[WSIS CS-Plenary] Internet Coalition to Promote Access to Knowledge and Online Free Speech

[Robin Gross]

IP Justice Media Release
31 October 2006

Media Contacts:

Robin Gross, IP Justice Executive Director
Greek telephone: (+30) 697 9851074
Email: robin at ipjustice.org

James Love, CPTech Director
Greek telephone: (+30) 697 9605013
Email: james.love at cptech.org


Internet Coalition to Promote Access to Knowledge and Online Free Speech
Press Conference on Wednesday 1 November at 11:00 am to Announce Project

(Athens) A broad range of companies, civil society organizations, and 
governments have joined together to form a “dynamic coalition” to 
promote online freedom of expression and access to knowledge at the 
inaugural meeting of the United Nations Internet Governance Forum IGF) 
in Athens.

One of the main “deliverables” of the IGF meeting is the creation of 
dynamic coalitions, or multi-stakeholder groups working together over a 
multi-year process to provide recommendations for “best practices” on 
particular issues that deal with online activity.

On Wednesday, November 1st at 11:00 am (in Athens), a number of the 
organizers of the IGF workshop on freedom of expression and access to 
knowledge will hold a press conference to announce the creation of a 
dynamic coalition. The coalition will work towards promoting the 
Internet as a tool of development, education and freedom, and will focus 
on the proper balance for intellectual property rights in a digital world.

Among others, founding members of the IGF dynamic coalition include IP 
Justice, Google, Council of Europe, CPTech, Sun Microsystems, Yale Law 
School Information Society Project, Free Software Foundation Europe, 
Franklin Pierce Law School, Electronic Frontier Foundation, and the IP 
Academy of Singapore. The coalition will report back at the 2007 IGF in 
Rio de Janeiro on its progress.

The press conference will be held in the IGF Media Room at 11:00 am on 
Wednesday, and the related workshop will take place on Thursday at 
1:30pm at IGF in the Aphrodite Room. Details on the workshop and press 
conference speakers are below.

IGF Workshop on Free Expression and A2k:
“Harnessing the Power of the Internet to Provide Access to Knowledge & 
Free Flow of Information”: A workshop to explore significant 
opportunities and barriers to harnessing the power of the Internet to 
provide access to knowledge and encourage freedom of expression and the 
free flow of information. In particular, the workshop will focus on the 
appropriate balance for intellectual property rights on the Internet and 
their impact on free speech and access to knowledge.

Workshop Speakers:
* Susan Struble from IT Standardization and Strategy at Sun Microsystems 
will address challenges to technical interoperability and the free flow 
of information on the Internet from software patents.

* Dr. Magdy Nagi from Egypt’s Library of Alexandria (Bibliotheca 
Alexandrina) will discuss the needs of online libraries to provide 
access to information and encourage development.

* Dirk Voorhoof from the Council of Europe will discuss international 
human rights conventions and their relationship to intellectual property 
law, access to knowledge, and freedom of expression.

* Mary Wong, a Professor of Law at Franklin Pierce Law Center and the IP 
Academy of Singapore will address special online challenges to freedom 
of expression and access to knowledge from “digital locks”.

* Cristiano Berbert from the government of Brazil will discuss efforts 
in the developing countries to provide access to knowledge and promote 
free expression.

* Andrew McLaughlin, Head of Global Public Policy at Google will address 
the barriers Google faces in providing access to knowledge from 
unbalanced copyright law.

* Robin Gross, Executive Director of IP Justice will Chair the session.

Webpage for workshop:
http://ipjustice.org/wp/campaigns/internet-governance/igf/382/

Workshop Sponsors:
Association for Progressive Computing (APC)
Egypt’s Library of Alexandria (Bibliotheca Alexandrina)
Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility - Peru Consumer Project 
on Technology (CPTech)
Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)
Electronic Information for Libraries (eIFL)
Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE)
Google
International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA)
IP Justice (IPJ)
South Centre Innovation, Access to Knowledge and Intellectual Property 
Programme (IAIPP)
Sun Microsystems
Third World Network (TWN)