[huridocs-tech] Companies, Human Rights Groups, Investors, Academics and Technology Leaders to Address International Free Expression and Privacy Challenges

Source: http://www.csrwire.com/PressRelease.php?id=7272 

Companies, Human Rights Groups, Investors, Academics and Technology
Leaders to Address International Free Expression and Privacy Challenges

(CSRwire) January 18, 2007--A diverse group of companies, academics,
investors, technology leaders and human rights organizations announced
today its intention to seek solutions to the free expression and privacy
challenges faced by technology and communications companies doing business
internationally.

The process - which aims to produce a set of principles guiding company
behavior when faced with laws, regulations and policies that interfere
with the achievement of human rights - marks a new phase in efforts that
these groups began in 2006.

Last year, Google, Microsoft, Vodafone and Yahoo!, with the facilitation
of Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) and advice from the Berkman
Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School, initiated a series of
dialogues to gain a fuller understanding of free expression and privacy as
they relate to the use of technology worldwide.

At the same time, the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) was also
convening technology leaders, investors and human rights advocates to
discuss how to advance civil liberties on the Internet in the face of laws
that run contrary to international standards for human rights.

Both processes benefited from dialogue, research and policy expertise on
internet filtering and surveillance practices from the OpenNet Consensus,
a coalition of academic institutions including the University of
California Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism and School of
Law-Boalt Hall, the Berkman Center and others.

The new combined group, in addition to developing the principles, seeks to
advance their effectiveness by establishing a framework to implement the
principles, hold signatories accountable and provide for ongoing learning.

"Technology companies have played a vital role building the economy and
providing tools important for democratic reform in developing countries.
But some governments have found ways to turn technology against their
citizens -- monitoring legitimate online activities and censoring
democratic material," CDT Executive Director Leslie Harris said. "It is
vital that we identify solutions that preserve the enormous democratic
value provided by technological development, while at the same time
protecting the human rights and civil liberties of those who stand to
benefit from that expansion."

BSR CEO Aron Cramer said that the discussions over the past year have
already proven valuable.

"Thanks to the extraordinary commitment of the companies and other
participants in this process we've already learned a great deal about the
obstacles we face and the ways business and other stakeholders can join
forces to address those challenges," Cramer said. "This important dialogue
reflects a shared commitment to maximize the information available via the
internet on the basis of global principles protecting free expression and
privacy. This dialogue could prove a key step in unlocking the
communications potential of the internet."

For more information please contact: 

Barbara-Anne Greenwald, Communications Manager 
Business for Social Responsibility 
+1 415-984-3233 
www.bsr.org 

Dave McGuire
Center for Democracy and Technology 
+ 1 202-637-9800 
www.cdt.org 







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