3rd Prepcom for UN Summit on Information Society

Civil Society proposals on Section Two: Access to information and knowledge – Extending the global knowledge commons

2003-09-18 00:00:00

committed by civil society Working Group: Patents, Copyright and
Trademarks

1. The title of the section should read:

2) Free Access to Knowledge – Extending the Global Knowlegde
Commons

New article 20C should be added:

NEW 20C. Human knowledge is the heritage and property of
humankind and the reservoir from which new knowledge is created.
Free and unhampered access to knowledge resources in all forms of
media for present and future generations should be a core means
of reducing global inequality and the digital divide. The new
challenge is to maintain and extend the commonwealth of global
knowledge as a precondition to foster intellectual creativity,
sustainable development and human rights.

2. Article 21-22 are strongly supported, but we prefer the term
open source to be replaced by:

Free and Open Source Software

3. Article 23 is supported and to be enriched by this new
language:

NEW 23A. Access to information and knowledge as well as free
communication are necessary prerequisites for personal
development, for political participation and for the development
of humanity as a whole. Freedom of information makes political
decisions transparent, helps reduce corruption and improves the
management of information in public administrations. Everyone has
the right to have unhampered, unfiltered access to publicly
available resources and to documents of public institutions
without manipulation or control. Keeping administrative
activities secret must always require legitimisation by law and
should be kept within a tight legal framework. Information in
private hands should also be accessible in case of a special
public interest.

4. 11C is supported and to be integrated with 23B using the
following wording:

NEW 23B. Since science has a central role in the production of
new knowledge, universal and equitable access to scientific
knowledge, as well as equal opportunities for everyone for the
creation and sharing of scientific knowledge, are crucial. Any
research, especially that funded by public bodies, should enrich
the public domain. This must be ensured by the promotion of
efficient models for self-publication, open content contributions
and other altenative models for the production, publication and
sharing of scientific knowledge and the use of non-proprietary
formats.

5. 24 A is supported.

6. NEW 40C is to be replaced:

40C. Human knowledge is the heritage and property of all
humankind and the reservoir from which new knowledge is created.
The primary goal of patents, copyright and trademarks, and other
legal and technical monopolies on knowledge granted by society,
must be to ensure maximum use of this knowledge and to encourage
creativity as widely as possible within society. International
agreements and treaties, and national policies concerning
creation, sharing and trade of intellectual goods and cultural
creations should be alligneds according to thos principle.