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UN Declares Internet Freedom a Basic Right
The United Nations Human Rights Council has passed a landmark resolution (PDF) declaring that internet freedom is a basic human right. They wrote: "...the same rights that people have offline must also be protected online, in particular freedom of expression, which is applicable regardless of frontiers and through any media of one’s choice, in accordance with articles 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights." The council also called upon all countries to 'promote and facilitate access to the Internet.' The article points out that this comes alongside a report from the Pew Internet Center, which asked a group of internet stakeholders how they think firms in the private sector will handle the ethical issues that arise with countries wanting to censor or restrict internet access. The responses were varied, but skepticism was a recurring theme: 'Corporations will work around regional differences by spinning off subsidiaries, doing what's needed to optimize on future profits.'"
Well, that oughta do it. Thanks guys. Considering they can't find a way to stop Assad from using tanks on his own people, I wouldn't hold my breath that the UN is going to come to your aid when Comcast decides to throttle your netflix stream...
spy and control their citizens (and if possible, of other countries too) is an government basic right, or at least, the ones that matters more think so.
in particular freedom of expression
"...Now give us control of the root DNS servers so we can take down anyone daring to express unpopular ideas about WWII, religion, socialism, or the latest pseudo-royal who can afford a super-injunction to hide the bink he boinked."
Does that mean that UN itself is going to stop turning around, and trying to take it over every other week. And go hand in hand with the dictatorships of the world to throw the shackles on the rest of the world in order to protect their "sensitives" from the rest of us?
Om, nomnomnom...
Part of what the resolution says is that the Human Rights Council "...[a]ffirms that the same rights that people have offline must also be protected online..." (emphasis added)
This is pretty much opposite the legal situation in the U.S. at least, where the government can demand access to your ISP's logs and the courts pretty much go along with it, but they still need a warrant to put you under physical surveillance.
I would tag this "sudden outbreak of common sense" except that I expect this resolution will have even less impact than the typical U.N. resolution.
[Sir Garlon] is the marvellest knight that is now living, for he destroyeth many good knights, for he goeth invisible.
Well, that oughta do it. Thanks guys. Considering they can't find a way to stop Assad from using tanks on his own people, I wouldn't hold my breath that the UN is going to come to your aid when Comcast decides to throttle your netflix stream...
I would go to the UN, complain and then the UN may send a strongly worded letter to Comcast!
Comcast would rue the day they crossed the UN!
Yet another horrible headline. The resolution doesn't declare the Internet a basic right, it declares that the Internet isn't exempt from the protection of basic rights. Not even close to the same thing, though it doesn't surprise me that Soulskill apparently couldn't tell the difference.
So, since there are dictators who attack their own citizens with military weapons, we can just ignore free speech rights? Internet freedom is a subset of freedom of speech.
Palm trees and 8
The UN is a joke. The US will never ratify this and implement this in our laws. It only applies to those "other" UN members. Take the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child treaty which was implemented 17 years ago, but we have YET to ratify it because the conservatives have a huge problem with children having rights or their own views and feelings being taken into account on things like education, parental placement, etc. as well as being prohibited from the death penalty if you are under 18 years old, etc. Good luck with that. Who is going to stop us? The UN?
There's something that doesn't happen every day, much less only 16 /. posts apart.
Or maybe they think that no matter how bad he would still be better than Romney?
South Park was right when they satirized our political system as voting between a doucebag and a turd sandwich. The only thing that will truly change our country would be to change the actual political system itself, and that will never happen.
He's not flawless in my eyes, nor most other people's eyes -- but he's a damn sight better than any other credible candidate for the presidency.
Maybe if someone else could put up a candidate that wasn't a joke, you wouldn't have to worry about us poor misguided souls voting for someone that you (probably irrationally) despise.
Also, lose the "hope and change" criticism. People voted for him for his substantial policies as well, not just the fluff slogan (which, btw, is something every fucking candidate has). Bring some real complaints to the table or we'll just have to assume that you're ignorant of anything that actually matters.
--Jeremy
Jesus was a liberal
At the timing of news stories, to see the conspiracies in action behind the scenes
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/12/07/06/0021254/ron-pauls-new-primary-goal-is-internet-freedom
It is clear Ron Paul is an agent of the fascist UN. We have been fooled!
(this post is sarcasm, not actual paranoid schizophrenia)
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
Which has about as much meaning as if my local Girl Scouts got together and passed a resolution declaring that internet freedom is a basic human right.
it's not about the internet. it's about freedom on the internet. as in - no censorship, freedom of speech.
Large parts of the economy actually need the Internet to survive, and so do all those employed in and fed by said economy.
cpghost at Cordula's Web.