[wilhelmtux-discussion] Re: World Summit on the Information Society - FSF at WSIS?

[Alex Schroeder]

This mail contains plain text extracts of some of the PDF files
available from http://www.wsis.org/ -- I can mail the PDF documents,
or plain text editions of these documents, to anybody interested.

The extracts where produced by searching for the term "software" in
the documents and deciding whether the paragraphs related to Free
Software or not.  Based on the existing text, I will try to formulate
my personal plan.



The goals:

1. Write a statement for the Wilhelm Tux website (the campaign for
   Free Software in Switzerland).  This statement can then be used by
   the Swiss Plattform (the umbrella organization for civil society
   in Switzerland for the World Summit).

2. Choose an appropriate position for myself, and then decide whether
   that it is worth trying to get into the official Swiss delegation
   directly, or whether our goals are better server by being part of
   the Swiss Plattform.  It seems that the Swiss Plattform will be
   part of the official delegation, so at the moment that might be a
   better avenue (since I know the Swiss Plattform shares our ideas).
   I will write Chantal Peyer a separate mail on this issue.

3. I'm still trying to find out what happened at prepcon2, exactly.  I
   have heard that in some meeting (I don't know which, I think it was
   in Tokyo), the direct support of Free Software was removed from
   the draft document.  Claude Almansi also wrote:

        Lawrence Lessig took part in the "Visionaries' Round Table"
        that opened the second Preparatory Conference for WSIS
        (PrepCom2) in Geneva in February, where he expressed pessimism
        as to where "Information Society" was heading to if the
        current tendency towards commercialisation of knowledge,
        content and means to access them (i.e. software). But althoug
        the intervention by A. Wade, president of Senegal, at the same
        "Visionaries' round table" is reported on the WSIS site (under
        Executive Secretariate) - Lessig's isn't, unfortunately.

   I'm therefore also looking into the issue of Intellectual Property
   Rights (IPR) and Free Software.  I have heard Stallman's speech on
   the issue of software patents available on an audia file on the
   web, so perhaps this needs more attention, too.  I will write
   Claude Almansi a separate mail on this issue.



The three documents:

1. The Report on the second meeting of the preparatory committee (aka
   prepcom2)

2. The Draft Declaration

3. The Draft Action Plan

The documents are separated from each other by a horizontal line.



My comments on the three documents:


* Regarding the Report:

The link between Free Software (par. 22) and intellectual property
rights (par. 23) is not clear enough.  We should stress this.

I also think there is a misconception between the role of intellectual
property rights:  There is no balance between IPRs and public
interest.  IPRs exist in order to ensure a balance between authors and
the public interest.  We should stress that IPRs should only give
authors enough incentive to continue producing; the public interest is
the public domain (ie. no intellectual property) -- that is the real
balance IPRs are trying to ensure.

Some of Lessig's ideas about the use of spectrum in his book The
Future Of Ideas are very interesting.  I feel like par. 24 is missing
the point.  This could be an additional point to pique Lessig's
interest.


* Regarding the Draft Declaration:

The draft only mentions Free Software as a means to "affordable
access".  This misses the point completely!

If software is produced as a service (as most software in the business
world still is!), then it will be as expensive as before, because
people have to be paid for their efforts.  If software is produced as
a product (as most software for office and home users is!), then that
market will change dramatically, as the old business models based on
licensing fees are no longer applicable.  But that, too, does not mean
that software will turn out to be zero-cost at all times.  Somebody
still has to invest time and energy, and other people might still have
to pay if they want certain features which they cannot write
themselves.  The key point is that when software is Free, they can
hire *anybody* to do it -- because anybody can look at the source,
learn from it, modify it, and redistribute it.  As a secondary effect,
this makes localisation (features for local requirements) and
translations (the use of local languages) a lot easier and cheaper
(since you can hire local people).  It also makes education easier
(since people can study quality code and change it, and gather
experience by participating in free software projects), and
redistribute it...

Anyway, I can expand this into an essay, and I have already written
two such pieces for our Wilhelm Tux website (in German).  I'll leave
that for later, should it be required.  This could be part of the
Wilhelm Tux statement, as a kind of explanatory note or something.
I'll have to think about this.


* Regarding the Draft Action Plan:

Section I is the real Action Plan, Section II has the Observers'
contribution to the draft Action Plan.  These observations seem far
more useful than the real thing.  We should focus on moving the
statements from the observers' contributions into the action plan.

Even so, the observer's contribution [14] says "free software shall be
adopted by all public authorities and bodies" (excellent idea), but
does not expand on it, while other points are far more elaborate.
Perhaps this shows that we should stress this even more.  If public
authorities and bodies use Free Software because of such principles as
transparency or freedom, then this automatically generates a market
for Free Software where money can be made, and that will help us
deliver better Free Software to everybody.  This idea of creating a
market seems to be missing, so perhaps we should try to get such a
passage into the action plan, too.

