Marco Civil da Internet

= New legislation providing a bill of rights for internet users in Brazil was signed into law by President Dilma Rousseff on April 23, 2014.

Description

Rolando Lemos:

"The "Marco Civil da Internet" is a comprehensive law that essentially creates a bill of rights for the internet in Brazil. The legislation was originally drafted through an open, collaborative process with contributions from a variety of stakeholders—private individuals, civil society organizations, telecommunication companies, and government agencies all participated. Each contributor could see other comments and all perspectives were considered.

The only drawback to the law is the requirement that both connection providers and service providers retain user data for a year and a half, though this is dependent on a court order. But this is better than the current situation, where user data is often stored for five years.

Without the Marco Civil, freedom of speech in Brazil would consistently be under threat. For example, in 2007, a judge shut down YouTube for the entire country because a Brazilian model filed a lawsuit to block footage of her and her boyfriend in an intimate situation. Another recent case involved a judge threatening to shut down Facebook because of a lawsuit between neighbors engaged in a dispute over a dog. Without the Marco Civil, there would be no safe harbors for free speech.

The Brazilian Marco Civil runs counter to laws recently implemented in countries like Turkey and Russia which expanded the powers of governments to regulate the internet.

Brazil's law can be a model for other countries. It sends a message that we need to encourage a vibrant and open public sphere online. The approval of the Marco Civil is a victory on behalf of all democracies. Brazil has taken a stand to actively protect an open and free internet. And that is a requisite for an open and free society as well." (http://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/voices/online-bill-rights-brazil)