[eccr] Summit Prep Meet Caught between Two Visions - IPS

Summit Prep Meet Caught between Two Visions

Gustavo Capdevila


GENEVA, Feb 17 (IPS) - In the preparatory discussions for the World
Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), to take place in
December, a rift has emerged between the visions aiming to put new
technology at the service of business, or of citizens.

The differences were evident from the beginning, in Monday's
sessions of Prepcom-2 in Geneva, convened by the United Nations to
discuss how to achieve greater equality in access to information and
communications technology.

The pillars of the debate are access, referring to the digital divide that
leaves the people of the developing South excluded; power, and the
concentration of ownership of the communications media; democracy,
or freedom of expression; and cultural diversity.

The first portion of the Summit, slated to take place in Geneva, Dec
10-12, has a mandate to issue a declaration on these issues and
establish policies for an action plan.

The WSIS will continue in Tunisia in 2005 to follow up on the results
and to make corrections to improve the process.

Only the private sector has the experience and resources to translate
the concept of the information society from cyberspace to everyday
life, said María Cattaui, secretary-general of the International
Chamber of Commerce.

But governments must cooperate, creating stable economic
conditions and favourable legal frameworks to attract private
investment, she said.

The information and communications technology (ICT) industry
shrank in 2001. Sales of semiconductor materials fell 29 percent, and
computer sales declined for the first time in 15 years, while mobile
telephone sales stagnated, according to figures from the World Trade
Organisation (WTO).

But Cattaui expressed optimism that the sector is ready to recuperate
its role as the key provider of solutions.

ICT is empowering citizens, not necessarily corporations, said civil
society representative Izumi Aizu, of the Japan-based Asia Network
Research.

Lawrence Lessig, law professor from Stanford University in the United
States and expert in ICT issues, said it is inappropriate to focus on a
business vs. non-business division in the information society.

Lessig urged the delegates at Prepcom-2 to resist the extreme
protectionism of intellectual property rights in the ICT sphere, noting
that this phenomenon is particularly strong in the United States.

Jacques Attali, a French politician and intellectual, agreed that
innovations in the information and communications fields should be
freely accessible, at least in the early stages.

Attali commented that in the early days of radio, artists worked for
free, and their generous attitude continued until that media sector
was consolidated.

The essence of the debate, he said, is centred on a concept of
information as a public good, while access to information is truly a
vital good that is not limited to the right to receive it, but rather to
generating it.

The right to inform, added Attali, is complemented by the right to have
the means with which to inform.

During the first day of Prepcom-2 sessions, Reporters Sans
Frontières (RSF - Reporters Without Borders) issued a warning
against any initiative that would jeopardise Internet freedoms.

At previous meetings, many government delegates had suggested
that they would use the fight against Internet crimes to justify
monitoring and repressive measures, said the Paris-based RSF.

Yoshio Utsumi, secretary-general of the International
Telecommunication Union, the UN body in charge of organising the
conference, told a Monday press conference that there is no clear
consensus that the WSIS should take up the matter of Internet
regulation.

However, Utsumi acknowledged that Internet security will be
discussed, an issue of interest to the United States, particularly for its
role in fighting international terrorism.

Civil society groups taking part in the process want the debate to
include information as a human right and as a public good, opposing
the view of information as mere product.

Information and communication technologies... are not only the
drivers of economic and financial globalisation, but also powerful
vehicles for ideas and images that are shaping our vision of the world
and our consumption patterns, says the Swiss Coalition of NGOs.

According to the Coalition, ITU has neither the requisite stature nor
capabilities to organise the WSIS or to galvanise energies or carry
any emerging visions forward.

Furthermore, says the Coalition, the official documents the ITU has
released so far place more emphasis on infrastructure development
(for the South) and potential markets (for the North) than on the rights
and real needs of human beings.

ITU chief Utsumi said there are global inequalities in the distribution of
televisions, radios, fixed and mobile telephones, but acknowledged
that the Internet situation is even worse.

At year-end 2002, ITU estimated there were 500 million Internet users
worldwide, 80 percent of whom were from industrialised countries.

In the developing world, one of 50 people has access to the Internet,
while in the industrialised world the portion is two of every five.

Utsumi suggested that the Summit should aid the ICT industry, which
has surplus capacity in wealthy countries, to cover the existing
markets in developing countries. (END/2003)

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