[3] BBC,
Internet access is 'a fundamental right', 8 March 2010,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8548190.stm.
[4] In particular the posting of movies on the Internet has been crucial in the strategy of opponents of military regimes. R. Stengel,
Person of the Year Introduction, Time, 14 December 2011,
http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2101745_2102139,00.html . Cf. also G. Ziccardi,
Resistance, Liberation Technology and Human Rights in the Digital Age, Springer, 2013.
[5] J. Wortham,
A Political Coming of Age for the Tech Industry, The New York Times, 17 January 2012,
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/18/technology/web-wide-protest-over-two-antipiracy-bills.html
[6] D. Lee,
Acta: Europe braced for protests over anti-piracy treaty, BBC, 6 February 2012,
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16906086; Irina Baraliuc, Serge Gutwirth and Sari Depreeuw.
Copyright enforcement in Europe after ACTA: What now?, Netherlands Journal of Legal Philosophy, Vol 41(2), 2012, pp 99-104.
[7] UN Human Rights Council,
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Frank La Rue, 6 May 2011, A/HRC/17/27,
http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/17session/A.HRC.17.27_en.pdf .
[8] Article 19, a London-based NGO defending freedom of expression, immediately hailed the report as a milestone development and urged all governments to fully implement its recommendations. Cf. Article 19,
UN: ARTICLE 19 calls for global access to the internet, press release, 21 October 2011,
http://www.article19.org/resources.php/resource/2790/en/un:-article-19-calls-for-global-access-to-the-internet .
[9] UN Human Rights Council,
Report …, op. cit., p 22.
[10] UN Human Rights Council, [Resolution on the]
promotion, protection and enjoyment of human rights on the Internet, A/HRC/20/L.13, 29 June 2012, para 3,
http://daccess-ods.un.org/access.nsf/Get?Open&DS=A/HRC/20/L.13&Lang=E .
[14] P. De Hert,
A right to identity to face the information society, in: W. Bruggeman, R. van Eert and A. van Veldhoven (eds.),
What's in a name? Identiteitsfraude en -diefstal, Maklu, 2012, pp 117-147; P. De Hert,
A right to identity to face the Internet of Things, 2007,
http://portal.unesco.org/ci/fr/files/25857/12021328273de_Hert-Paul.pdf/de%2BHert-Paul.pdf . J.E.J. Prins,
Een recht op identiteit, Nederlands Juristenblad, Vol 82(14), 2007, p 849. See critically S. Gutwirth,
Beyond Identity?, Identity in the Information Society, Vol 1(1), 2009, pp 122-133,
http://www.springerlink.com/content/j4396418218787pm/fulltext.pdf.
[15] P. Bernal,
A right to an online identity?, conference speech, Human Rights in the Digital Era, Leeds, 16 September 2011,
http://prezi.com/jdszwv0kppsd/a-right-to-an-online-identity. N.N.G. Andrade,
Right to Personal Identity.
The Challenges of Ambient Intelligence and the Need for a New Legal Conceptualization, in: S. Gutwirth, Y. Poullet, P. De Hert et al. (eds.),
Computers, Privacy and Data Protection: an Element of Choice, Springer, 2011, p 89.
[17] Cf. Action 16 of the
Digital Agenda. This would be a listing exercise rather than creation of any new rights. We judge this from a statement 'summarises'. The Council of Europe's
Internet Governance Strategy foresees similarly 'drawing up a compendium of existing human rights for Internet users to help them in communicating with and seeking effective recourse to key Internet actors and government agencies when they consider their rights and freedoms have been adversely affected: to report an incident, lodge a complaint or seek a right to reply, redress or other form of recourse.' European Commission,
A Digital Agenda for Europe, COM(2010) 245 final/2, Brussels, 26 August 2010, p 13,
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2010:0245:FIN:EN:PDF .
[18] Council of Europe,
Internet Governance - Council of Europe Strategy 2012-2015, Strasbourg, 15 March 2012, CM(2011)175 final.
[19] Council of Europe,
Declaration of the Committee of Ministers on Internet governance principles, Strasbourg, 21 September 2011,
https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?id=1835773.
[20] Council of Europe,
Recommendation of the Committee of Ministers to member states on the protection and promotion of the universality, integrity and openness of the Internet , Strasbourg, 21 September 2011, CM/Rec(2011)8.
