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98 lines
3.6 KiB
HTML
98 lines
3.6 KiB
HTML
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
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<html>
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<version>1</version>
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<author id="greve"/>
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<date>
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<original content="2005-04-15"/>
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</date>
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<head>
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<title>FSF Europe - Observing WIPO - Statement at PCIPD, 15 April 2005</title>
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</head>
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<body>
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<p align="right">
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[ <a href="statement-20050415.en.pdf">PDF Version (44k)</a> ]
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</p>
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<p id="category">
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<a href="/activities/policy.html">WIPO</a>
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</p>
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<h1>Statement by Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) </h1>
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<h4>PERMANENT COMMITTEE ON COOPERATION FOR DEVELOPMENT RELATED TO INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY (PCIPD) (Geneva, 14-15 April 2005)</h4>
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<!--<p id="introduction"> Summary: </p>-->
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<p>Mr. Chairman,</p>
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<p>on behalf of the Free Software Foundation Europe I congratulate you and
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your co-chair on the trust placed in you for this fourth PCIPD
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session. Our organisation is a globally active centre of expertise for
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Free Software with a European focus, and our intervention will deal with
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the digital development activities referred to in document number
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PCIPD/4/2 prepared by the bureau.</p>
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<p>Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are described in the
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document both as tools for administration systems and as the object of
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technology transfer. Furthermore ICTs impact upon other areas of
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interest to WIPO, in particular copyright, and Free Software can
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contribute positively to all of these.</p>
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<p>Free Software is defined by the freedom of unlimited use for any
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purpose, the freedom to study, the freedom to modify and the freedom
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to distribute. In this context we would like to refer to the
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Declaration of Principles and the Plan of Action adopted by all UN
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Member States during the December 2003 World Summit on the Information
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Society.</p>
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<p>As -- amongst others -- paragraph 23 o) of the Plan of Action states,
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a variety of software models such as proprietary and Free Software
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should be promoted. This impacts on paragraph 12 and 34 of PCIPD/4/2,
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but also paragraphs 48 and 49 need to be seen in the light of this
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decision by the Member States.</p>
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<p>It is crucial that WIPO programmes do not de-jure or de-facto mandate
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any of these activities in favour of proprietary software. All such
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activities should be equally and fully available with Free Software.</p>
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<p>Mr. Chairman,</p>
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<p>regarding technology transfer and the bridging of the digital divide,
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the potential of Free Software should be taken into account by the
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measures listed in section II of the document.</p>
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<p>As alluded to by the ``knowledge economy'' reference in paragraph 14,
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Information and Communication Technologies can be a powerful tool to
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enable industrial growth. The sustainability of such growth is to a very
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high degree a function of the control over such ICT infrastructures.</p>
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<p>The model of proprietary software is based on absolute and permanent
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control by the proprietor. On the other hand,the model of Free
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Software, based on the creative use of copyright, offers freedom for
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political and commercial activity, giving each Member State
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flexibility and control over their ICT infrastructure.</p>
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<p>The region of Extremadura in Spain is a good example how a primarily
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agricultural economy can rapidly evolve into a digitally networked
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high-skill region fostering high economic development through commercial
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Free Software clusters.</p>
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<p>Adding training and competency in Free Software to WIPO's development
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related programmes will greatly increase their impact and open up an
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entire new area of knowledge based economic development.</p>
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<p>Thank you, Mr. Chairman.</p>
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</body>
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</html>
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