huridocs-tech UNESCO Conference Report

8/10/98
Dear Colleagues

Marc Rotenberg a speaker on the 3rd Round Table gives the following report
on the UNESCO Conference with a main emphasis on his own panel. I also
spoke at the UNESCO Conference but on the 4th Round Table and I will submit
my own report concentrating on IP/Privacy & Security issues during this
week. There were 6 round table sessions over 3 days.

Best Wishes, Peter
Peter Randle.

======================================================================
EPIC Report[5] UNESCO Congress Explores Cyberspace
=======================================================================

Delegates from around the world engaged in lively round-table debates
at the 3-day INFOethics'98 Congress on the legal and societal
challenges of cyberspace, organised by UNESCO in co-operation with the
Principality of Monaco and the Institut national de l'audiovisuel,
(INA, France) and chaired by Peter Canisius, President of the German
National Commission to UNESCO.

The conference brought together governmental, university and
private-sector specialists from some 65 countries.  In his welcoming
address, Mr. Canisius urged participants to "form a common ground for
co-operation based on human rights, solidarity and justice in
cyberspace."

"If we meet criminals on the information highways, we have to fight the
criminals -- not the highways," declared Henrikas Yushkiavitshus,
UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Communication, Information and
Informatics at the opening of the congress.  Mr. Yushkiavitshus
reminded participants of UNESCO's mandate to promote world-wide
implementation of articles enshrined in the 1948 Universal Declaration
of Human Rights, highlighting that the Internet offers "almost
unlimited opportunities for the practical implementation of Article
19," which upholds the "freedom to hold opinions without interference
and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media
and regardless of frontiers."

Marc Rotenberg, executive director of EPIC and a Legal Expert to
UNESCO, called on UNESCO to assert the applicability of legal rights
across national borders.  "Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights establishes the fundamental right of privacy and should be
respected in all nations."

Rohan Samarajiva, Director-General of Telecommunications at the
Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka, warned
participants that international co-operation may not help developing
countries and regions gain an equal voice in shaping cyberspace norms
and values.  "The fact is that cyberspace is populated primarily by
actors located in rich countries and they are the people who will set
the ground rules," suggested Mr. Samarajiva.  "Those (countries) who
join later and in smaller numbers will not have their cultural mores
and values reflected in these developing ethical and legal frameworks."

Kazem Motamed-Nejad, Professor of Communication Science at the
University of Allameh Tabatabai in Teheran (Iran), outlined efforts in
the field of communication policy by the Economic Cooperation for
Development (ECO), a regional body founded in 1990 grouping 10 Central
Asian and Arab states with a total population of over 300 million.  He
expressed hope that "ECO Member States may, at the regional level,
adopt legal instruments guaranteeing freedom of speech and information
while recognizing the limits of this freedom, of which the protection
of privacy is a part."

The participants at the Congress adopted a statement at the conclusion
of the conference reaffirming support for Article 19 of the Universal
Declaration on freedom of expression and Article 12 on the right to
privacy.  The group recommended that UNESCO in cooperation with other
international organizations pursue several efforts, including measures
to overcome barriers between information rich and information poor; the
promotion of learning, education and training to achieve media
competence; and an interdisciplinary debate on all ethical implications
of new communication technologies.

INFOethics '98 attracted scholars and policy-makers from every world
region to debate the ethical, legal and societal challenges of
cyberspace. Among the distinguished speakers were Alexander Yakolev, a
key figure from Russia's Glasnost movement now at the head of the
International Democracy Foundation; Vigdis Finnbogadottir, former
President of Iceland and current chairperson of UNESCO's World
Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology; Aidan
White, General Secretary of the Internet Federation of Journalists; and
Richard Stallman, founder of the Free Software Foundation and the
GNU/Linux "Copyleft" movement.

Additional information is available at:

     UNESCO Infoethics '98 Conference
     http://www.unesco.org/webworld/infoethics_2/



----------------------------------
Send mail for the 'huridocs-tech' list to 'huridocs-tech@hrea.org'.
Mail administrative request to 'majordomo@hrea.org'.
For additional assistance, send mail to: 'owner-huridocs-tech@hrea.org'.
Archives of previous messages posted to the list can be found at:
http://www.human-rights.net/huridocs-tech.