Also Turning 20 Years Old Today: John Perry Barlow's Declaration Of The Independence Of Cyberspace

from the still-a-work-in-progress dept

Earlier today, we wrote about how 20 years ago today, the Communications Decency Act became law (most importantly, Section 230, rather than the rest of it, which was dropped as unconstitutional). Of course, at the time, everyone was mostly focused on the unconstitutional parts trying to outlaw lots of smut online. It was partly that signing (which itself was a part of the larger Telecommunications Reform Act that inspired an apparently fairly drunk John Perry Barlow to pen his now quite famous Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace -- which is now regularly quoted. A snippet:

Governments of the Industrial World, you weary giants of flesh and steel, I come from Cyberspace, the new home of Mind. On behalf of the future, I ask you of the past to leave us alone. You are not welcome among us. You have no sovereignty where we gather.

We have no elected government, nor are we likely to have one, so I address you with no greater authority than that with which liberty itself always speaks. I declare the global social space we are building to be naturally independent of the tyrannies you seek to impose on us. You have no moral right to rule us nor do you possess any methods of enforcement we have true reason to fear.

Governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. You have neither solicited nor received ours. We did not invite you. You do not know us, nor do you know our world. Cyberspace does not lie within your borders. Do not think that you can build it, as though it were a public construction project. You cannot. It is an act of nature and it grows itself through our collective actions.

Of course, many have attacked its words, and these days, it -- like Stewart Brand's famed "information wants to be free" quote (which is much longer and more nuanced than most people think) -- is more often referenced by people who hold it up for the sake of mockery, and to talk about how times have changed, or need to change.

And yet, there are (and remain) some very important concepts in that "dashed off" statement, and Barlow still stands by them today, even as think tanks laugh factories like ITIF (who brought you brilliant ideas like "SOPA") pretend he no longer supports it.

The Declaration was not a statement of inevitability, but rather a notice that things are different online. And they are. We've seen this over and over again -- from back then and continuously up through today. So many of the disputes that we run into are about this very different nature of the internet from the physical world. Borders are not easily marked online, though people have tried. Artificial property restrictions are make much less sense when there is no physical scarcity, but digital abundance allows for anyone to simply make their own copy. Questions about jurisdiction and power remain. Self-organizing communities continue to show up. Some work better than others. Some work for a time and fail. Other experiments show up to replace it.

And, yes, of course, there have been many attempts to either move existing laws into the internet world, or to craft new ones for that purpose. At the same time, many big corporations have stepped in as well, where their own terms of service often act as a type of constitution. Some of these work better than others. The little tiny good law tucked deep into the horrible law of the CDA, has actually been a key element in protecting much of what Barlow spoke about.

But, as Barlow notes today, it takes a lot of work to keep the system moving in the right direction, and it's something we cannot and should not take for granted:

Barlow admits that what he describes as the “immune system” of the Internet isn’t exactly automatic. It requires effort on the part of activists like himself. “It wasn’t a slam dunk and it isn’t now. I wouldn’t have started the EFF and the Freedom of the Press Foundation” if it were, he says. But he nonetheless believes that there is a kind of inexorable direction of the Internet’s political influence toward individual liberty.

The technology and innovation continues to make things possible, but what happens next, depends on what people do with it.

Filed Under: cda, cda 230, declaration of independence of cyberspace, internet rights, john perry barlow, jurisdiction

Italian Parliament Publishes Draft Internet Bill Of Rights

from the who's-next? dept

For several years, Techdirt covered the twists and turns of the "Marco Civil" saga, Brazil's bill of rights for the Internet, which finally passed back in March. Rather depressingly, this welcome move seemed to be something of a one-off, but now the Italian Parliament has announced its own draft bill of rights. Here's the introduction (original in Italian -- pdf):

The Internet has contributed decisively to the redefinition of both the private and public space, to structure the relationships between people and between people and institutions. It has cancelled borders and built new means of production and the use of knowledge. It has expanded the possibilities for direct intervention in the public sphere by individuals. It has modified the organization of work. It has allowed the development of a more open and free society. The Internet should be considered as a global resource and one that meets the criterion of universality.

The European Union is today the region of the world with the highest constitutional protection for personal data, explicitly recognized by Article 8 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, which is the point of reference for specifying principles concerning the operation of the Internet, even in a global context.

This Statement of Rights on the Internet is based upon the full recognition of freedom, equality, dignity and diversity of each person. The guarantee of these rights is a necessary condition for ensuring the democratic functioning of institutions, and in order to avoid the dominance of public and private powers that could lead to a society of surveillance, control and social selection.

The Internet is configured as an increasingly-important space for the self-organization of individuals and groups, and as a vital tool for promoting individual and collective participation in democratic processes and meaningful equality.

The principles regarding the Internet also take account of its structure as an economic space that makes possible innovation, fair competition and growth in a democratic context.

A Declaration of Rights for the Internet is an essential tool to provide a constitutional foundation for principles and rights at a supranational level.

There then follow 14 digital rights, including things like basic human rights; right to access the Net; Net neutrality; control of personal data online; protection against surveillance without the approval of a judge; right to online anonymity; and the right to be forgotten.

The present document is just a draft, and input will be gathered from many quarters, including the public, who can make comments and suggestions using an online system. That's only in Italian, for understandable reasons, but it would be good if translations into other major languages were made to allow an even wider consultation [Update: English and French drafts of just the text are available.] After all, a bill of rights for the Internet is something that concerns everyone, not just citizens of enlightened nations like Brazil and Italy.

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Filed Under: bill of rights, brazil, internet, internet rights, italy, marco civil