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Rivals Google, Microsoft and Yahoo! have joined forces with other companies and academics to stop governments (most notably China) from suppressing freedom of expression and ordering them to betray their customers' privacy. The three software giants today announced creation of the Global Network Initiative designed to persuade oppressive governments to allow their citizens to freely express opinions, via the Web in particular, without fear of retribution.

Participating companies  must agree to "respect and protect the freedom of expression rights of their users when confronted with government demands, laws and regulations to suppress freedom of expression, remove content or otherwise limit access to information and ideas in a manner inconsistent with internationally recognized laws and standards," says the new group's guidelines.

The organization's most influential tech companies have come under fire for bowing to Chinese officials' demands to filter Internet searches to bar surfers from accessing information about Tiananmen Square, democracy and other controversial issues, BBC News reports. Meanwhile, Microsoft has been taken a virtual beating from free speech advocates for shuttering the blog of Chinese media researcher Zhao Jing nearly three years ago after he used MSN Spaces (a joint venture between Microsoft and Shanghai Alliance Entertainment) to criticize a management purge at the Beijing News daily newspaper. Chinese reporter Shi Tao was sentenced to 10 years in jail after Yahoo! China provided the Chinese government with account information that linked Tao to a pseudonymous Web posting outlining the content of a government memorandum. Yahoo! claimed afterward that they had no information about the nature of the investigation when they gave the Chinese government the necessary information to identify Tao. That type of unquestioning compliance won't cut it anymore, at least that's the new initiative's message.

The Initiative is being launched in the 60th Anniversary year of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and is founded upon internationally recognized human rights outlined in the declaration as well as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

The initiative encourages members to take a tougher stance against intrusive governments to protect the privacy and free speech rights of their customers and to think twice before doing business in countries known to trample citizens' rights.

Participants are expected to hire outside auditors to independently assess how well  they are adhering to the initiative's rules.

Don't expect any radical chances results any time soon: companies joining the initiative (at a cost of $100,000) have two years from the time they sign on to prove they're following the guidelines. It is unclear, however, the consequences a company faces if they join the initiative but fail to meet these guidelines.

(Image courtesy of iStockphoto; Copyright: Cat London)

4 Comments

1. 1. yogeshsaxena 06:28 AM 10/30/08

   ATTROCITIES ON WOMEN AND THE LEGAL REMEDIES TO PREVENT THEM
   There will be no generation of great men, until there are women, free women of free mothers. There every women deserves sentiments. Women should be honoured and adorned with appraisal. The religious act of family where women are not honoured becomes fruitless. The family enjoys perpetual propriety, where women are delighted. Therefore one should honour women as  PUJYA DEVI and refrain from committing any atrocities upon them.
   Equality on the basis of sex and individuality of women has been recognized by the Indian Constitution. The number of laws has been enacted to improve the lot of women, but it has not been successful in changing the status of women. The women continue to be exploited, as they are dependent, socially, economically and psychologically upon men.
   Education, an important source of personality development and emancipation has failed to bring women at par with men. Marriage being the sole purpose of womens life, education becomes only a means to attain that purpose.
   Women constitute one of the backward social groups is in the need of special protection. Tradition, religion and law have conspired to make women subordinate to men. The subordination of women is against the spirit of democracy, it is against equality and justice.
   The abolition of Sati and Lord Bentinck ( Bengal Sati Regulation, 1929) was no doubt the first legal measure for social reform. Legalization of widows remarriage, prohibition of child marriage and recognition of widows property rights were some of the other reforms made during British Rule. The Constitution of India, realizing the special need for ameliorative efforts to bring about equality between man and woman provided the special provision for women and children. The egalitarian thrust provided the right to an adequate means of livelihood. The special provision for maternity relief reveals the anxiety of implementation of social obligation.
   The doctor mother and her twin daughters were thrown out of their home in West Delhi. New Delhi: Her doctor husband forced Ritu Kumar, a physician herself, to go for a sex determination test and her academician in-laws pushed her to abort the two female foetuses inside her or at least kill one of them. But she still went ahead and gave birth to twin girls.That was two-and-a-half years back. Ritu (name changed) and the twins were thrown out of their home in west Delhi. But the fight that began with two unborn children is far from over. "I am facing a lot of hardships. My husband has thrown me out of home. But still I am proud of what I have done. I am proud to have saved my daughters," said Ritu, who lives in the national capital. Nearly one million female foetuses are aborted every year in India  a country known for its male preference  which means over 2,700 girls die every day before even seeing the light of day. But thanks to Ritu, at least two girls have got a chance to live. Ritu got married in 2004. Both she and her husband are doctors and her in-laws are well-educated. "We came to know that I was carrying twin babies. Then my mother-in-law started demanding sex determination. They got that done by force. Then they started demanding that I get an MTP (medical termination of pregnancy). They asked me many times to at least get one child killed in utero," Ritu, 33, says. Ritu alleges that her mother-in-law told her that "two daughters would be a big burden on them". She accuses her husband of verbally abusing her and claims that she was virtually put under house arrest when she decided to disobey their diktat on the female foetuses. Now she is living with her 72-year-old father, who is also a doctor, along with her children. "I am living only because of my daughters," said Ritu, her eyes brimming with tears. But she often feels scared. "I am scared! They want to kill me. They have deployed detectives to record my activities. But, for the sake of my children, I have not filed a police case against my husband and my in-laws," she said. "I have informed the Delhi Commission for Women and taken legal counselling from a high court lawyer. I have also availed myself of counselling from the Navjyoti Counselling Centre of Kiran Bedi. "But I have requested all of them not to initiate action against my husband and in-laws. I want to give my husband another chance as my children need their father," Kumar says. Pragya Routray, a high court lawyer in Delhi, who has counselled Ritu and her husband, said: "It's a serious case. Her husband can be charged with forced sex selection, pressurising her to go for female foeticide and, above all, domestic violence.
   
