[kictanet] Day 5 of 10: IG Discussions, Legal Issues

[John Walubengo]

Very true Alex,

Meanwhile, for those still in denial on Internet Governance Issues, check this out:

Tuesday, August 5, 2008
WWW.USDOJ.GOV
US Dept of Justice, Press Release,

More Than 40 Million Credit and Debit Card Numbers Stolen
http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2008/August/08-ag-689.html

walu.

--- On Fri, 8/15/08, Gakuru, Alex <alexgakuru.lists at gmail.com> wrote:

> From: Gakuru, Alex <alexgakuru.lists at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [kictanet] Day 5 of 10: IG Discussions, Legal Issues
> To: jwalu at yahoo.com
> Cc: kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke
> Date: Friday, August 15, 2008, 8:01 PM
> "The IGF is unique in the UN's history, designed to
> grant governments,
> NGOs, and commerce an equal seat at the table." says
> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/06/12/igf_nominet_2007/
> 
> The issues for discussion today and Monday calls for
> government, NGOs,
> and Private Sector participation as equals. Thus far
> contributions
> have come only from members of ICT Civil Society and
> Private Sector.
> There is a need for government "spokespersons" to
> also participate as
> equals, especially considering that the current topics 
> squarely lie
> in the their domain. The mature engagement displayed
> to-date should
> suffice to re-assure and urge government to participate. We
> are all in
> this together looking for answers and not a single
> constituency holds
> monopoly on opinion or interests.
> 
> It would help us much if non-ICT stakeholder expressed
> their opinion.
> Rest assured all opinion expressed under  this thread is
> protected
> under UN Conventions on Free Expression with
> Responsibility.
> Government is just an equal participant. Quote me on that;)
> 
> Regards,
> 
> 
> 
> On Fri, Aug 15, 2008 at 8:21 AM, John Walubengo
> <jwalu at yahoo.com> wrote:
> > Mornings,
> >
> > Today and next Monday, we intend to thrash out the
> legal dimensions of Internet Governance. The typical issues
> revolve around:
> > -Jurisdiction & Arbitration (who resolves
> e-disputes)
> > -Copyright & IPR (are they pro or
> anti-development?)
> > -Privacy and Data Protection (how is the e-Citizens
> data abused/protected?)
> >
> > I do hope the 'learned' friends will chip in
> since I cannot pretend to be an expert here as I introduce
> the general legal principals.  Basically, dispute
> resolutions can be done through,
> > ·       Legislation;
> > ·       Social norms (customs);
> > ·       Self-regulation;
> > ·       Regulation through code (software solution);
> > ·       Jurisprudence (court decisions);
> > ·       International law.
> >
> > There is however two broad conflicting schools of
> thought when it comes to resolving disputes occasioned by
> the Internet. One group claims that whatever happens online
> does have an equivalent 'off-line' characteristics
> and as such existing laws can easily be applied.  E.g
> stealing money electronically is no different from stealing
> money physically and so Robbery charges and subsequent
> jurisdictional procedures could apply.  However, the second
> group feels that electronic crimes have a totally different
> context and must have a separate and totally new set of
> legislation or methodologies for resolutions.
> >
> > The borderless nature of the Internet brings to fore
> the Challenges of Jurisdiction and Arbitration as in
> yesterday's example, where content in one country may be
> illegal but is legal in another. Copyright and Intellectual
> Property Rights issues are also explosive as demonstrated by
> the Napster Case, where some young software engineers
> created software that facilitated sharing of (SONY) Music
> files across the Internet. Also related was the case of
> Amazon.com trying to Patent the 'single-click'
> method of buying goods online.
> >
> > Other cases touch on Data Privacy where Business
> Companies have been known to sell customer records to
> Marketing firms without express authority from the
> Customers. Other times customer data is simply hacked into
> and Businesses are unable to own up (going public) to the
> detriment of the Customer.
> >
> > Most of these issues are under discussion
> internationally at the Internet Governance Forum (IGF),
> World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) amongst
> other fora. They present emerging legal challenges and it
> would be interesting to know if stakeholders in the East
> African region are/should be involved in shaping the
> outcomes of any of these issues.
> >
> > 2days on this one, today and next Monday and feel free
> to belatedly respond to Day 1 through Day 5 issues.
> >
> > References:
> > http://www.diplomacy.edu/ISL/IG/
> > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napster
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
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