Joint Declaration on Internet Rights

by the Minister of Culture of Brazil and
the Undersecretary for Communications of Italy

The Minister of Culture of Brazil, Gilberto Gil, and the Undersecretary for
Communications of Italy, Luigi Vimercati, during the Second Meeting of the IGF, in
Rio de Janeiro, express their belief that a set of principles is necessary to allow a
democratic and inclusive development of the Internet. Thus, they agree to facilitate
together the process of defining an Internet Bill of Rights with a view to frame and
enforce fundamental rights in the Internet environment.

The proposal of an Internet Bill of Rights was first conceived at the outset of the World
Summit for Information Society, in Tunis, 2005. The consensus gathered around this
proposal, encompassing governments, civil society and non-governmental
organizations, led to the formation of a Dynamic Coalition, which held its first
workshop during the 2006 IGF in Athens. In September 2007, the Italian Government
organized a Dialogue Forum on Internet Rights, in Rome, to discuss in a multistakeholder
environment the general concepts and methods that should guide this work.

During the Rio IGF Meeting, as a result of the debate that took place in the workshop of
the Dynamic Coalition, the Internet Bill of Rights has been defined as an on-going
process that builds upon existing fundamental rights, promotes their enforcement, and
fosters the recognition of emerging principles.

These rights and principles - deriving from Internet policy discussions - include, among
others, privacy, data protection, freedom of expression, universal access, network
neutrality, interoperability, global reachability of all Internet nodes, the use of open
formats and standards, public access to knowledge, and the right to innovate, as well as
market-oriented principles such as the right to a fair and competitive online market, and
consumer rights in general.

In the framework of the IGF mandate and of the WSIS outcome, the discussion and
realization of this Bill of Rights process is crucial. In this regard, we support the
proposal made by the Dynamic Coalition that the debate on the framing and
enforcement of Internet rights be one of the major themes in future IGF Meetings,
starting from the next IGF Meeting in 2008.

Against this background, Minister Gilberto Gil and Undersecretary Luigi Vimercati
consider of crucial importance to hold a preparatory meeting prior to the next IGF and
will make efforts to this end. Accordingly, they invite all stakeholders to join the
process set by the Dynamic Coalition for the Internet Bill of Rights and to support its
recognition as one of the main themes of the Internet Governance Forum.

Rio de Janeiro, 13 November 2007

Minister of Culture
Federal Government of Brazil
Gilberto Passos Gil Moreira
Undersecretary of State for Communications
Government of Italy
Luigi Vimercati