   In social field, the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 took a step of abolishing poly gamy amongst Hindus. The provision in Cr.P.C. u/s 125 for getting maintenance, amendment u/s 376 I.P.C. and the promulgation of the provision of Dowry death r/w section 113-B of the Evidence Act has provided the substantial measurements for the eradication of prevailing maladies of oppression upon the women. The Hindu adoptions and maintenance Act, 1956, the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 and Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, 1956 provided a substantial degree to remove the disabilities of Hindu women. The Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 was passed with an ostensible idea of checking the evil. The practice of dowry has emerged as a major social evil, which is reflected in large number of cases of "Dowry Deaths". The reluctance of parents of the victim to lodge a report is the reason for this personal nature of the crime.
   Women by and large constitute a neglected section of the society. There is now indisputable evidence of steady decline in the value of women in society. The following trends may be responsible in this context: - (1) excessive morality amongst women and female child. (2) glaring disparity between men and women in access to medical services (3) Persistent decline in sex ratio. (4) Illiteracy and unemployment of women.
   Dowry is a clear Affirmation of the fact that ones gender determines ones worth or significance. Since worth is distributed unequally amongst the sexes at birth, worth deficiency amongst females can be offset by material additives.
   Dowry is the most prominent additive. In the survey of the cases of unnatural deaths of young women, this hypothesis suggested itself again and again. Brides who earn more that their husbands are made to feel an obligation to supply dowry goods and services long after their marriage, just as those women who earn nothing.
   Society perceives woman as economically less productive than man (or unproductive) and, therefore, a female is regarded as a net economic drain on a family. At marriage, when the female is in transit between the two households, the family that accepts her is perceived to be saddled with a net economic liability, while the household that is losing her is in fact losing a liability. Dowry is, therefore, a compensatory payment to the family, which agrees to shelter her, hypothetically for the rest of her life. And precisely for this reason, dowry is a recurring phenomenon, which lasts a lifetime.
   In Air India Vs, Nargesh Meerau (1981) 4 SCC 335, an Air hostesses case, according to regulation 46 and 47, the air hostesses shall retire on following contingencies (1) on attaining age of 35 years (2) on marriage, if it took place within four years of service (3) on first pregnancy. On other hand, Assistant Flight persons were retiring at the age of 55 or 58 years. Both categories continued the same cabin crew. The Apex court observed that compelling the air hostess not to have any children and thus interfere with and diverts the ordinary course of human action. The Apex court observed that this provision is not only manifestly unreasonable and arbitrary, but contains the quality of unfairness and exhibits " naked despotism" and therefore violative of Article 14.
   There are vide variety of women employees i.e. (1) small segment in workforce as executives and prestigious professionals (2) semi professionals like nurses, school teachers who are hired not only for their skills and intelligence, but presumably for their looks too. (3) The lowest economic stratum, predominantly illiterate semi literate. We have to see that (1) whether there are set of laws which meaningfully deals with the stresses and strains faced by women in workforce (2) Do existing law discriminate in any way against those women? (3) are the existing law comprehensive enough to protect the interest of women ? (4) What are the special steps required to meet the specific disabilities faced by women (5) Is there the need for special laws to meet the disabilities faced by women.
   Laws, as we know, are only regulatory and not curative and had this not been so. Nothing would have been easier for us and to make laws against all social evils and find the next morning that our society has become heaven. The eradication of an evil lies not so much in law as in the society itself. No society can exists, breathe and move without a base and this base is provided by norms and values.
   Let us have an introspection upon the prevailing maladies and get the effective implementation of the better idea, the better measurements as to prevent them by the strong will power in order to protect the half of the human being which constituted the part of the women folk in the society.
   Yogesh Kumar Saxena, Advocate, High Court Allahabad (India) e mail Address yogrekha@yahoo.co.in or yogrekha@rediffmail.com Phone:- 91/ 0532/637720/2436451, Mobile:- 9415284843
   

