[Fsf-friends] [twnfeatures] World Summit on Information Society Skirts three key issues

[Frederick Noronha (FN)]

Interesting debate. More knowledge needs to be in the public domain; we 
need to extend the debate beyond software. FN

---------- Forwarded message ----------

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 subjects—Internet 
governance and the setting up of a new Digital Solidarity Fund—had 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 WSIS’s 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 Summit’s 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 
Summit’s 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 Summit’s 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.

                                                                 -ends-

About the writer: Martin Khor is Director of the Third World Network.

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