[22] Content and connectivity are two (out of four) central elements or key characteristics of the Internet architecture. Content and connectivity reflect the double nature of the Internet. While content is rather self-evident, connectivity means all necessary infrastructure to access the content, i.e. both physical (hardware, software, cables and wireless equipment) and logical one (communication protocols). It is apparent that these two elements are interdependent. The latter is an enabler for the former: in the digital world, there is no content without connectivity and connectivity without content is useless. (If one recognizes the Internet only as connectivity, we see this as an understanding
sensu stricto .) With the third and the fourth elements - individual user and the society - we attempt to denote the actors and their respective interests with regard to the Internet. The individual user - apart from the need for both connectivity and content - wants protection of her identity, privacy and secrecy of communications, among others. Society as a whole has an interest in safety and security of individual users, development of the Internet and protection of common goods, in particular a secure environment free from cybercrime. Cf. also D. Wall,
Cybercrime, Polity Press, 2007, pp 186-206, 210-214; A.D. Murray,
The Regulation of Cyberspace. Control in the Online Environment, Routledge Cavendish, 2007, pp 203-230; L.A. Bygrave and J. Bing (eds.)
Internet Governance. Infrastructure and Institutions, Oxford University Press, 2009. Compare also with Solum who identifies six characteristics or 'layers': content (symbols and images that are communicated), application (software to use the Internet), transport [Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) protocol, braking data into packets], Internet Protocol (handling the flow of data over the network), link (interface between end-user computer and the physical layer) and - finally - physical layer (cables and wireless equipment). The layers are organised in a vertical hierarchy. (L. Solum,
Models of Internet governance, in L.A. Bygrave and J. Bing (eds.)
Internet Governance…, op. cit., pp 65-66.) For our analysis, connectivity covers the 2
nd, 3
rd, 4
th, 5
th and 6
th layer.
[23] B. Morgan and K. Yeung,
An Introduction to Law and Regulation, Cambridge University Press, 2007.
[24] M. Odello and S. Cavandoli (eds.),
Emerging areas of human rights in the 21st century: the role of the universal declaration of human rights , Routledge, 2011, p 3.
[25] R. Brownsword and M. Goodwin,
Law and the Technologies of the Twenty-First Century, Cambridge University Press, 2012, pp 225-245.
[26] One can ask the question whether a right to identity can cover Internet interest in the digital age, cf. section 5.
[27] For example, the European Parliament has observed that 'the Internet has become a means of expression of choice for political dissidents, democracy activists, human rights defenders and independent journalists worldwide.' European Parliament,
Freedom of expression on the Internet, resolution, 6 July 2006, P6_TA(2006)0324,
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&reference=P6-TA-2006-0324&language=EN .
[28] As early as 1984 Pool contended that the then existing telecommunications technologies had the potential to enrich freedom of speech guaranteed by the existing human rights instruments. He held that electronic media could provide a broader access to more knowledge than ever before and therefore had the potential to open new vistas of freedom of speech and of access to information and ideas. I. De Sola Pool,
Technologies of Freedom, Harvard University Press, 1984.
[29] J. Naughton,
A Brief History of the Future: the origins of the Internet, Phoenix, 2000, p xii.
[30] UN Human Rights Council,
Report…,
op. cit., p 22.
[31] A. Murray,
A Bill of Rights for the Internet, op. cit.
[32] Cf. J. Bing,
Building cyberspace: a brief history of Internet, in L.A. Bygrave and J. Bing (eds.)
Internet Governance…, op. cit., p 47.
[33] L. Guernsey,
Welcome to the World Wide Web. Passport, Please?, The New York Times, 15 March 2001,
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/15/technology/welcome-to-the-web-passport-please.html .
[34] For the history of the Internet, cf. e.g. J. Naughton,
A Brief History of the Future…, op. cit.; J. Goldsmith and T. Wu,
Who Controls the Internet? Illusions of a Borderless World, Oxford University Press, 2006; J. Bing,
Building cyberspace: a brief history of Internet, in L.A. Bygrave and J. Bing (eds.)
Internet Governance. op. cit. A short documentary video is worth attention too: M. Bilgil,
The History of the Internet, 2009, http://www.lonja.de/the-history-of-the-internet.