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2. 2. yogeshsaxena 06:34 AM 10/30/08

   Are you a
   Secularist?
   Then please answer these questions for yourself
   There are nearly 52 Muslim countries.
   Show one Muslim country where Hindus are extended the special rights that Muslims are accorded in India?
   
   Show one country where the 85% majority craves for the indulgence of the 15% minority.
   
   Show one Muslim country, which has a Non-Muslim as its President or Prime Minister.
   
   Show one Mullah or Maulvi who has declared a 'fatwa' against terrorists.
   
   Hindu-majority Maharashtra, Bihar, Kerala, Pondicherry , etc. have in the past elected Muslims as CM’s, Can you ever imagine a Hindu becoming the CM of Muslim - majority J&K?
   
   Today Hindus are 85%. If Hindus are intolerant, how come Masjids and madrasas are thriving? How come Muslims are offering Namaz on the road? How come Muslims are proclaiming 5 times a day on loud speakers that there is no God except Allah?
   
   When Hindus gave to Muslims 30% of Bharat for a song, why should
   Hindus now beg for their sacred places at Ayodhya, Mathura And Kashi?
   
   Why Temple funds are spent for the welfare of Muslims and Christians, when they are free to spend their money in any way they like?
   
   When uniform is made compulsory for school children, why there is no Uniform Civil Code for citizens?
   
   In what way, J&K is different from Maharashtra, TamilNadu or UttarPradesh, to have Article 370?
   
   Why Gandhiji objected to the decision of the cabinet and insisted that Somnath Temple should be reconstructed out of public fund, not government funds, when in January 1948 he pressurized Nehru and Patel to carry on renovation of the Mosques of Delhi at government expenses?
   
   Why Gandhi supported Khaliafat Movement (nothing to do with our freedom movement) and what in turn he got?
   
   If Muslims & Christians are minorities in Maharashtra, UP, Bihar etc., are Hindus not minorities in J&K, Mizoram, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya etc? Why are Hindus denied minority rights in these states?
   
   Do you admit that Hindus do have problems that need to be recognized? Or do you think that those who call themselves Hindus are themselves The problem?
   
   Why post - Godhra is blown out of proportion, when no-one talks of the
   ethnic cleansing of 4 lakh Hindus from Kashmir?
   
   In 1947, when India was partitioned, the Hindu population in Pakistan was about 24%. Today it is not even 1%. In 1947, the Hindu population in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) was 30%. Today it is about 7%. What happened to the missing Hindus? Do Hindus have human rights?
   
