FREEDOM OF SPEECH / FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION


FREEDOM OF SPEECH / FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak without censorship and/or limitation. The synonymous term freedom of expression is sometimes used to indicate not only freedom of verbal speech but any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used [United Nations, 1966, 1976]. The right to freedom of speech is recognized as a human right under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and recognized in international human rights law in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The ICCPR recognizes the right to freedom of speech as "the right to hold opinions without interference. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression". Furthermore freedom of speech is recognized in European, inter-American and African regional human rights law [United Nations, 1966, 1967]. Freedom of speech, or the freedom of expression, is recognized in international and regional human rights law. The right is enshrined in Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, Article 13 of the American Convention on Human Rights and Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights [Andrew Puddephatt & Hodder Arnold, 2005; Kumar, Ambika, 2006].

In Islamic ethics freedom of speech was first declared in the Rashidun period by the caliph Umar in the 7th century. In the Abbasid Caliphate period, freedom of speech was also declared by al-Hashimi (a cousin of Caliph al-Ma'mun) in a letter to one of the religious opponents he was attempting to convert through reason.

According to George Makdisi and Hugh Goddard, "the idea of academic freedom" in universities was "modelled on Islamic custom" as practiced in the medieval Madrasah system from the 9th century. Islamic influence was "certainly discernible in the foundation of the first deliberately-planned university" in Europe [Boisard, Marcel A., 1980].

* Selected REFERENCES / Sources:

Amnesty International: Annual Reports: URLhttp://www.amnesty.org/ailib/aireport/index.html Andrew Puddephatt & Hodder Arnold. (2005). Freedom of Expression: The Essentials of Human Rights. United Publishers. Boisard, Marcel A. (July 1980), "On the Probable Influence of Islam on Western Public and International Law", International Journal of Middle East Studies 11 (4): 429–50. Goddard, Hugh. (2000). A History of Christian-Muslim Relations. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Kumar, Ambika. (2006). ‘Using Courts to Enforce the Free Speech Provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.’ Published by Chicago Journal of International Law. Summer 2006. URLhttp://www.allbusiness.com/corporate-governance/4082846-1.html United Nations: ‘International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.’ Adopted and opened for signature, ratification and accession by General Assembly resolution 2200A (XXI) of 16th December 1966: Entry into force 23 March 1976, in accordance with Article 49. URLhttp://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/ccpr.htm (United Nations) Wikipedia. (2010). ‘Freedom of Speech.’ Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. URLhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_expression

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21 January 2011

Vodafone and Compliants


Comment:

'Customer is King'... IF and when corporations FAIL to understand that, that means its the downfall of their multi-million (billion and trillion) dollars business. Its that simple really!

So how do corporation understand/appreciate customers?

1- By making them King/Queen, take their complaints seriously, if they are satisfied, they will promote you, by word of mouth, to their friends and relatives. BUT if they don't like you, they will make it their 'crusade' to bring the bad news around to their friends, relatives and strangers like a fireball.

2- Never try to 'short-change' (below average service received, for the amount of money paid) the customer, even for once! The customer will keep it to their hearts, and will spell it all out in due time... Its like a 'time'bomb' ready to exploit.

3- Take customers 'feedbacks' like its coming from the top (e.g. the CEO, CIO, Manager). IF customers felt that their advises (feedbacks) are not taken seriously, they will backfire the large corporation, like a loose canon gun. Most 'unsuccessful' companies does not even have a 'feedback' box, let alone, taking the advises from their good customers. Thats why they don't grow big, and even fail.

The large corporation did not even realises that the advises from their customers are more 'trustworthy' than that of their managers or supervisors, who only reported 'good news' to the big bosses.

And what makes it more fustrating is when the large corporations 'outsources' their Online Services and/or Complaint Unit to third party (who may be situated in another country), who careless about the success or failure of these corporation, as long as they get their salaries. Most of the time, customers felt cheated when these online outsources operators (so-called 'Customer Service Representatives'/CSR) do not get the complaint of the customers right, and simply dismissed the customers after a few minutes. Hence, customers have no way to turn to - except to their local governors for complaints (and hence, make the personal issues, a national issues).

See the news below:
AAP January 21, 2011, 10:09 am


Vodafone says it's working hard to improve its service following a damning report that outlined thousands of complaints ranging from patchy network coverage to poor customer service. The telco giant on Friday responded to the 30-page report by Vodafail.com, which summarises accounts by 12,000 unhappy Vodafone customers.

The Vodafail report was submitted to the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) on Friday.

It analyses thousands of similar stories from customers about hours spent on hold to Vodafone's call centre trying to make a complaint about its 3G network issues, including frequent call dropouts and delayed receipt of voicemail and text messages.

Customers said they were fobbed off by Vodafone Customer Service Representatives who said there weren't any known network issues and the problems they were experiencing were related to their handset or SIM card. In most cases suggestions to reboot the phone or get a new SIM card didn't solve the problem.

The report claims Vodafone seemed indifferent and failed to properly handle complaints.


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