[35] 'We explore... and you call us criminals. We seek after knowledge... and you call us criminals. We exist without skin color, without nationality, without religious bias... and you call us criminals.'
http://www.mithral.com/~beberg/manifesto.html.
[36] 'Governments of the Industrial World … I ask you of the past to leave us alone. You are not welcome among us. You have no sovereignty where we gather.'
https://projects.eff.org/~barlow/Declaration-Final.html.
[37] Goldsmith and Wu argue that the creation of some of the borders in cyberspace was a response to local demands as well as to cultural and linguistic differences. Cf. further J. Goldsmith and T. Wu,
Who Controls the Internet?,
op. cit., ch 4.
[38] Cf.
Loi n°2009-669 du 12 juin 2009 favorisant la diffusion et la protection de la création sur internet (Loi Hadopi, France),
Digital Economy Act 2010 (UK) and the proposed
Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).
[39] UN Human Rights Council,
Report…,
op. cit., pp 9-26. One could also group these restrictions as targeting either intermediaries or individuals (J. Goldmiths and T. Wu,
Who Controls the Internet, op. cit., ch 5.) or classify them in three categories: national firewalls, user-blocking and content-blocking (E. Schweighofer,
New Borders in Cyberspace, conference speech, Cyberspace 2009, Brno).
[40] I. Katz,
Web freedom faces greatest threat ever, warns Google's Sergey Brin, Guardian, 15 April 2012,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/apr/15/web-freedom-threat-google-brin .
[41] J.P. Sluijs,
From Competition to Freedom of Expression: Introducing Art. 10 ECHR in the European Network Neutrality Debate, TILEC Discussion Paper No. 2011-040, p 6,
http://ssrn.com/abstract=1927814. On 8 May 2012, the Netherlands became the first country in Europe to implement net neutrality in the law. EDRi-gram newsletter,
Netherlands - First Country In Europe With Net Neutrality, 9 May 2012,
http://www.edri.org/edrigram/number10.9/net-neutrality-law-netherlands . Official version:
https://zoek.officielebekendmakingen.nl/kst-32549-29.html.
[42] Cf. Committee to Protect Journalists,
10 Most Censored Countries, 2012,
http://www.cpj.org/reports/CPJ.Ten.Most.Censored.5.2.12.pdf; Reporters sans frontières,
Enemies of the Internet & Countries Under Surveillance, report for 2010:
http://en.rsf.org/IMG/pdf/Internet_enemies.pdf, for 2011:
http://12mars.rsf.org/i/Internet_Enemies.pdf, for 2012:
http://en.rsf.org/IMG/pdf/rapport-internet2012_ang.pdf; OpenNet Initiative,
West Censoring East: The Use of Western Technologies by Middle East Censors, 2010-2011,
http://opennet.net/sites/opennet.net/files/ONI_WestCensoringEast.pdf . In 2012, the British daily 'Guardian' took stock of the new battlegrounds for the internet. Cf.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/series/battle-for-the-internet .
[43] A. Segura-Serrano,
Internet Regulation and the Role of International Law, Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law, Vol 10, 2006, pp 264-270.
[44] 'For instance, the majority of content on the World Wide Web is in English, even though this is not the first language of most users of the Web. … consider the common desktop personal computer: To what degree does the QWERTY keyboard (the standard keyboard available in most countries) privilege languages which are based on the Roman script or privilege, explicitly, the English language?' M. Best,
Can the Internet be a Human Right?, Human Rights & Human Welfare, Vol 4, pp 29-30,
http://www.du.edu/korbel/hrhw/volumes/2004/best-2004.pdf. In 2009, ICANN introduced internationalised domain names (IDN), i.e. domain names that include characters in non-Latin scripts such as Russian or Arabic or may contain Latin letters with diacritical marks, as it is common with European languages. They are meant to allow users to brand themselves better and target desired local markets more effectively. However, a question raises how a non-speaker of e.g. of Japanese can access such websites if their domain names exist only in Japanese. Cf. ICANN,
Internationalised domain names,
http://www.icann.org/en/resources/idn. Cf. further N. Oudshoorn and T. Pinch,
How Users Matter. The Co-Construction of Users and Technology, MIT Press, 2003; and K. Mossberger, C.J. Tolbert and R.S. McNeal,
Digital Citizenship. The Internet, society and participation, MIT Press, 2007.
