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326 lines
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<title>FSF Europe - World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) - Civil Society Essential Benchmarks for WSIS</title>
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<b>Geneva, November 14th, 2003</b>
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<h1>Civil Society<br />Essential Benchmarks for WSIS</h1>
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<center><p><em>The essential benchmarks listed in this document
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reflect work in progress by the civil society content and themes group
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of the WSIS process. While there is consensus on the priorities
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stated here this document does not represent absolute consensus, nor
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does the order of the essential benchmarks constitute a strict ranking
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in order of importance. For more information on the WSIS CS CT group,
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contact: Sally Burch, <<a
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href="mailto:sburch@alainet.org">sburch@alainet.org</a>></em></p></center>
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<h3>1. Introduction</h3>
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<p>The approach to the "Information Society" on which the WSIS has
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been based reflects, to a large extent, a narrow understanding in
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which ICTs means telecommunications and the Internet. This approach
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has marginalised key issues relating to the development potential
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inherent in the combination of knowledge and technology and thus
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conflicts with the broader development mandate given in UNGA
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Resolution 56/183. </p>
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<p>Civil society is committed to a people-centred, inclusive approach
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based on respect for human rights principles and development
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priorities. We believe these principles and priorities should be
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embedded throughout the WSIS Declaration of Principles and Action
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Plan. This paper sets out the benchmarks against which civil society
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will assess the outcomes of the WSIS process and the commitment of all
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stakeholders to achieving its mandate.</p>
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<h3>2. Human rights</h3>
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<p>The WSIS Declaration of Principles and Plan of Action, should take
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as their foundations the international human rights framework. This
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implies the full integration, concrete application and enforcement of
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civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including
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labour rights, the right to development, as well as the principle of
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non-discrimination. The universality, indivisibility, interrelatedness
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and interdependence of all human rights should be clearly recognised,
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together with their centrality to democracy and the rule of law.</p>
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<p>All Principles of the Declaration and all activities in the Action
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Plan, should be in full compliance with international human rights
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standards, which should prevail over national legislative
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frameworks. The "information society" must not result in any
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discrimination or deprivation of human rights resulting from the acts
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or omissions of governments or of non-state actors under their
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jurisdictions. Any restriction on the use of ICTs must pursue a
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legitimate aim under international law, be prescribed by law, be
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strictly proportionate to such an aim, and be necessary in a
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democratic society.</p>
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<p>Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is of
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fundamental and specific importance to the information society,
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requiring that everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and
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expression and the right to seek, receive and impart information and
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ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.</p>
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<h3>3.Poverty reduction and the Right to Development</h3>
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<p>Given the unequal distribution of wealth among and within nations,
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the struggle against poverty should be the top priority on theagenda
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of the World Summit on the Information Society. It is not possible to
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achieve sustainable development by embracing new communication
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technologies without challenging existing inequalities.</p>
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<p>Civil society organisations from different parts of the world unite
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in their call to governments to take this matter very seriously. We
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want to emphasise that challenging poverty requires more than setting
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of 'development agendas'.It requires the commitment of significant
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financial and other resources, linked with social and digital
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solidarity, channeled through existing and new financing mechanisms
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that are managed transparently and inclusively of all sectors of
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society.</p>
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<h3>4.Sustainable development</h3>
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<p>An equitable Information Society must be shaped by the needs of
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people and communities and based on sustainable economic, social
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development and democratic principles, including the Millennium
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Development Goals.</p>
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<p>Only development that embraces the principles of social justice and
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gender equality can be said to centrally address fundamental social,
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cultural and economic divides. Market-based development solutions
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often fail to address more deep-rooted and persistent inequalities in
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and between countries of the North and South.</p>
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<p>Democratic and sustainable development of in the information
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society can therefore not be left solely to market forces and the
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propagation of technology. In order to balance commercial objectives
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with legitimate social interests, recognition should be given to the
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need for responsibility of the public sector, appropriate regulation
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and development of public services, and the principle of equitable and
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affordable access to services.</p>
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<p>People and communities must be empowered to develop their own
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solutions within the information society, in particular to fight
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poverty and to participate in development through fully democratic
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processes that allow community access to and participation in
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decision-making.</p>
