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Ethics Inf Technol (2015) 17:5764 DOI 10.1007/s10676-015-9361-1
ORIGINAL PAPER
Towards a just and fair Internet: applying Rawls principles of justice to Internet regulation
David M. Douglas
Published online: 21 January 2015 The Author(s) 2015. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com
Abstract I suggest that the social justice issues raised by Internet regulation be exposed and examined by using a methodology adapted from that described by John Rawls in A Theory of Justice. Rawls theory uses the hypothetical scenario of people deliberating about the justice of social institutions from the original position as a method of removing bias in decision-making about justice. The original position imposes a veil of ignorance that hides the particular circumstances of individuals from them so that they will not be inuenced by self-interest. I adapt Rawls methodology by introducing an abstract description of information technology to those deliberating about justice from within the original position. This abstract description focuses on information devices that users can use to access information (and which may record information about them as well) and information networks that information devices use to communicate. The abstractness of this description prevents the particular characteristics of the Internet and the computing devices in use from inuencing the decisions about the just use and regulation of information technology and networks. From this abstract position, the principles of justice that the participants accept for the rest of society will also apply to the computing devices people use to communicate, and to Internet regulation.
Keywords Rawls Distributive justice Rights Social
contract Internet regulation
Introduction
The structure of the Internet is under greater scrutiny by users and governments alike as various stakeholders (including users, Internet service providers, corporations, and states) attempt to increase their control over it. A few recent examples illustrate the scale of these debates. Tim Berners-Lee has recently promoted efforts for citizens of individual countries to draw up a Bill of Rights for Internet users in their countries (Kiss 2014). Proposals that the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the UN should play a greater role in Internet governance have been ercely rejected by European and North American governments, among others, due to concerns about how this may impact on the liberty of Internet users (Cerf 2013). Despite this,...