[45] In the EU, the level of Internet access increased in all Member States between 2006 and 2011, however differences remain significant. In 2011 the household Internet access ranged from 45% in Bulgaria to 94% in the Netherlands. Share of those who never has gone on-line varies between five per cent in Sweden and 54% in Romania. (Eurostat,
Internet access and use in 2011. Almost a quarter of persons aged 16-74 in the EU27 have never used the internet, press release, 14 December 2011, STAT/11/188.) Oxford Internet Institute has created in 2011 a map of worldwide Internet penetration, cf.
http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/vis/?id=4e3c0200. For more statistics on the information society in the EU, cf. e.g. Eurostat,
Information Society,
http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/information_society/introduction ; European Commission,
Digital Agenda Scoreboard 2011,
http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/digital-agenda/scoreboard/index_en.htm . Cf. also United Nations,
Statistical Yearbook 2009, pp 128-139,
http://unstats.un.org/unsd/syb/syb54/SYB54_Final.pdf; International Telecommunication Union,
Measuring the Information Society 2011,
http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/publications/idi/index.html.
[46] D. Rowland,
'Virtual world, real rights?': Human rights and the Internet, in: M. Odello, S. Cavandoli (eds.),
Emerging areas of human rights in the 21st century…, op. cit., p 13.
[47] 'In cooperation with the private sector, make available benefits of new technologies, especially information and communications.' Cf.
http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals.
[48] 'The objectives of the Plan of Action are to build an inclusive Information Society; to put the potential of knowledge and ICTs at the service of development; to promote the use of information and knowledge for the achievement of internationally agreed development goals, including those contained in the Millennium Declaration; and to address new challenges of the Information Society, at the national, regional and international levels.' Cf.
http://www.itu.int/dms_pub/itu-s/md/03/wsis/doc/S03-WSIS-DOC-0005!!PDF-E.pdf .
[49] Cf. A.P.M. Coomans (ed.).
Justiciability of Economic and Social Rights - Experiences from Domestic Systems, Intersentia, 2006.
[50] The Constitution of Greece (as revised by the parliamentary resolution of 6 April 2001 of the VIIth Revisionary Parliament),
http://www.nis.gr/npimages/docs/Constitution_EN.pdf.
[51] Translation unofficial from
http://www.technollama.co.uk/costa-rican-court-declares-the-internet-as-a-fundamental-right . Original Spanish text: 'En este contexto de la sociedad de la información o del conocimiento, se impone a los poderes públicos, en beneficio de los administrados, promover y garantizar, en forma universal, el acceso a estas nuevas tecnologías.' Sala Constitucional De La Corte Suprema De Justicia, Judgement of 30 July 2010, sentencia: 12790, expediente: 09-013141-0007-CO.
[52] J. Gibson and Gr. Caldeira,
The Legal Cultures of Europe, Law & Society Review, Vol 30(1), 1996, pp 1-55.
[53] N.J. DeLong-Bas,
The New Social Media and the Arab Spring, Oxford Islamic Studies Online,
http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/Public/focus/essay0611_social_media.html .
[54] R. Stengel,
Person of the Year…, op. cit.
[56] S. Greer,
The European Convention on Human Rights. Achievements, Problems and Prospects, Cambridge University Press, 2006, p 2.
[57] J. Nickel,
Making Sense of Human Rights: Philosophical Reflections on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, University of California Press, 1987; cited in A. Fagen,
Human Rights, Internet Encyclopaedia of Philosophy,
http://www.iep.utm.edu/hum-rts.
[58] V.G. Cerf,
Internet Access Is Not a Human Right, op. cit.
[59] Easterbrook argued that that there was no more a 'law of cyberspace' than there was a 'law of the horse'. The dean of the Chicago Law School once was proud that they do not offer a course in 'the law of the horse' but rather only those 'law and …' courses that 'could illuminate the entire law.' The best way to learn the law applicable to specialized endeavours is to study general rules. F.H. Easterbrook,
Cyberspace and the Law of the Horse, University of Chicago Legal Forum, Vol 207, 1996; L. Lessig,
The Law of the Horse: What Cyberlaw Might Teach, Harvard Law Review, Vol 113(2), 1999.
