[Chapter-delegates] Internet and Constitution

[Tommi Karttaavi]

Hi,

This is a fascinating discussion and I agree largely with what Markus 
says here. However, there is still the question of how France, whose 
constitution protects the freedom of speech, can approve a law like 
HADOPI? Obviously the civil rights of criminal offenders can be limited, 
but cutting off the internet connection because of downloading copyright 
protected material seems like too harsh a punishment, if the Internet is 
considered to be a major means for self expression.

The above concern aside, the universal service obligation is a good 
regulative tool. The downside is that 'functional' and 'affordable' are 
difficult concepts to define legally. Especially the latter and 
especially in countries where there are great differences between the 
income levels of citizens.

Regards,

Tommi

On 27.4.2011 3:45, kummer at isoc.org wrote:
> There are others, although I do not have an overview. Switzerland for example also included the Internet into the universal service obligation. For some reason the Swiss policy announcement was more low key and therefore received less attention than the Finnish example.
>
> The main point here is that there is a fundamental difference between a human right as enshrined in Article 19 and a positive right, as the right to have an Internet connection would be. The classical human rights protect the individual from the State. The State is asked not to do anything, but to let the individual enjoy his basic rights and freedom. The positive right however gives an obligation to the State "to do something", that is to provide access to the Internet. Apart from some basic questions as to who would pay for this right, it would also blur the role of the State and could be potentially dangerous, as it might be tempting for some governments to interpret extensively their role and also interfere in an are where they should keep out.
>
> The universal service obligation is a much neater solution, as it imposes an obligation on the carrier to provide access to areas where otherwise it might not be commercially viable. This is a well tested regulatory measure and used for postal and telecommunication services in many countries.
>
> Best regards
> Markus
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: "Alejandro Pisanty"<apisan at servidor.unam.mx>
> Sent: Tuesday, 26 April, 2011 17:47
> To: "Khaled KOUBAA"<khaled.koubaa at gmail.com>
> Cc: chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org
> Subject: Re: [Chapter-delegates] Internet and Constitution
>
> Khaled,
>
> the primary example at a national level is FINLAND.
>
> Alejandro Pisanty
>
>
> .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . .  .  .  .  .  .
>        Dr. Alejandro Pisanty
> UNAM, Av. Universidad 3000, 04510 Mexico DF Mexico
>
> Tels. +52-(1)-55-5105-6044, +52-(1)-55-5418-3732
>
> * Mi blog/My blog: http://pisanty.blogspot.com
> * LinkedIn profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/pisanty
> * Twitter: http://twitter.com/apisanty
> * Unete al grupo UNAM en LinkedIn, http://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/22285/4A106C0C8614
>
> * Ven a ISOC Mexico, http://www.isoc.org.mx, ISOC http://www.isoc.org
> *Participa en ICANN, http://www.icann.org
> .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .
>
>
> On Tue, 26 Apr 2011, Khaled KOUBAA wrote:
>
>> Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2011 10:31:06 +0100
>> From: Khaled KOUBAA<khaled.koubaa at gmail.com>
>> To: chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org
>> Subject: Re: [Chapter-delegates] Internet and Constitution
>>
>> Thank you Markus.
>>> To define access to the Internet as a positive right is not without problems. This is best dealt with as a universal service obligation, as some European countries have done already.
>>>
>> Can you give e some example of which European country and what did they do ?
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Chapter-delegates mailing list
>> Chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org
>> https://elists.isoc.org/mailman/listinfo/chapter-delegates
>>
> _______________________________________________
> Chapter-delegates mailing list
> Chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org
> https://elists.isoc.org/mailman/listinfo/chapter-delegates
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Chapter-delegates mailing list
> Chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org
> https://elists.isoc.org/mailman/listinfo/chapter-delegates