Date: Fri, 3 Oct 2003 12:19:20 +0700
From: Sacha Jotisalikorn <sacha@forumasia.org>
Subject: [communication 925] Fwd: [WSIS CS-Plenary] (Fwd) InfoWorld - Tough issues face Information Society summit
To: communication@wsisasia.org
Message-Id: <24CB9F5C-F561-11D7-83BA-000393DB8C92@forumasia.org>
X-Mail-Count: 00925

Begin forwarded message:> From: natasha@womensnet.org.za> Date: Thu Oct 2, 2003  18:55:22 Asia/Bangkok> To: plenary@wsis-cs.org> Subject: [WSIS CS-Plenary] (Fwd) InfoWorld - Tough issues face > Information Society summit> Reply-To: plenary@wsis-cs.org>> if you havent seen this, another article. .. quotes, karen, ralf and> georg.>> ------- Forwarded message follows ------->>> Tough issues face Information Society summit> Major clash expected>> By John Blau, IDG News Service October 01, 2003>>> Delegates attending the World Summit on the Information Society> (WSIS)in Geneva in December can look forward to another major clash> overseveral contentious issues that blocked agreement of two key> documents during a critical round of negotiations in the Alpine city> last month.>> WSIS is an attempt to bridge what many governments view as a widening> gap between people who have access to modern communication services> and information, and thus knowledge, and those who don't, according> to Yoshio Utsumi, secretary general of the International> Telecommunication Union (ITU), the U.N. agency responsible for the> summit. The importance of communications and access to networks "is> no longer just a technical matter, but a fundamental policy goal for> every nation," Utsumi said in a statement.>> At September's Prepcom-3, the final preparatory conference before the> summit, government representatives and members of the private and> civil sectors, including the media, met to agree on final drafts of> two core documents, the Declaration of Principles and the Action> Plan. Despite some progress, they failed to produce documents ready> for signing at the world's first Information Society summit.>> Now the ITU is hastily trying to organize at least one> "intersessional" meeting, if not two, in an effort to build a> consensus before heads of state from at least 50 countries -- both> developed and developing -- meet at the summit from Dec. 10-12, said> Gary Fowlie, an ITU spokesman. The first intersessional meeting is> planned for Nov. 11-14, "pending resources," he said. The second,> depending on the outcome of the first, could take place directly> before the summit from Dec. 7-9.>> The expectations of the summit are high if the Declaration of> Principles is any indication. The document seeks "a commitment to> build an inclusive Information Society where everyone can create,> access, utilize and share information and knowledge, enabling> individuals and communities to achieve their full potential and> improve their quality of life in a sustainable manner.">> The document, representing a framework of fundamental principles, is> intrinsically linked with the second, the Action Plan, which contains> more than 140 items to achieve them. Copies of the draft documents> are available on the ITU-sponsored WSIS Web site: www.itu.int/wsis.>> Both, however, are riddled with contentious issues, such as who will> finance the development of the Information Society and govern the> Internet, not to mention intellectual property rights, open-source> software and freedom of expression.>> "This is the first time that issues like financing, Internet> governance and security and even spam have ever been discussed at a> global level," Fowlie said. "Because they're so broad and some of> them so new, it's definitely a challenge to address them all.">> For sure, money is one of the biggest sticking points, according to> the spokesman. Demands by several developing countries to create a> "digital solidarity fund" have met strong resistance by developed> countries, which argue that existing financing mechanisms could be> better leveraged, he said.>> Another prickly subject, almost on par with financing, is Internet> governance, Fowlie said. China and Brazil are among several countries> calling for one or more global bodies to manage Internet resources,> such as domain names, root servers and IP (Internet Protocol)> addresses -- an area heavily controlled by the U.S. Hardly a> surprise, the idea has fallen upon deaf ears in the U.S. delegation,> which continues to back ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned> Names and Numbers). Delegates from the European Union (EU) likewise> support a private model, along the line of the U.S.-backed ICANN,> preferring not to see the ITU become involved.>> Also, the role of different software models in ensuring access to> information and knowledge has raised heated debate, according to the> ITU spokesman. Many countries, and not just developing ones, feel> that proprietary software, like that developed and marketed by> Microsoft Corp., doesn't meet all users' needs optimally in terms of> cost and usage.>> Earlier language in the August draft of the Action Plan, advocating> wide use of open-source software, is toned down in the September> draft, largely because of demands by U.S. and EU delegates that> commercial software interests receive fair representation in the> plan. The language now speaks of "striking a balance" among the> different software models, including proprietary, open source and> free software.>> The fact that free software is listed in the latest draft in addition> to open source is the result of intensive lobbying by several groups,> including the Free Software Foundation (FSF) Europe.>> "Free software doesn't have to be free of charge; it can be sold> commercially," said FSF Europe President Georg Greve. "What> distinguishes free software from the other software models is> basically the freedom it gives users to modify, distribute and use> the software in an unlimited way. Open source is a term that even> Microsoft is now using when it talks about opening its code for> governments to view. Microsoft software is proprietary software.">> Perhaps less contentious, but an issue nonetheless, is the protection> of intellectual property rights (IPR), according to Fowlie. "We have> to look at how IPR, patents and copyrights are affected by a global> communications network," he said. "There's been a lot of debate on> this.">> Freedom of expression is another sensitive topic and one that must be> addressed if communication services are to extend to the masses> around the globe, the spokesman said.>> With so many issues still on the negotiating table and with so little> time and money to resolve them, some participants in the negotiations> wonder how successful the December summit will be.>> "Consensus building is very difficult to begin with," said Karen> Banks, a spokeswoman for the Association for Progressive> Communications, one of the nongovernmental organizations observing> the negotiations as a member of the "Civil Society" group of> participants. "But add to that the fact that this whole effort is> incredibly under-resourced. It's primarily a U.S.-EU affair. They> have resources to send delegates who can argue their cases. Many of> the developing countries don't have these resources.">> Other Civil Society members have been even more outspoken in their> criticism. Governments should "listen or leave us alone in the> Information Age," said Ralf Bendrath, a Civil Society representative> associated with Germany's Heinrich BÍl Foundation, in a statement> posted on the organization's Web site, www.worldsummit2003.org.>> The Civil Society, representing about 500 groups, has begun drafting> a "vision paper," which it plans to submit in December, according to> a statement.>> Should heads of state in December sign documents that fall short of> the expectations of the Civil Society and others, they will have an> opportunity to make corrections in two years, Fowlie said. "We are> blessed with the fact that this is a two-phase summit," he said.> "When we meet again in Tunisia in two years, we can measure what> success has been made and, if necessary, re-evaluate the Action Plan> and make adjustments. This is the beginning of a process; it's not> the end.">> The follow-up summit is scheduled for Nov. 16-18, 2005, in Tunis,> Tunisia.>>  --------------------------------------------------------------------> ---> You are currently subscribed to aisi-l as: [natasha@womensnet.org.za]> To unsubscribe, forward this message to> leave-aisi-l-55465V@lyris.bellanet.org>> ------- End of forwarded message -------> Natasha Primo> Project Manager: Women'sNet> SANGONeT> PO Box 31> Johannesburg 2000> South Africa> Tel: +27-11-8386943/4> Fax: +27-11-4921058> email: natasha@womensnet.org.za> URL: http://www.womensnet.org.za>>>> _______________________________________________> Plenary mailing list> Plenary@wsis-cs.org> http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/plenary>>  =
	
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