Interesting debate. More knowledge needs to be in the public domain; we need to extend the debate beyond software. FN
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World Intellectual Property Rights Day 26th April 2004
WORLD SUMMIT ON INFORMATION SOCIETY SKIRTS THREE KEY ISSUES
The recent World Summit on the Information Society adopted a declaration and action plan aimed at a people-oriented information society where everyone can create, access and share information and knowledge. However, due to basic disagreements, decisions were postponed on two key issues (global Internet governance and creating a Digital Solidarity Fund) while another key issue (intellectual property) was hardly addressed.
By Martin Khor Third World Network Features
The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) ended with the adoption of a declaration and action plan aimed at a people-oriented information society where everyone can create, access and share information and knowledge.
The Declaration has 11 key principles and the Plan of Action contains 147 proposals. Many familiar issues in the discussion on the information age found their way into the Summit documents, such as the right to information, equity, access, the right to cultural identity and diversity, local content, and building the capacity of the poor and marginalised.
But some key issues, such as the impact of intellectual property, were hardly addressed. And decisions on two contentious subjectsInternet governance and the setting up of a new Digital Solidarity Fundhad to be postponed until the second phase of the Summit, to be held in Tunis in 2005.
The wrangling over the two controversial issues at one stage threatened the atmosphere and outcome of the Summit preparatory process. They remained unresolved, to the bitterness of many developing country leaders. But a compromise was worked out whereby they will continue to be debated, with the assistance of two separate task forces to be set up under the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, and final decisions will be made at the Tunis meeting.
The governance of the Internet was one of WSISs most contentious issues. The issuance of Internet domain names is presently administered by a private organisation, ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) based in San Francisco. Many developing countries argued that the administration of domain names and other aspects of global Internet management should come under an inter-governmental body, such as the International Telecommunications Union.
However, the developing countries demand for an inter-governmental oversight of the Internet was strongly resisted by some developed countries. In the end, the Summit decided to postpone taking a decision, and instead asked the UN Secretary-General to set up a working group on Internet governance to make appropriate action proposals by 2005.
The group should develop a working definition of Internet governance; identify relevant public policy issues; develop a common understanding on the roles and responsibilities of governments, existing international agencies, and other forums, and the private sector and civil society; and prepare a report to be presented in Tunis in 2005.
The second major contentious issue was how to finance the many proposals in the Summits action plan to bridge the digital divide and upgrade facilities in the poorer countries.
The developing nations proposed the concept of a Digital Solidarity Agenda to mobilise human, financial and technological resources for inclusion of all men and women in the emerging Information Society. But their proposal for a Digital Solidarity Fund to finance the Agenda was turned down by the developed countries, some of which claimed that existing amounts and channels of aid were enough and that the developing countries should commit their own funds.
This caused many Third World leaders and diplomats to complain that the Summits fine sentiments and proposals would eventually mean nothing concrete for their countries, since there would not be the financial means of implementing the proposed actions.
Again, a final decision on this divisive issue was turned over for the 2005 Tunis meeting to make. And again, the UN Secretary-General was asked to set up a task force, to review the adequacy of existing financial mechanisms to meet the challenges of ICT for development.
A third contentious issue is how present and future intellectual property rights regimes are raising the cost of information and communications to consumers, and in turn affecting the access of the public, especially of the poor, to information and to the use of ICT.
Some NGOs and research organisations are increasingly taking up this issue, pointing out that the principles and actions promoted by the Summit on access to all and participation by all in the information society are being undermined by the monopolising power of corporations making use of existing and new intellectual property rights regimes. This has enabled the high prices for software and may also lead in future to restrictions on and increasing costs of data transmitted through the Internet.
At the Summit, civil society groups issued their own joint Declaration, Shaping Information Societies for Human Needs, which was presented to governments at their final official session on 12 December.
The NGOs said the vast majority of humankind has no access to the public domain of global knowledge. Yet, instead of extending and strengthening the global domain, recent developments are restricting information more and more to private hands with patents being extended to software for example.
They called on the UN to carry out a review of the impact on poverty and human rights of current arrangements for recognition and governance of monopolised knowledge and information, including the work of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) and the World Trade Organisation.
They added that efforts should be made to limit intellectual monopolies, stimulate innovation and reward initiative, rather than keeping knowledge in private hands until it is of little use to society.
Whilst the NGOs recognised that the current trend of governments granting more intellectual property rights to companies would counter so many of the fine principles of public access and equity expressed in the Summit documents, the subject is inadequately and inappropriately treated in the official Declaration.
The Declaration instead tries to strike a balance between intellectual property protection (which grants monopoly and restricts access) and the need for dissemination and sharing of knowledge, and asks that everyone be empowered to debate and decide on these issues.
This is skirting one of the biggest issues in the right and access to information. Needless to say, it will return in a bigger way in future as questions are raised whether the Summits aims and plans can be implemented if the current intellectual regimes continue and expand. The Declaration then states 11 key principles, namely:
* The shared roles of governments and all stakeholders in promoting ICTs for development;
* The need to develop ICT infrastructure including to reach to remote areas;
* The ability for all to access and contribute information (stressing the need for a rich public domain, and affordable access to software);
* Capacity building, where skills to take part in the information society are made available to all;
* Building confidence and security in the use of ICTs;
* Creating an enabling environment (including through regulations, fair competition, standards and proper Internet governance);
* ICT applications should benefit all aspects of life (such as government operations, health, education, business, agriculture, environment, culture, and poverty eradication);
* There should be respect for cultural identity and cultural and linguistic diversity and the creation and dissemination of content in diverse languages and formats;
* Reaffirming freedom of the press and information;
* Stressing the ethical dimensions of the information society (with all actors asked to prevent abusive use of ICTs motivated by racism, hatred, violence, child abuse, etc.); and
* Committing to international and regional cooperation.
The Plan of Action, which contains 147 action proposals, follows closely the 11 principles of the Declaration. Third World Network Features.
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About the writer: Martin Khor is Director of the Third World Network.
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