IRIS’ presence in the VI Brazilian Internet Governance Forum

On the 11th, 12nd and 13rd of July, the city of Porto Alegre (RS) was host to Brazil’s main Internet Governance Meeting: The Brazilian Internet Governance Forum. At its 6th edition, the event was organized by the Brazilian Internet Steering Committee and involved discussion trails, workshops, open plenaries and informal gatherings that allowed for multiple stakeholders, regional representatives and groups to add their own points of view and contributions to the matters debated.

For three days, four main themes guided the discussions, on the form of trails. The first trail, “Universalization and Digital Inclusion” concerned matters of expansion of access and connectivity of the so-called “Next Billion” – the fraction of humanity without Internet Access.

The second trail, “Security and Rights on the Internet” had a mostly legal aspect. Although it was also concerned with technical matters related to network safety, the main debates were focused on matters such as privacy and data protection, net neutrality and online freedom of speech.

The third trail, “Content and Authors’ Goods” dealt mainly with copyright, content production and it’s spreading through the Internet. The fourth trail, “Innovation and Technological Capacitation” dealt with subjects related to the qualification of the workforce on softwares, as well as challenges faced by the IT market in present days.

Network Neutrality

IRIS was present at the Forum, participating mainly on the Security and Rights on the Internet trail, where it could engage and add its own contributions to the Network Neutrality subgroup. The debate on the trail was focused mainly on the applicability of Network Neutrality rules to private networks that provide accessory access to third party and clients – such as hotels, universitys, hosts and others. Doubts were that these agents would become providers subject to the same rule as those businesses that concentrate their activities on access providing the moment they offered an utility Internet connection to a paying client, either paid or free of charge.

IRIS’ contribution was in the sense that these agents are not subject to network neutrality rules of the Marco Civil Regulamentation Decree.

This would be so for mainly two reasons: First, agents in that case are offering Internet access as a secondary service. There’s no direct contract involving provision of access in the strict sense, specially in a way that would justify its characterization as an ISP.

Secondly, such agents would fit in the specialized services mentioned by the Regulamentation Decree on its Article 2, II, b): Services destined to specific groups of users, with strict admission control. These specialized services, according to the law, are not subject to Net Neutrality rules and the rest of the Decree.

Inclusion and Representativity

A significant ammount of discussions on the Forum related to the subject of Digital Inclusion and the need of higher multistakeholder representation and cultural diversity on the field of Internet governance. In a panel about woman and computers, for instance, the The Computers documentary was displayed, telling the history of women that first programmed the ENIAC (The first computer used by the US to calculate ballistic trajectories during World War II). Long neglected on the many branches of science, the field of computer science was specially marked by the fundamental role of women in its development.

During the “Internet Where There’s No Internet” panel, the discussions shifted towards themes such as the profound differences between access to the Internet and effective Digital Inclusion. Besides, the need for effective digital education for newcomers was highlighted.

Já no painel “Internet para Outro Mundo Possível”, a universalidade da Internet e a expansão do acesso, especialmente a grupos ainda marginalizados foram debatidas à luz dos 17 Objetivos do Milênio Sustentável (ODS). Foi ressaltado o papel da Internet para o desenvolvimento humano e como os princípios formulados pelo CGI.br devem ser levados em consideração fim de que a Internet seja um instrumento de consecução do lema “Não deixar ninguém para trás”, que deve nortear o Milênio.

On the “Internet for a Different World”, the debates concerned the universality of the Internet and the expansion of acccess, specially to marginalized groups. The 17 Goals of Sustainable Development were highlighted, along with the role of the Internet for human development and how the principles created by the CGI.Br must be taken in consideration so that the Internet becomes a tool to the achievement of the “Leave no man behind” motto.

Documentário Freenet

Just as we’ve done earlier this year, the Forum also organized the exhibition of the Freenet documentary, as well as debate on the main issues raised by the movie. The documentary gathers a series of considerations concerning digital inclusion, accessibility, copyright and privacy. Besides raising interesting discussions about the lack of digital inclusion on present days, the documentary also investigates how invasion of privacy and misuse of personal data are ongoing threats to modern life.

Coalizão de Direitos na Rede

Além das trilhas que se desenvolveram paralelamente no primeiro dia, o Fórum contou com diversos outros workshops, seminários e desconferências que trataram sobre os mais diversos temas. Um desses encontros do qual o IRIS participou foi o da Coalizão de Direitos na Rede.

Besides the trails that went on simultaneously during the first day, the Forum also counted with several other workshops, seminars and informal conferences that dealt with diverse subjects. One of these gatherings of which IRIS took part was that of the Coalition for Network Rights.

The Coalition’s main goals are those of strengthening the debate and the safety of users’ rights facing the recent threats coming from specific groups and conservative parliamentary initiatives. Highlighting the need of uniting under the same flag in activism against the many ongoing attacks, the Coalition was formed by many institutions and groups concerned to the protection of users’ rights on the Internet.

For more information on the 6th Brazilian Internet Governance Forum, click here.