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The Association for Progressive Communications (APC) and the Latin American Association of Radio Education (ALER-Asociación Latinoamericano de Educación Radiofónica) are launching an audio version of the APC Charter on internet rights available on the web in the form of podcasts, so that community media, blogs and websites may freely reproduce and adapt them.
What is the APC Charter on internet rights?
The internet is a medium that allows everyone to inform and express themselves. However, most people in our countries are still excluded from this world. To assure the internet is accessible and offers guarantees to those who use it, APC, in consultation with members and partners around the world, drew up its Charter on internet rights. The charter is structured around issues such as access, freedom of expression, intellectual property, free and open source software, privacy and internet governance.
Why an audio version?
APC and its members have been using the charter for their advocacy activities since 2001, when the charter was first written. Nevertheless, due to some technical aspects related to the nature of the internet, it was necessary to demonstrate the rights protected with specific examples for each one. Combining this need with the goal of making the charter more accessible, an initiative emerged from the Latin America Policy Programme to create a radio version, integrating experiences from community radio work in the region.
What was the process for producing it?
Together APC and ALER carried out a process to research and compile examples of the exercise or violation of the rights embodied in the charter. This was how APC members and related organisations around the world were consulted: BlueLink, a network member in Bulgaria, told how the internet had been a spontaneous and effective way to convene demonstrations for the country’s ecology movement; RITS, from Brazil, relayed how the system for assigning telecommunications companies in their country still has a colonial slant; and colleagues from LACNIC illustrated technical aspects such as the decentralisation of internet servers.
Based on this information the ALER team made proposals for scripts, which were discussed jointly and rewritten as often as necessary. They also handled the production and recording of each spot in their studios.
Download the audio version of the Charter on internet rights here (in Spanish).
Photo: Feria Ciberfeminista. Used with permission.
| Analía Lavin | Uruguay | |
| Valeria Betancourt | Ecuador |