   In contrast, in India, Muslim population has gone up from 10.4% in 1951 to about 14% today; whereas Hindu population has come down from 87.2% in 1951 to 85% in 1991. Do you still think that Hindus are fundamentalists?
   
   Do you consider that - Sanskrit is communal and Urdu is secular, Mandir is Communal and Masjid is Secular, Sadhu is Communal and Imam is secular, BJP is communal and Muslim League is Secular,
   Dr.Praveen Bhai Togadia ,Gujrat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and, Acharya Arya Nareshand Ashok Shingal are ANTI-NATIONAL and Bukhari is Secular, Vande Mataram is communal and Allah-O-Akbar is secular, Shriman is communal and Mian is secular, Hinduism is Communal and Islam is Secular, Hindutva is
   communal and Jihadism is secular, and at last, Bharat is communal and Italy is Secular?
   
   When Christian and Muslim schools can teach Bible and Quran, Why Hindus cannot teach Gita or Ramayan ?
   
   Abdul Rehman Antuley was made a trustee of the famous Siddhi Vinayak
   Temple in Prabhadevi, Mumbai. Can a Hindu - say Mulayam or Laloo – ever become a trustee of a Masjid or Madarsa?
   
   Dr. Praveen Bhai Togadia has been arrested many times on flimsy grounds. Has the Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid, Delhi, Ahmed Bukhari been arrested For claiming to be an ISI agent and advocating partition of Bharat?
   
   When Haj pilgrims are given subsidy, why Hindu pilgrims to Amarnath, Sabarimalai & Kailash Mansarovar are taxed? A Muslim President, a Hindu Prime Minister and a Christian Defence Minister run the affairs of the nation with a unity of purpose.
   
   Can this happen anywhere, except in a HINDU NATION - BHARAT?
   

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3. 3. yogeshsaxena 06:36 AM 10/30/08

   The birth of a socialistic pattern of society and mixed economy in the first decade of independence without any priority to defence production and for sound economy provided initially to confounded speculation about India’s starvation. There was settling down to take in its stride by the super nations, but their apprehension was belied by emergence of Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri as Prime minister. His favourite virtue of simplicity, outstanding characteristics of singleness of purpose and basic idea of rectification of wicked evils of exploiting the resources has converted the country revolution and simultaneously boosting the moral of our Army gave the success in 1965 Pakistan’s aggression and thereby capturing a vast territory of enemies land has provided the moral damage to the aggressors ambitions . Indira Gandhi vanquishing the predatory neighbour Pakistan for ever as the hesitant dictator , but her wrong diplomacy survived the terrorist decade of a fighter . Thus the first face of India’s socialism was replaced by populism replacing ideology and also absorptive nationalism and by embracing popularity oriented party policy . It began with profit oriented private and a quality unconscious public sector with narrow vision to make India a global economic power , but this utopian empire has been completed vanished in view of different conflicting ideological political differentiation due to parliamentarian system in the post independent era of our country .
   Our potential of unlimited reservoir of skilled labour and abundance trader’s skill for investment of capital have been submerged with diversification of vested political ambitions . This has provided an obstacle to our inherited great skilled splendered intelligence and our super entrepreneurial spirit to naught. The unified political entity under British rule is now ahead to further split due to regional based political conception . The constitution of India designed to equip with substance to meet the challenges of the future in its spirit is now playing a role like a compulsive gambler bent upon ascending our invaluable legacy providing to be caricature of noble democracy . The spirit of social justice has been given up with no chance of its revival through shells of socialism making this preposition as fraud with people . This has provided the provided the transfer of material resources from honest to dishonest opportunists instead of poor people.
   

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4. 4. mark81295 03:30 PM 10/30/08

   While a corporate organized consortium of self-governance is long overdue, I'm suspicious of the notable absence of a consumer advocacy voice in the GNI's governance framework. Thus, I suspect ad companies will benefit from this multi-lateral approach in navigating foreign routes to market. But without a voice of the customer in this process, the "privacy" portion of their mission will not be realized in the wake of ad companies' current privacy/data collection practices. These are still being debated in the public forum and will go unchecked by the GNI as currently organized.
   
   See more on this topic at: http://www.theprivacycops.com/

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