[60] Kuner discusses pros and cons of various possibilities for a proposed international data protection framework. These deliberations are equally important for a possible right to the use of the Internet. „Each approach to harmonization has its strengths and weaknesses. A convention can produce a greater degree of harmonization, since it results in a single text that is legally binding on States that enact it, but such binding nature can make States reluctant to do so. A convention can also be subject to reservations made by States that are party to it, which can result in a diminution of the very harmonization that the convention was supposed to accomplish, and a convention can be difficult to amend in the face of changing practices or technological evolution. A model law allows States more flexibility in implementation, which may incline them to adopt it, but this very flexibility can result in a lack of harmonization in implementation. Guidance documents and contractual terms and conditions can be adopted more swiftly and be taken up by a large number of parties, but their legally binding nature is of a lesser value than that of a multilateral convention.' C. Kuner,
An international legal framework for data protection: Issues and prospects, Computer Law & Security Review, Vol 25(4), 2009, pp 307-317; cf. also R. Leenes, B.-J. Koops and P. De Hert (eds.)
Constitutional Rights and New Technologies. A Comparative Study, Asser Press, 2008, ch 9, p 294. Let us imagine that the
Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union - the most recent instrument in the field - were drafted today. It would most likely not include an explicit right to the use of the Internet, but its Art 11 - for the sake of clarity - would include wording like 'through any media of her choice'. That would explicitly include the Internet and/or its successors.
[61] F. Francioni,
International Human Rights in an Environmental Horizon, European Journal of International Law, Vol 21, No 1, 3 May 2010, pp 41-55.
[62] Cf. e.g. Principle 1 of the 1972
Stockholm Declaration on the Human Environment; Arts 16, 21 and 24 of the 1981
African Charter on Human and People's Rights; Art 37 of the
EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.
[63] Cf. UN Economic and Social Council,
General Comment No. 15. The right to water (arts. 11 and 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights), 20 January 2003, E/C.12/2002/11,
http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/0/a5458d1d1bbd713fc1256cc400389e94/$FILE/G0340229.pdf .
[64] Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions,
The human right to water and sanitation: Legal Bases, Practical Rationale and Definition, 2008, p 6,
http://www.wsscc.org/sites/default/files/publications/cohre_legal_basis_for_right_to_water_and_sanitation_2008.pdf .
[65] Cf. the 2006 UN
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities,
http://www.un.org/disabilities/convention/conventionfull.shtml.
[66] P. De Hert and E. Mantovani,
Specific Human Rights for Older Persons? The inevitable colouring of Human Rights Law, European Human Rights Law Review, Issue 4, 2010, pp 398-418; E. Mordini and P. De Hert (eds.),
Ageing and Invisibility, from Ambient Intelligence and Smart Environments, IOS PRESS, 2010; J. Williams,
An international convention on the rights of older people? in M. Odello, S. Cavandoli (eds.),
Emerging areas of human rights in the 21st century…, op. cit., pp 128-148. Williams explicitly asks 'if children have special protection, why not older people?'.
[67] U. Baxi,
Too many, or too few, Human Rights?, Human Rights Law Review, Vol 1(1), 2001, pp 1-10, cf. footnote 1.
[68] Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data.
[69] Cf. P. De Hert and S. Gutwirth,
Data Protection in the Case Law of Strasbourg and Luxemburg: Constitutionalisation in Action, in S. Gutwirth (ed.),
Reinventing Data Protection, Springer, 2009, pp 3-44.
[70] J. Harris,
Enhancing Evolution. The Ethical Case for Making Better People, Princeton University Press, 2007, p 76.
[71] UN Human Rights Committee,
General comment No. 34. Article 19: Freedoms of opinion and expression, CCPR/C/GC/34, 21 July 2011, p 4,
http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrc/docs/gc34.pdf.
[72] Art 10(1) ECHR permits for the states to require 'the licensing of broadcasting, television or cinema enterprises'. This provision was determined in 1950s, when the convention was drafted, by two factors: the state of the art in technology (i.e. limited number of available frequencies) and the state's monopoly for broadcasting. As the technology develops, the state's right to license the media companies is now understood as a guarantee of liberty and pluralism of information in order to fulfil public demand. M. Macovei,
A guide to the implementation of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, 2
nd ed., Strasbourg, 2004, p 14,
http://echr.coe.int/NR/rdonlyres/C3804E16-817B-46D5-A51F-0AC1A8E0FB8D/0/DG2ENHRHAND022004.pdf .
