300 lines
12 KiB
HTML
300 lines
12 KiB
HTML
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<html>
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<head>
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<title>WSIS and the Software Challenge</title>
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</head>
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<body>
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<center>
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<h1>WSIS and the Software Challenge</h1>
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<h3>
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<a href="/about/greve/greve.html">Georg C.F. Greve</a><br />
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Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE), President
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</h3>
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</center>
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<br />
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<h3>Introduction: The role of software in our digital world</h3>
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<p>
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Software is codified power in the digital domain. In other words -- to
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quote Stanford Professor Lawrence Lessig -- Code is a regulator that
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governs cyberspace in ways similar to Law governing the real world.
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</p>
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<p>
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In the Northern world, most people are already depending upon software
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for very basic tasks of communication, education and work. The grade of
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dependency is generally lower in the Southern world today. But if the
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digital literacy and inclusion projects show the intended effect, the
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dependency will be as high, potentially even higher, as many areas aim to
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skip the intermediate steps of analog infrastructure and directly enter
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the digital world.
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</p>
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<p>
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Much of this interaction with and dependency upon software remains
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unreflected and in fact unnoticed -- fulfilling a prediction that
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Professor Weizenbaum of MIT made many years ago. Unless sitting in front
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of a physical machine explicitly marked as "Computer", the majority of
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users will often remain unaware of using software. A common example for
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this are mobile phones. With the trend towards ambient computing, this
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effect is likely to increase.
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</p>
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<p>
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While access to software determines our ability to participate in a
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digital society and governs our ability for communication, education and
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work, software itself represents a reservoir of codified skill.
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</p>
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<p>
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Software allows humankind to collectively refine and exercise sets of
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codified skills that most of the individuals do not possess.
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</p>
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<p>
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An example are graphical applications, which in the scope of complex
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image editing make complex mathematical transformations like Fast Fourier
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Transformation (FFT) available to everyone capable of understanding the
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applications' menu symbols.
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</p>
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<p>
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While the issues of software are centrally connected to many of the
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issues discussed during the World Summit on the Information Society, the
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lack of awareness on all sides for software as the cultural technique of
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the digital age often complicated the situation.
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</p>
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<h3>Clash of the software models</h3>
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<p>
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While most governments often see software from a purely economic
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perspective, some large industrial players have begun understanding the
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amount of political power embedded in it. By propertizing the software,
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they gain almost absolute control over the users -- be they private
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people, other companies or governments -- and the rules these have to
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obey.
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</p>
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<p>
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Proprietary software always remains under control of the licensor of the
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software, not the user. And in a networked world, that control can even
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be remotely exercised -- independent of whether the user of the software
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is an individual or a government.
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</p>
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<p>
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That dependency on proprietary software is infectious.
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</p>
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<p>
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Protocols are kept secret, standards are being broken. These protocols
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are not secret because they are valuable, they draw their value from
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being secret. The company Microsoft poses a very good example for both
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cases, as the
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<a href="/activities/ms-vs-eu/ms-vs-eu.html">European Commission antitrust
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case</a>
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and the
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<a href="http://www.nwfusion.com/news/2000/0511kerberos.html">modification
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of the Kerberos standard</a>
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have shown.
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</p>
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<p>
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The countermodel to proprietary software is based on breaking that
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dependency and putting an equal amount of power into the hands of all
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people. It is defined by four fundamental freedoms: the freedom of
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unlimited use for any purpose, the freedom to study, the freedom to
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modify and the freedom to distribute the software both in original and
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modified form.
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</p>
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<p>
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The original name for this model is
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<a href="/documents/freesoftware.html">Free Software</a>.
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It is sometimes also referred to as "Open Source", a marketing
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synonym proposed in 1998 to attract venture capital that is frequently
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abused these days to sell proprietary software under the guise of Free
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Software.
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</p>
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<p>
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Other synonyms frequently encountered are "FOSS" -- for "Free and Open
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Source Software" -- and "FLOSS" -- for "Free, Libre and Open Source
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Software" -- which, besides being redundant terms, seek to spread the
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ideology that software should not be seen as a political issue.
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</p>
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<p>
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As all these are synonyms and in the interest of clarity, this paper is
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using the original term, Free Software.
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</p>
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<h3>Free Software at WSIS</h3>
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<p>
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The Free Software groups became truly involved in the WSIS during the
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<a href="/campaigns/wsis/debriefing-paris.html">Intersessional Meeting in
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Paris in July 2003</a>.
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At this point, the proprietary software advocates had almost succeeded in
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eliminating the political issues around software from the documents by
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portraying them as a purely technical choice of software development.
