Supporters of an Internet bill of rights made their case for such an effort at the Internet Governance Forum, a United Nations meeting in Athens. According to Robin Gross of civil liberties group IP Justice, such a document is vital to ensuring that the human rights and liberties “enjoyed in the traditional age must move with us to the digital age.” Because the Internet is a “place of conflict,” said Stefano Rodota, former head of the Council of European Data Protection Agencies, a bill of Internet rights is necessary to ensure that the Internet remains a “place to give citizenship and democracy new opportunities.” Specifics of what exactly the bill would include were not discussed, though proponents agreed that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights would be a good starting point. Critics of an Internet bill of rights argued that sufficient structures already exist to accomplish the stated goals of the bill of rights, and they noted that such a document would not be legally binding for any country or corporation.
BBC, 1 November 2006
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6106452.stm
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