[73] N. Jayawickramama,
The Judicial Application of Human Rights Law: National, Regional and International Jurisprudence, Cambridge University Press, 2001, pp 696-697.
[74] ECtHR,
Öztürk v. Turkey, Judgement of 28 September 1999, Application No 22479/93, § 49.
[75] P. van Dijk et al,
Theory and Practice of the European Convention on Human Rights, 4th ed., Intersentia, 2006, p 783.
[77] ECtHR,
Jersild v. Denmark, Judgement of 23 September 1994, Application No 15890/89, § 31. The Strasbourg Court further explicitly considered the relation between the means of communication and the scope of the protection by stating that 'in considering the 'duties and responsibilities' of a journalist, the potential impact of the medium concerned is an important factor … The audiovisual media have means of conveying through images meanings which the print media are not able to impart.'
[78] ECtHR,
Oberschlick v. Austria, Judgement of 23 May 1991, Application No 11662/85, § 57.
[79] ECtHR,
De Haes and Gijsels v. Belgium, Judgement of 24 February 1997, Application No 19983/92, § 48.
[80] ECJ,
Scarlet v. Sabam, Judgement of 24 November 2011, Case C-70/10.
[81] ECJ,
Sabam v. Netlog, Judgement of 16 February 2012, Case C-360/10.
[82] ECJ,
Productores de Música de España (Promusicae) v. Telefónica de España SAU, Judgement of 29 January 2008, Case C-275/06.
[83] ECJ,
Scarlet v. Sabam, § 44; ECJ,
Sabam v Netlog, § 42.
[84] ECJ,
Scarlet v. Sabam, § 52.
[85] ECJ,
Sabam v. Netlog, § 50.
[86] O. de Schutter,
International Human Rights Law, Cambridge University Press, 2010, pp 257ff.
[88] Cf. Art 19(3) ICCPR, Arts 8-11 ECHR and Art 52 CFR. Legality means prescription by law of a certain quality; necessity and proportionality - proving necessary in democratic society and limiting only to what is necessary for the fulfilment of that aim; and legitimacy - serving a legitimate aim. With regard to freedom of expression, these legitimate aims are: interests of national security, territorial integrity or public safety; prevention of disorder or crime; protection of health or morals; protection of the reputation or rights of others; preventing the disclosure of information received in confidence, and maintaining the authority and impartiality of the judiciary.
[89] UN Human Rights Council,
Report…,
op. cit. p 8.
[90] L. Lessig and P. Resnick,
Zoning Speech on the Internet: A Legal and Technical Model, Michigan Law Review, Vol 98(2), 1999. Cf. also Tribunal de grande instance, Paris,
Ligue contre le racisme et l'antisémitisme et Union des étudiants juifs de France v
Yahoo! Inc. et Société Yahoo! France (LICRA v. Yahoo!), 20 November 2000.
[91] 'I would argue that internet use may also fall within Article 8 ECHR, the right to family and private life, as email, Skype, Facebook and Twitter are now essential tools of interaction between friends and family.' A. Wagner,
Is internet access a human right?, Guardian, 11 January 2012,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/2012/jan/11/is-internet-access-a-human-right .
[92] ECJ,
Scarlet v. Sabam, § 51.
[93] Art 29 Working Party,
Opinion 4/2007 on the concept of personal data, 20 June 2007, WP 136,
http://ec.europa.eu/justice/policies/privacy/docs/wpdocs/2007/wp136_en.pdf .
[94] ECJ,
Sabam v. Netlog, § 49.
[95] UN Human Rights Council,
Report…,
op. cit., pp 15, 22.
[96] A. Murray,
A Bill of Rights for the Internet, op. cit.
[97] Cf. V. Mayer-Schönberger,
Delete - The Virtue of Forgetting in the Digital Age; P. Bernal,
A Right to Delete?, European Journal of Law and Technology, Vol 2(2), 2011,
http://ejlt.org//article/view/75/147; B.-J. Koops,
Forgetting Footprints, Shunning Shadows. A Critical Analysis Of The 'Right To Be Forgotten' In Big Data Practice, SCRIPTed, Vol 8(3), 2011, p 229,
http://script-ed.org/?p=43. The proposed General Data Protection Regulation provides in its Art 17 for the right to be forgotten. Cf. European Commission,
Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data (General Data Protection Regulation) , Brussels, 25 January 2012, COM(2012) 11 final.
