2013 Internet Legal Regulations Preparatory Meeting at BAU

The 2013 Internet Legal Regulations (IYD'13) Preparatory Meeting will be held at Bahçeşehir University on 9 October.

  

The first of the preparatory meetings ahead of the "2013 Internet Site Blocking Law Workshop (IYD'13)" organized by the All Internet Association (TİD) will be held in Istanbul in cooperation with Bahçeşehir University on 9 October 2013. IYD has been organized since 2007.

  

While the Internet has become indispensable in our lives, it is also the subject of many loudly voiced debates. Foremost among these are decisions to block Internet access. Although many people believe that the Internet is free, that is, borderless, in practice it is a fact that websites are blocked for justified or unjustified reasons. In our country, websites can be blocked under various legal regulations, primarily Law No. 5651.

 

Website blocking, even when based on justified reasons, sometimes unsettles users and causes reactions. The All Internet Association organizes workshops with various institutions in order to detail and deepen the law on "Internet Site Blocking", one of its areas of work, and to increase cooperation between legal and state authorities and users on this matter.

 

The IYD'13 workshop is again planned to be held as a "camp" at the end of the year. However, as the topics have diversified and finer details have emerged in the reasons for blocking, two preliminary meetings are planned in Istanbul and Ankara. The first of the preliminary meetings will be held at Bahçeşehir University in Istanbul on 9 October 2013. The full-day meeting will be held in a "search conference" format, with problems identified and grouped in the morning and solutions developed for the identified problems through working groups in the afternoon.

 

All Internet Association (TİD) President Füsun Sarp Nebil made the following statement on the subject:

 

"We have been organizing these workshops since 2007. These workshops and their participants have played a major role in making blocking more compliant with the law today. For example, previously blocked sites only displayed the message 'closed by court order'. This made it very difficult for the site to find the decision. Today, the date and number of the decision are stated. This was among the proposed solutions of a previous workshop. On the other hand, the workshop creates an interface between lawyers, lawmakers and the Internet community. Each side learns the reasons and views of the others. In this respect, it is an important event. We look forward to the participation of those interested."

 

On behalf of Bahçeşehir University, Assist. Prof. Dr. Elif Küzeci said:

 

"Internet use in Türkiye is becoming more widespread every day. This inevitably brings with it many legal questions and problems. One of the most important issues in this context is undoubtedly decisions to block Internet access. It is of great importance that the subject be evaluated particularly within the framework of freedom of expression, one of the fundamental human rights. At this point, it is extremely important for the healthy development of practices in Türkiye that different segments of society express their views, suggestions and criticisms on the subject. We hope the workshop will make such a contribution."

 

No agenda will be set for the preliminary meeting; views and solutions on topics such as blocking due to FSEK (Law on Intellectual and Artistic Works), competition-related cases, the scope of Law No. 5651, violations of personal rights and privacy and the moral and material problems they create, reasonable suspicion and, finally, the Convention on Cybercrime will be discussed in line with the requests of the participants.

 

Participation in the meeting will be free of charge and coffee and tea will be served; however, registration is required due to limited space.

 

To register for the meeting, simply apply to calistay@turk.internet.com . Due to limited space, the first 100 people will be able to register.