A/HRC/17/27 47. The Special Rapporteur commends such initiatives to enhance the responsibility of Internet intermediaries to respect human rights. To avoid infringing the right to freedom of expression and the right to privacy of Internet users, the Special Rapporteur recommends intermediaries to: only implement restrictions to these rights after judicial intervention; be transparent to the user involved about measures taken, and where applicable to the wider public; provide, if possible, forewarning to users before the implementation of restrictive measures; and minimize the impact of restrictions strictly to the content involved. Finally, there must be effective remedies for affected users, including the possibility of appeal through the procedures provided by the intermediary and by a competent judicial authority. 48. More generally, the Special Rapporteur encourages corporations to establish clear and unambiguous terms of service in line with international human rights norms and principles, increase transparency of and accountability for their activities, and continuously review the impact of their services and technologies on the right to freedom of expression of their users, as well as on the potential pitfalls involved when they are misused. D. Disconnecting users from Internet access, including on the basis of violations of intellectual property rights law 49. While blocking and filtering measures deny access to certain content on the Internet, States have also taken measures to cut off access to the Internet entirely. The Special Rapporteur is deeply concerned by discussions regarding a centralized “on/off” control over Internet traffic.33 In addition, he is alarmed by proposals to disconnect users from Internet access if they violate intellectual property rights. This also includes legislation based on the concept of “graduated response”, which imposes a series of penalties on copyright infringers that could lead to suspension of Internet service, such as the so-called “threestrikes-law” in France34 and the Digital Economy Act 2010 of the United Kingdom.35 50. Beyond the national level, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) has been proposed as a multilateral agreement to establish international standards on intellectual property rights enforcement. While the provisions to disconnect individuals from Internet access for violating the treaty have been removed from the final text of December 2010, the Special Rapporteur remains watchful about the treaty’s eventual implications for intermediary liability and the right to freedom of expression. E. Cyber-attacks 51. Cyber-attacks, or attempts to undermine or compromise the function of a computerbased system, include measures such as hacking into accounts or computer networks, and often take the form of distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks. During such attacks, a group of computers is used to inundate a web server where the targeted website is hosted with requests, and as a result, the targeted website crashes and becomes inaccessible for a certain period of time. As with timed blocking, such attacks are sometimes undertaken during key political moments. The Special Rapporteur also notes that websites of human 33 34 35 14 “Reaching for the kill switch”, The Economist, 10 February 2011. Decision 2009-580, Act furthering the diffusion and protection of creation on the Internet, (original: Loi favorisant la diffusion et la protection de la création sur internet), Conseil Constitutionnel, 10 June 2010. Available from: http://www.conseil-constitutionnel.fr/conseilconstitutionnel/root/bank_mm/anglais/2009_580dc.pdf. Digital Economy Act 2010, sections 3-16.