Prior to joining IViR, Mr. Asscher studied Law at the University of Amsterdam and at Columbia University School of Law, New York. He is also the chairman of the political party PvdA (social democrats) in Amsterdam.

As of 1 January 2006, Lodewijk has left his position at IViR to assume the leadership of the PvdA in the Amsterdam municipal elections. At his own request, he was granted exceptional leave from the UvA in order to allow him to devote himself fully to his political career. Lodewijk continues to be incidentally involved in IViR's activities, for example as a guest lecturer.

The collected essays in this book concern the intriguing matter of the interaction between law and technology and the normative role of information technology. More precisely, they focus on the way information and communication technologies regulate human behaviour. Can information technology be an alternative to legal regulation and, if so, what are the risks? 
The issues raised in this book were discussed during a conference entitled Code as Code, held in Amsterdam. The report of the debate between leading experts who attended the conference forms the round-up in the book, as do the proposals for a future agenda for research.

09.11.2006

This book presents an evaluation of recent legislative initiatives against unsolicited commercial e-mail (spam) in the Europan Union. The authors provide an analysis of the meaning and interpretation of the relevant new regulatory regime in the EU. They address international aspects of the fight against spam (intra-European activities and supranational policies), the dilemmas of dealing with spam and the importance of effective enforcement mechanisms. Their conclusions and recommendations provide directions, both in terms of further research as well as in terms of practical policy measures. 

21.06.2006

The study 'Constitutionele convergentie van pers, omroep en telecommunicatie', (in Dutch) also published in the ITeR-series, no. 26 (also available as ZIP-file in Word97-format).

Summary:

This research project deals with problems concerning the constitutional protection of freedom of communications in the information society. The present provisions in the Dutch Constitution (Grondwet or Gw) (e.g. Art. 7 and Art. 13 Gw) were originally drafted in the nineteenth century and were not designed for modern-day technology. The importance of the fundamental right to freedom of communications can hardly be exaggerated. Both as an essential right in the sense of self-realization and individual autonomy, and as a right that lies at the heart of democracy, freedom of communications clearly deserves solid protection in the future as well.

The first chapter of this book gives an outline of the present developments which are shaping the information society. It highlights the changing role of government and gives a brief overview of the technological revolution that lies at the heart of the information society. Convergence, digitalization, circuit-switching and the intelligent network are but a few elements of recent dramatic change in information technology. A brief introduction to the fundamental aspects of the law of freedom of communications follows. The key elements of freedom of communications are introduced: scope; access; social aspects; horizontal application and restrictions.

The second chapter examines the Dutch freedom of expression clause, Art. 7 Gw, in greater detail. It deals with the problems of present protection and links them to developments in information technology. The same procedure is applied in Chapter Three, where the protection of secrecy of communications, Art. 13 Gw, is examined. The main points of criticism of both articles are:

• Art. 7 and Art. 13 Gw are technology-dependent, i.e. with a change in technology they no longer apply in the same way;
• New media are not protected at all, or are not protected in the same ways as the traditional media;
• There are no adequate provisions to guarantee the protection of freedom of communications in private relationships, (so-called horizontal application);
• The lack of procedural checks on the necessity of restrictions of the right to freedom of communications renders Articles 7 and 13 rigid and inflexible;
• The absence of a duty to care for public information services leaves the Dutch broadcasting system without a constitutional role;
• Freedom of access to information or to receive information has no place in the Constitution, which makes Art. 7 Gw too sender-focused;
• The Constitution does not protect the freedom of equal access to means of communication;
• The Constitution does not guarantee the freedom to enter the communications market and the freedom to equal use of scarce communications resources.

Chapter Four evaluates the function of a national constitution in light of the international human rights conventions and concludes that there are three reasons to keep a parallel but different fundamental rights system in the Dutch Constitution. First of all, a place in the constitution offers a higher level of protection under Dutch law. Secondly, the codification of national values is an important part of the Dutch Constitution’s essential function. Thirdly, since it is conceivably harder to adapt the international conventions than it would be to adapt the Dutch Constitution, we could adopt a more modern text of the freedom of communications and therefore reach a more adequate level of protection than under the auspices of the European Court of Human Rights.

The final chapter summarizes the key points of criticism on the present protection. Three scenarios are presented to change and improve the constitutional protection of the freedom of communications

Updated 09.11.2006