[98] UN Human Rights Council,
Report…,
op. cit. p 21, at 81. Cf. also M. Benatar and K. Gombeer,
Cyber Sanctions: Exploring a Blind Spot in the Current Legal Debate, European Society of International Law, Conference Paper No 9/2011,
http://ssrn.com/abstract=1989786.
[99] For more details see N. Mole and C. Harby,
Human rights handbook, No. 3, The right to a fair trial. A guide to the implementation of Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights , Council of Europe, 2002,
http://www.humanrights.coe.int/aware/GB/publi/materials/1093.pdf.
[100] 'Nonetheless, the obligation under Article 2 to safeguard life entails that, even in difficult security conditions, all reasonable steps must be taken to ensure that an effective, independent investigation is conducted into alleged breaches of the right to life.' ECtHR,
Al-Skeini et al. the UK, Judgemet of 7 July 2011, Application 55721/07, § 164. Cf. also further cases quoted therein.
[101] A. Segura-Serrano,
Internet Regulation…, op. cit., p 267.
[102] UNESCO,
Report of the Experts' Meeting on Cyberspace Law (1998), 22 February 1999, CII/USP/ECY/99/01,
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0011/001163/116300e.pdf.
[103] The commitment „to bridge the digital divide' is reiterated a few times in the text of the
Declaration of Principles of the World Summit on the Information Society, WSIS-03/GENEVA/DOC/4-E, Geneva, 12 December 2003,
http://www.itu.int/wsis/docs/geneva/official/dop.html. This commitment is reaffirmed, also on numerous occasions, by the
Tunis Commitment of the WSIS, Tunis, 18 November 2005, WSIS-05/TUNIS/DOC/7-E,
http://www.itu.int/wsis/docs2/tunis/off/7.html.
[104] F. Kirchmeier,
The Right to Development - Where do we stand?,
http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/iez/global/50288.pdf.
[105] UN Human Rights Council,
Report…,
op. cit., p 19.
[106] For further information on the concept of positive obligations, cf. e.g. A. Mowbray,
The Development of Positive Obligations Under the European Convention on Human Rights by the European Court of Human Rights, Hart Publishing, 2004.
[107] „Negative obligations require member States to refrain from action, positive to take action. The Court has repeatedly stressed that the boundaries between the two types 'do not lend themselves to precise definition.'' ECtHR,
Gül v. Switzerland, Judgement of 19 February 1996, Application No 23218/94, Dissenting Opinion of Judge Martens, at 7.
[108] J.-F. Akandji-Kombe,
Positive obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights. A guide to the implementation of the European Convention on Human Rights , Human Rights Handbooks, No. 7, Council of Europe, 2007, p 5,
http://www.echr.coe.int/NR/rdonlyres/1B521F61-A636-43F5-AD56-5F26D46A4F55/0/DG2ENHRHAND072007.pdf .
[109] E.g. Art 2 ECHR (right to life) or Art 8 ECHR (privacy). States are obliged to 'protect' and 'respect'. Art 6(3) requires the states to provide free legal assistance in criminal cases.
[110] ECtHR, '
Belgian linguistic case', Judgement of 23 July 1968, Applications No 1474/62, 1677/62, 1691/62, 1769/63, 1994/63 and 2126/64; cf. operative part, § 3.
[111] J.-F. Akandji-Kombe,
Positive obligations…, op. cit., p 4.
[112] The case concerned a group of environmental activists who wanted to campaign in a shopping centre that was a private property yet they were banned. Having balanced Art 10 with the property rights, the Court did not find that the state failed in any positive obligation to protect the applicants' freedom of expression as they had had alternative means of communicating their views to the public. ECtHR,
Appleby et al. v. the UK, Judgement of 6 May 2003, Application No 44306/98, § 39.
[113] ECtHR,
López Ostra v. Spain, Judgement of 9 December 1994, Application No 16798/90, § 51.
[115] J.-F. Akandji-Kombe,
Positive obligations…, op. cit., p 6.
[116] P. Leach,
Positive Obligations from Strasbourg - Where do the Boundaries Lie?, p 9,
http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/londonmet/library/e38476_3.pdf.
