
industry and to promote compliance with core labor standards and the
OECD Guidelines for
Multinational Enterprises.
* Promotion of Access to Knowledge. We support open access to
government-funded scientific
and scholarly works and endorse the OECD Principles and Guidelines for
Access to Research
Data. We support the OECD Recommendation for Enhanced Access and More
Effective Use of
Public Information. OECD countries should oppose extensions of
copyright terms and private
ownership of essential knowledge and cultural information that can be
made available on the
Internet. We recommend that the OECD undertake a study on the
importance of copyright
exceptions for education, libraries and archives, the disability
community, and new innovative
services.
* Internet Governance. Internet governance structures should reflect
democratic values and be
transparent and publicly accountable to users. Global Internet
policymaking should involve equal
participation of all people, countries, and stakeholders. We call upon
the OECD member states to
support the Internet Governance Forum and to promote the
multi-stakeholder process of the
World Summit on the Information Society.
* Promotion of Open Standards and Net Neutrality. Standards-making
processes should be open
and should encourage competition. This promotes innovation and
development. We support the
procurement policies that promote open standards, open data formats,
and free and open
software. We further recommend that the OECD Member Countries oppose
discrimination by
network providers against particular applications, devices, or content
and preserve the Internet's
role in fostering innovation, economic growth, and democratic communication.
* Balanced Intellectual Property Policies. We urge the OECD member
countries to maintain a
balanced framework for intellectual property protection that is least
intrusive to personal privacy,
least restrictive for the development of new technologies, and that
promotes creativity,
innovation, and learning. We support the OECD Policy Guidance for
Digital Content. OECD
countries should oppose proposals that would deny individuals access
to all Internet services and
opportunities based on alleged copyright infringement. We are also
concerned about the secrecy
of the "Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement" (ACTA) treaty process and
the possibility of
policies that may limit legitimate business activity, the
participative web, and e-government
service delivery.
* Support for Pluralistic Media. The Internet is a universal platform
for innovation, growth, and
the ability of people to express and share their views. New forms of
media and new applications
are emerging that challenge old paradigms and enable broader public
participation. At the same
time, dominant Internet firms are moving to consolidate their control
over the Internet. It is
vitally important for the OECD to develop a better understanding of
the challenge industry
consolidations pose to the open Internet. The OECD Policy Guidance on
Convergence and Next
Generation Networks provides a basis this work.
* Inclusive Digital Society. The Internet should be accessible to all.
OECD member countries
should ensure that all residents have the means to access the Internet
and should provide public
Internet access, training and support. Particular attention should be
paid to rural, remote and
aboriginal populations, as well as the disability community.
* Cultural Diversity. We support the efforts of the OECD to promote
access to the full range of
the world's cultures and to ensure that the Internet economy reflects
the true diversity of
language, art, science, and literature in our world. The deployment of
International Domain
Names should be a priority.
PARTICIPATION OF CIVIL SOCIETY AND LABOUR
This participation of civil society and organized labor reaffirms the
role of all stakeholders
in the Future of the Internet Economy. Now it is time to formalize this process.
In 1998 civil society and labor urged the OECD Ministerial Conference
in Ottawa to
establish an Advisory Council, similar to the Business Industry
Advisory Committee (BIAC) for
business and the Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC) for labor. We
said that this new
Advisory Council should include civil society groups in such fields as
human rights and
democracy, privacy and data protection, consumer protection, and
access to information and
knowledge.
We urge the OECD to establish now the Civil Society Advisory
Committee. The creation
of an OECD Civil Society Advisory Committee is necessary to help
realize the democratic goals
of inclusion, participation, transparency and accountability at the OECD.
The OECD offers an important forum for the discussion of policies
concerning the future
of the Internet. We welcome this dialogue and urge the Ministers and
members countries of the
OECD to fully engage civil society and labor organizations within
their own countries.
In all decisions related to the Internet economy, we advise the OECD
Ministers and the
members countries to give particular attention to those indicators
concerning literacy, education,
and health. The success of the Internet Economy should be measured by
the well-being of
citizens, and not simply the extent of technology diffusion.
--