The Council of Europe is working on a new declaration or recommendation on human rights and internet. An ad-hoc committee of experts on the information society has been meeting for the first time in November 2004, and will have a second meeting in Strasbourg on 3 and 4 February 2005. The Council does not provide any information about the proceedings or specific members of the committee, but has recently published the terms of reference. The aim of the committee is to provide "a draft political statement on the principles and guidelines for ensuring respect for freedom of expression and opinion, for human rights and for the rule of law in the Information Society, with a view to its use as a Committee of Ministers' contribution to the Third Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe (16-17 May 2005) and the 2005 Tunis phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (16-18 November 2005)."
The list of topics to be covered by the committee is very large, and ranges from freedom of expression to privacy, especially related to mandatory retention of traffic data. But the committee is also expected to cover e-voting, the prohibition of racism and xenophobic speech on the internet and "the protection of intellectual property in cyberspace."
Only the official representative of each member state will get reimbursed for travel and subsistence costs. Together with the representatives of 11 Council of Europe and European Commission steering committees they will be able to vote on the outcomes. All other parties listed to be able to send a representative will have to bear all costs themselves and will not have a right to vote.
Terms of reference of the Multidisciplinary Ad-Hoc Committee of Experts on
the Information Society (CAHSI)
https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?id=803697&BackColorInternet=B9BDEE...