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<h3>5. Social Justice</h3>
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<h3>5.1 Gender Equality</h3>
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<p>An equitable and inclusive Information Society must be based on
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gender justice and be particularly guided by the interpretation of
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principles of gender equality, non-discrimination and women's
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empowerment as contained in the Beijing Declaration and Platform for
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Action and the CEDAW Convention. The Action Plan must demonstrate a
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strong commitment to an intersectional approach to redressing
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discrimination resulting from unequal power relations at all levels of
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society. To empower girls and women throughout their life cycle, as
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shapers and leaders of society, gender responsive educational programs
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and appropriate learning environments need to be promoted. Gender
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analysis and the development of both quantitative and qualitative
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indicators in measuring gender equality through an extensive and
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integrated national system of monitoring and evaluation are
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"musts".</p>
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<h3>5.2 Disability</h3>
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<p>Specific needs and requirements of all stakeholders, including
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those with disabilities, must be considered in ICT
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development. Accessibility and inclusiveness of ICTs is best done at
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an early stage of design, development and production, so that the
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Information Society is to become the society for all, at minimum
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cost. </p>
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<h3>5.3 Labour rights</h3>
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<p>Essential human rights, such as privacy, freedom of expression, and
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the right of trade unions to communicate with employees, should be
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respected in the workplace. ICTs are progressively changing our way of
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working and the creation of a secure, safe and healthy working
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environment , appropriate to the utilisation of ICTs, respecting core
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labour standards, is fundamental. ICTs should be used to promote
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awareness of, respect for and enforcement of universal human rights
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standards and core labor standards.</p>
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<h3>5.4 Indigenous Peoples</h3>
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<p>The evolution of the Information Society must be founded on the
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respect and promotion of the recognition of the Rights of Indigenous
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Peoples and their distinctiveness as outlined in the ILO Convention
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169 and the UN Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
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They have fundamental rights to protect, preserve and strengthen their
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own identity and cultural diversity. ICT's should be used to support
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and promote the rights and means of Indigenous Peoples to benefit
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fully and with priority from their cultural, intellectual and
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so-called natural resources.</p>
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<h3>6. Literacy, Education and Research</h3>
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<p>Literacy and free universal access to education is a key
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principle. All initiatives must embrace this principle and respond to
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needs of all. Knowledge societies require an informed and educated
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citizenry. Capacity building needs to include skills to use ICTs,
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media and information literacy, and the skills needed for active
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citizenship including the ability to find, appraise, use and create
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information and technology. Approaches that are local, horizontal,
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gender-responsive and socially-driven and mediated should be
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prioritised. A combination of traditional and new media as well as
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open access to knowledge and information should be encouraged.</p>
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<h3>7. Cultural and linguistic diversity</h3>
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<p>Communications media and information technologies have a
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particularly important role to play in sustaining and developing the
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world's cultures and languages. The implementation of this principle
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requires support for a plurality of means of information and
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communication and respect for cultural and linguistic diversity, as
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outlined in UNESCO's Declaration on Cultural Diversity.</p>
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<h3>8. Access and Infrastructure</h3>
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<p>Global universal access to communication and information should be
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a target of the WSIS action plan and the expansion of the global
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information infrastructure should be based on principles of equality
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and partnership and guided by rules of fair competition and regulation
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at both national and international levels. The integration of access,
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infrastructure and training of the citizenry and the generation of
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local content, in a framework of social networks and clear public or
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private policies, is a key basis for the development of egalitarian
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and inclusive information societies. The evolution of policy should
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be coordinated internationally but enable a diversity of appropriate
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solutions based on national and regional input and international
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sharing of information and resources. This should be people-centered
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and process-orientated, rather than technologically determined and
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expert dominated.</p>
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<h3>9.Governance and enabling environment</h3>
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<h3>9.1Democratic governance</h3>
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<p>Good governance in a democratic society implies openness,
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transparency, accountability, and compliance with the rule of
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law. Respect for these principles is needed to enforce the right to
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take part in the conduct of public affairs. Public access to
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information produced or maintained by governments should be enforced,
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ensuring that the information is timely, complete and accessible in a
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format and language the public can understand. This also applies to
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access to information produced or maintained by corporations where
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this relates to activities affecting the public interest. </p>
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<h3>9.2 Media</h3> <p>While allowing for government information
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services to communicate their message, state-controlled media at the