I'm unsure what the "Programmers Without Frontiers" initiative is all
about.


* General remark:

The Action Plan is the only document that talks about open-source/free
software.  The other documents only talk about open-source software.
In order to prevent companies from hijacking the term "open-source",
we should focus on at least using "open-source/free" in all three
documents.





Alex.



------------------------------------------------------------

>From the final "Report of the Second Meeting of the Preparatory
Committee":

6) Enabling environment 

...

22. Working towards open and flexible international and interoperable
    standards is an important issue for all countries so as to ensure
    that all can utilize the technology and associated content and
    services to their maximum potential. Development and deployment of
    open-source software should be encouraged, as appropriate, as
    should open standards for ICT networking.

23. It is important to ensure a balance between intellectual property
    rights (IPR) and the public interest. While intellectual property
    rights play a vital role in fostering innovation in software, e-
    commerce and associated trade and investment, there is a need to
    promote initiatives to ensure fair balance between IPRs and the
    interests of the users of information, while also taking into
    consideration the global consensus achieved on IPR issues in
    multilateral organizations;

24. Managing the radio-electric spectrum in the public and general
    interest and in accordance with the basic principle of legality,
    with full observance of national laws and regulations and
    international agreements governing the management of frequencies.

...

7) Promotion of development-oriented ICT applications for all 

...

28. E-Business: Enterprises both large and small can use ICTs to
    foster innovation, realize gains in productivity, reduce
    transaction costs and benefit from network externalities. In
    support of this process, Governments need to stimulate, through
    the adoption of an enabling environment services, regulatory
    framework for the promotion of private investment applications and
    content, based on a widely available broadband infrastructure, and
    foster public - private partnerships. On the consumer side, ICTs
    can bring to consumers greater satisfaction through their
    interaction with many potential suppliers, beyond the constraints
    of location.

------------------------------------------------------------

>From the "Draft declaration of Principles Based on discussions in the
Working Group of Sub-Committee 2 (DT-2 revised)":

2) Access to information and knowledge 

...

24.  Open standards and open source: Open standards and open source
     software are basic elements in the development of a more
     affordable access to ICTs.

...

6) Enabling environment 

...

42.  Standardization: Standardization is one of the essential building
     blocks of the Information Society.  International policy dialogue
     at global, regional and sub-regional levels should promote the
     identification and application of interoperable standards, the
     transfer of know-how and the provision of technical
     assistance. The development and use of open standards are
     particularly important for developing countries. In this regard
     the increased use of open-source software can contribute greatly
     to increasing access and to adding to the diversity of choice of
     software for consumers.

------------------------------------------------------------

>From the "Draft action plan Based on discussions in the Working Group
of Sub-Committee 2 (WSIS/PC-2/DT-3 revised)"

Section I

...

2) Access to information and knowledge 

...

14. Open standards and open-source software: Development and
    deployment of open-source software and standards for ICT
    networking should be encouraged:

    - Open and flexible international and interoperable standards
      should be promoted to ensure that all can utilize the technology
      and associated content and services to their maximum potential.

    - Open-source software, including UNESCO software CDS/ISIS,
      multi-platform and open platform as well as interoperability
      standards, should be used more broadly to provide freedom of
      choice and to facilitate access to ICTs by all citizens, at an
      affordable cost.

...

34. Intellectual property rights: It is important to ensure a balance
    between intellectual property rights (IPR) and the public
    interest:

    - While IPRs play a vital role in fostering innovation in
      software, e-commerce and associated trade and investment, there
      is a need to promote initiatives to ensure fair balance between
      IPRs and the interests of the users of information, while also
      taking into consideration the global consensus achieved on IPR
      issues in multilateral organizations.

    - An appropriate legal framework should be defined for the
      development of a public domain of information and knowledge.

...

Section II -- Observers' contribution to the draft Action Plan

...

2) Access to information and knowledge

...

[14] Open-source/free software shall be adopted by all public
     authorities and bodies:

     - Awareness of open-source/free software should be created,
       especially in the developing countries.

     - Capacity in open-source/free software development should be
       built through the development of incubator funding, a knowledge
       warehouse of expertise in developing countries, development of
       regional and national open-source/free software portals, and by
       ensuring that technical experts in developing countries have
       full opportunity to participate in the development of
       open-source/free software.

     - A "Programmers Without Frontiers" initiative, focused on
       open-source/free software as applied to development needs,
       should be launched and coordinated, under the auspices of the
       UN.

     - A collaborative network of open-source/free software technology
       tools for civil society must be promoted.


[34] Intellectual property rights:

...

     - Computer software should not be protected by copyright, or at
       least, the protection period of computer software should be
       shortened. Software shall not be patentable, in principle.