18Oct

How to protect human rights in cyberspace

How to protect human rights in the cyberspace? Searching for the best model.

Karol Dobrzeniecki
Nicolaus Copernicus University, Torun

I must agree with Lawrence Lessig’s opinion that the „world online” is different enough to be distinguishable from the „offline world” in significant ways. There is such a situation, I believe, in the field of human rights’ promotion and their protection. Every epoch brings some new possibilities for human development but together rising threats for the evolution of his personality. New situations need new solutions. Common usage of fruits of scientific and technological development, rising a new phenomenon of the cyberspace alters the way how human rights are exercised and the way how they are protected.

In this context I advocate the so called „regional model” of human rights protection in contradiction to the universal one. Regional approach allows to create specific instrument that will be adjusted to unique status of the cybeprspace. That space may be perceived like a geographical region with very specific cultural, political and environmetal conditions, different from the world we know. In this paper I indicate some requirements that such quasi – regional system should fulfill in order to assert an effective and useful protection of human rights.

Click here to view Power Point Presentation

Leer más

18Oct

Laws and codes for the Internet: a continental European legal perspective

Laws and codes for the Internet: a continental European legal perspective
Fernando Galindo.

Faculty of Law
University of Zaragoza

Lessig directs himself primarily to American users of the Internet and this clearly affects the value of his work outwith the US. His work suggests to these users that some Laws are precise and can be applied to the Internet so that the Internet functions well rather than displaying a constant fight amongst its users. However Lessig thinks that the mere translation of the Constitution (he concentrates upon Constitutional matters rather than wider legislative matters) by jurists is not enough to develop solutions to all legal problems of the Internet: new problems exist whose solutions cannot be found through legal decisions made through the traditional legal route – new norms must be arrived at in a different manner.

This paper, however, will argue that Lessig’s US-oriented view is not going to contribute to European jurists basic strategies to solve the practical problems that the use of the Internet and the Information and Communication Technologies create.

Click here to view Power Point Presentation

Leer más

18Oct

Digital Realism and the Governance of Cybercrimes

Digital Realism and the Governance of Cybercrimes. 
David Wall

School of Law
University Leeds

Spam is a pure cybercrime as it is purely a product of the internet and a crime in its own right. Furthermore, it also represents information theft (spam list building) and it can facilitate the commission of further offences by enabling offenders to engage with victims or simply delivering viruses.

Using the example of Spam, this paper will demonstrate how law fails to control spam as undesirable social action. Yet, it will also argue that law remains important because of its ability to shape (and restrict) the digital architecture which allows spam to thrive.

Leer más

18Oct

Some code may render other code obsolete, but only if this other code allows it

Some code may render other code obsolete, but only if  this other code allows it 
Pieter Kleve and Richard de Mulder

Centre for computer science and law
Faculty of law
Erasmus University Rotterdam

Cyberspace as a metaphor for a community inspires many to interesting contemplations. But with a metaphor for a starting point, one needs a lot of luck to end up with a right analysis. The problem with Lessig’s code seems to be, that cyberspace as a community is not the only metaphor presented. So is ‘code is law’.

Code – that is the internet’s architecture, software and protocols – is not law, of course. Code is technology, and technology is usually not understood to be (legal) code. Instead of mixing the two up, for a proper understanding of how technology and law interact it might be better separating them.

In this paper authors will first present a model for analysing the questions raised by Lessig and others. Next they will indicate a characteristic of information technology that can be considered causal to these questions. Based on this model authors will then elaborate on some of the issues. The conclusion is, that the concern of Lessig and others will probably fade when information technology becomes more assimilated in society.

Click here to view Power Point Presentation