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national level should be transformed into editorially independent
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public service media organisations and/or privatised. Efforts which
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encourage pluralism and diversity of media ownership must be
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encouraged to avoid excessive media concentration.</p>
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<h3>9.3 Community media</h3>
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<p>Community media, that is media which
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are independent, community-driven and civil-society based, have a
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specific and crucial role to play in enabling access and participation
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for all to the information society, especially the poorest and most
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marginalised communities. Community media should be supported and
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promoted. Governments should assure that legal frameworks for
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community media are non-discriminatory and provide for equitable
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allocation of frequencies through transparent and accountable
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mechanisms.</p>
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<h3>9.4Internet governance</h3>
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<p>The global governance of ICT must be based on the values of open
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participation, inclusiveness, transparency, and democratic
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accountability. It should establish and support universal
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participation in addressing new international policy and technical
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issues raised by the Internet and ICT. No single body and no single
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stakeholder group is able to manage all of the issues alone. Many
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stakeholders, cooperating in strict accordance with widely supported
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rules and procedures, must define the global agenda.</p>
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<p>The non-government sector has played a historically critical role
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in Internet Governance, and this must be recognised. The strength of
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the Internet as an open non-Government platform should be reinforced,
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with an explicit and stronger role for Civil Society. The role of
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Governments should be no greater than that of any other stakeholder
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group.</p>
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<h3>10Public Domain of Global Knowledge</h3>
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<h3>10.1 Limited intellectual monopolies</h3>
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<p>Human knowledge, including the knowledge of all peoples and
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communities, also those who are remote and excluded, is the heritage
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of all humankind and the reservoir from which new knowledge is
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created. A rich public domain is essential to inclusive information
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societies. Limited intellectual monopolies, such as copyrights or
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patents, are granted only for the benefit of society, most notably to
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encourage creativity and innovation. The benchmark against which they
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must be reviewed and adjusted regularly is how well they fulfill their
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purpose.</p>
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<h3>10.2Free Software</h3>
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<p>Software is the cultural technique of the digital age and access to
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it determines who may participate in a digital world. Free Software
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with its freedoms of use for any purpose, studying, modification and
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redistribution is an essential building block for an empowering,
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sustainable and inclusive information society. No software model
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should be forbidden or negatively regulated, but Free Software should
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be promoted for its unique social, educational, scientific, political
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and economic benefits and opportunities.</p>
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<h3>10.3 Access to information in the public domain</h3>
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<p>Today, more than 80% of mankind has no access to the reservoir of
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human knowledge that is the public domain and from which our new
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knowledge is created. Their intellectual power remains
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uninitialised and consequently unused, lost to all humankind. The
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reservoir of human knowledge must be made equally available to all in
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online and offline media by means of Free Documentation, public
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libraries andother initiatives to disseminate information.</p>
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<h3>10.4 Open access to scientific information</h3>
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<p>Free scientific information is a requirement for sustainable
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development. Science is the source of the technological
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development that empowers the Information Society, including the World
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Wide Web. In the best tradition of science, scientific authors donate
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their work to humankind and therefore, it must be equally available to
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all, on the Web, in online Open Access journals and online Open
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Archives.</p>
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<h3>11. Security and privacy</h3>
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<h3>11.1 Integrity and security</h3>
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<p>Definitions of criminal and terrorist purposes in existing and
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emerging policies and legislation are ambiguous and prevent the use of
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information resources for legitimate purposes. The legitimate need for
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infrastructure integrity must avoid shift to the highly politicised
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agenda characterised by language referring to the integrity of the
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military field and the use of information resources for criminal and
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terrorist purposes. </p>
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<h3>11.2 Right to privacy</h3>
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<p>The right to privacy should be affirmed in the context of the
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information society. It must be defended in public spaces, online,
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offline, at home and in the workplace. Every person must have the
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right to decide freely whether and in what manner he or she wants to
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receive information and communicate with others. The possibility of
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communicating anonymously must be ensured for everyone. The
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collection, retention, use and disclosure of personal data, no matter
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by whom, should remain under the control of the individual
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concerned. The power of the private sector and governments over
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personal data, including monitoring and surveillance, increases the
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risk of abuse, and must be kept to a minimum under clearly specified,
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legal conditions.</p>
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</body>
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