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</p>
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<p>
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Within Civil Society, software issues were part of the
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<a href="http://www.wsis-pct.org">Patents, Copyrights and Trademarks
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(PCT) Working Group</a>,
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which centrally dealt with all issues around
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<a href="/campaigns/wsis/issues.html">intellectual poverty as well as
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equal and inclusive access to software, the digital cultural
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technique</a>.
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</p>
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<p>
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In a concerted effort between the PCT working group and a handful of
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governments, most notably Brazil, it was possible to put an end to
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further erosion of software issues from the documents and revert the
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trend.
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</p>
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<p>
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This positive trend continued in the following Preparatory Committee
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Conferences, during which Free Software and Patents, Copyrights and
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Trademarks (PCT) were among the most controversial issues.
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</p>
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<p>
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While there was still a dialog going on within Civil Society to explain
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the <a href="/campaigns/wsis/fs.html">connection of Free Software to
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other fundamental issues of Civil Society during the WSIS</a>,
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in a motion coordinated by the PCT working group, global Civil Society
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took a strong position for the WSIS to take a
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<a href="/campaigns/wsis/ps-20030923.html">clear position on the software
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issue in general and Free Software in particular</a>:
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</p>
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<p class="indent">
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"Software is the medium of and structuring entity for the digital
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domain. The information age will rest upon it. Having been denounced as a
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technical development model, Free Software is much more than that. It is
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a paradigm that secures equal chances and freedom for governments,
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economy and civil society alike. It provides a truly sustainable model
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for all areas of society, bringing back competition and furthering
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innovation for a prosperous and inclusive information and knowledge
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society for all."
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</p>
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<p>
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and later
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<a href="/campaigns/wsis/cs-benchmarks-03-11-14.html">chose Free Software
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as one of its essential benchmarks</a>:
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</p>
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<p class="indent">
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"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 with
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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 should
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be forbidden or negatively regulated, but Free Software should be
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promoted for its unique social, educational, scientific, political and
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economic benefits and opportunities."
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</p>
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<p>
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Despite the massive presence of proprietary software support from both
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industry and several governments, in particular the United States and
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several European Union states, such as the UK, this made it impossible to
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deny the political consequences and impact of software.
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</p>
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<p>
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In the finally adopted version, both the Declaration of Principles and
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the Plan of Action have adopted the denomination of 'software model' and
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the Plan of Action asks all governments to
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<a href="/campaigns/wsis/debriefing-geneva.html">"Encourage research and
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promote awareness among all stakeholders of the possibilities offered
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by different software models, [...]"</a>
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</p>
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<h3>After WSIS</h3>
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<p>
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Free Software gained much political visibility during WSIS, but while
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Civil Society has adopted it widely as a principle, many organisations
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still use proprietary software themselves. The effect of this practice on
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developing countries has never been subject of deep research, but seeral
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consequences are to be expected.
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</p>
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<p>
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The psychological damage of organisations telling others to follow
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policies that they ignore themselves can be considerable. Especially in
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Southern countries, this can easily create the impression of a policy
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trying to satisfy people with breadcrumbs while keeping the more valuable
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things to themselves. That would be tragic, as the opposite is indeed
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true.
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</p>
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<p>
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More severely, by showing to use proprietary software themselves or even
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advocating use of proprietary software in Southern countries,
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organisations can involuntarily destroy the effect of their work.
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</p>
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<p>
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While trying to rid Southern countries from dependency on the North and
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strengthening democracy, they do the opposite. To gain a seeming
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short-term improvement of the situation, they create strong mid-term
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dependencies for participation in the Information Society.
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</p>
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<p>
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That is why Sergio Amadeu da Silveira, president of the National
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Information Technology Institute (ITI) in Brasil likened the proprietary
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software model to that of drug dealers -- the first shot is gratis.
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</p>
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<p>
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So while much progress has been made, there is still need for further
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development on all sides: Governments, Industry and Civil Society. As is
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already inherent in the Declaration of Principles and the Plan of Action,
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all sides will need to develop a practice of evaluating the political,
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social and economic side of software along with its technological
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capabilities.
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</p>
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<p>
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To uphold their political independence and democratic basis, Governments
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will need to make deliberate efforts to further economic and social
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empowerment based on commercial and non-commercial Free Software. To
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protect their commercial interests, Industry based on and active in Free
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Software will need to provide a counterweight to proprietary software
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voices. And to maintain its credibility, Civil Society will need to
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consistently use Free Software as well as advocate it.
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</p>
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<p class="indent">
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<strong>This article was published in:</strong><br />
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ICT Task Force Series 8 (2005):<br />
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The World Summit on the Information Society -- Moving from the Past into
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the Future.<br />
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Opening Statement by Kofi Annan, Preface by Yoshio Utsumi<br />
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Edited by Daniel Stauffacher and Wolfgang Kleinwächter
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</p>
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</body>
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<timestamp>$Date$ $Author$</timestamp>
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</html>
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