[Chapter-delegates] Internet and Constitution

[Carlos Vera Quintana]

In Ecuador we have now a different constitucional approach. The ecuadorian state is a republic of rights.

Next step is how the state ensure that citizens's right are reached.. And here This is a progressive and permanent process..

Carlos Vera

-----Original Message-----
From: Alejandro Pisanty <apisan at servidor.unam.mx>
Date: Mon, 25 Apr 2011 18:07:39 
To: Eric Burger<eburger at standardstrack.com>
Cc: Khaled KOUBAA<khaled.koubaa at gmail.com>; Carlos Vera Q<cveraq at gmail.com>; Chapter Delegates<chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org>
Subject: Re: [Chapter-delegates] Internet and Constitution

Hi,

Tommi Karttavi has described the situation in Finland very well. More 
specifically than a "right to the Internet", what they have put in place 
is a modification of the universal-service provisions so that the 
government can designate an access provider for regions where no 
reasonable commercial provision exists. That is a measured approach.

Ecuador (and here Carlos Vera surely will be able to tell us more) has 
enshrined a right to access the Internet. International knowledgeable 
criticism of this legislation states that it is useless because the right 
is not realized, nor can be.

In Mexico a few federal states and cities have declared such a right and 
are on the way to implementing some free municipal WiFi networks; this 
happens in many other countries as well. AFAIK in the US municipal WiFi is 
not growing and is mostly considered dead in the water. The ones I know of 
in Mexico are lmited in geographical coverage and provide services with 
different sets of limitations (duration of connections, services and ports 
you can access, filtering, etc.)

There are some programs which are in alliance with established large ISPs; 
they provide free, unlimited access to their paying clients (i.e. it's not 
really free) and limited services to those without an account.

Authorities which start such programs tend to underestimate - and then 
underfund - the costs for operating, expanding reach, expanding capacity, 
dealing with legal and political liabilities, and contending with the 
constant pressure of telcos which oppose these projects.

The case of Tunis provides an interesting test: can - and how - access to 
the means to exert recognized fundamental rights (expression, access to 
knowledge) be codified as a right in and of itself? What happens if you 
are too specific, what if too general, in the right that is coded?

Yours,

Alejandro Pisanty




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On Mon, 25 Apr 2011, Eric Burger wrote:

> Date: Mon, 25 Apr 2011 13:52:33 -0400
> From: Eric Burger <eburger at standardstrack.com>
> To: Khaled KOUBAA <khaled.koubaa at gmail.com>
> Cc: chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org
> Subject: Re: [Chapter-delegates] Internet and Constitution
> 
> It is not yet a constitutional issue in the U.S., but a lot of the rationale for network neutrality bills and universal service is that once a preponderance of citizen interaction with their government is via the Internet, such as for getting permits, paying taxes, and voting, then universal Internet access becomes a right. Otherwise, an individual without Internet access would be disenfranchised from their own government.
>
> On Apr 25, 2011, at 8:11 AM, Khaled KOUBAA wrote:
>
>> Dear All,
>> We in the Internet Society Tunisia are working with other partners on a
>> campaign to introduce the "Right to access to the network" as a
>> constitutional right to be added to the new constitution.
>> We appreciate any feedback and help from your side if you can share with
>> us other experience that you heard about or any country who is
>> implementing such rules in their constitution.
>> Many thanks,
>> Khaled KOUBAA
>> _______________________________________________
>> Chapter-delegates mailing list
>> Chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org
>> https://elists.isoc.org/mailman/listinfo/chapter-delegates
>
>