[117] The criterion underlying the distinction here appears to lie in the substance of the action expected from the state. Substantial obligations are therefore those that require the basic measures needed for full enjoyment of the rights guaranteed. Procedural ones are those that call for the organisation of domestic procedures to ensure better protection. J.-F. Akandji-Kombe,
Positive obligations…, op. cit., p 16.
[118] ECtHR,
Jankovskis v. Lithuania, Application No 21575/08 lodged on 7 January 2008.
[119] From a technical viewpoint, the ECtHR applies a two-step test to determine whether there is an unjustified interference with Art 10 ECHR. Firstly, the Court will verify whether there was an interference with the right. Secondly, if so, whether such interference was justified, i.e. if it fulfils these three criteria. If at least one of them is not satisfied, the Court will find a violation of the right in question has occurred. Cf. further A. Mowbray,
Cases, Materials, and Commentary on the European Convention on Human Rights, 3
rd ed., Oxford University Press, 2006, p 20.
[120] ECtHR,
Boulois v. Luxembourg, Application No 37575/04, Judgement (Chamber) of 14 December 2010; Judgement (Grand Chamber) of 3 April 2012.
[121] ECtHR,
Özgür Gündem v. Turkey, Judgement of 16 March 2000, Application no. 23144/93, §§ 43-46.
[122] Baroness [Brenda] Hale of Richmond,
Beanstalk or Living Instrument? How Tall Can the ECHR Grow?, Barnard's Inn Reading 2011,
http://www.supremecourt.gov.uk/docs/speech_110616.pdf.
[123] For a historical overview of the concept of living instrument cf. e.g. G. Letsas,
The ECHR as a Living Instrument: Its Meaning and its Legitimacy,
http://ssrn.com/abstract=2021836.
[124] ECtHR,
Golder v. the UK. Judgement of 21 February 1975, Application No 4451/70.
[125] ECtHR,
Tyrer v. the UK, Judgement of 25 April 1978, Application No 5856/72, § 31.
[126] ECtHR,
Airey v. Ireland, Judgement of 9 October 1979, Application No 6289/73.
[127] J.-F. Akandji-Kombe,
Positive obligations…, op. cit., p 6.
[128] '… ce droit implique la liberté d'accéder à ces services'. Conseil constitutionnel, Décision n° 2009-580 DC du 10 juin 2009, § 12,
http://www.conseil-constitutionnel.fr/decision/2009/2009580dc.htm.
[129] T. Murphy, and G. Cuinn,
Works in Progress: New Technologies and the European Court of Human Rights, Human Rights Law Review, Vol 10(4), 2010, pp 636-638.
[130] UN Human Rights Council,
Report…,
op. cit., p 19.
[131] Here we simply mean that a general contribution from public authorities is necessary in order to ensure the highest possible level of connectivity, regardless of whether the Strasbourg Court actually recognises such a positive obligation.
[132] Directive 2002/22/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 March 2002 on universal service and users' rights relating to electronic communications networks and services (Universal Service Directive).
[133] Art 4(2) of the
Universal Service Directive.
[134] J. Huntley, N. McKerrel and S. Ashgar
Universal Service, the Internet and the Access Deficit, SCRIPTed Vol 1(2), 2004, p 301,
http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/issue2/broadband.asp.
[135] Cf. European Commission,
European Broadband: investing in digitally driven growth, Brussels, 20 September 2010, COM(2010) 472,
http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/broadband/docs/bb_communication.pdf , BEREC,
Report on Universal Service - reflections for the future, BoR (10) 35, June 2010,
http://erg.eu.int/doc/berec/bor_10_35_US.pdf. The Commission has been publishing data on the number of broadband lines in the Member States gathered in the context of Communications Committee (COCOM) since 2003. For the 2011 report, cf.
http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/digital-agenda/scoreboard/docs/pillar/cocom_broadband_july_2011.pdf .
[136] Art 70 of the
Electronic Communications Act 2004.
[137] Art 60c(2) of the
Communications Market Act 2003.
[138] Art 52 of the
Sustainable Economy Act 2011.
[139] Examples include the National Broadband Plan (
Narodowy Plan Szerokopasmowy) and the Broadband Network of Eastern Poland (
Sieć Szerokopasmowa Polski Wschodniej).
[140] European Commission,
A Digital Agenda for Europe, op. cit.
