[APCPress] APCNews - August 2006 - No. 67

Tue Aug 8 10:42:50 BST 2006

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                *APCNews, the monthly newsletter of the
           Association for Progressive Communications (APC)*
                     August 2006 No. 67
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-- NEWS FROM THE MEMBERS --
-- NEWS FROM APC --
-- ICT POLICY & INTERNET RIGHTS --
-- STRATEGIC USES & CAPACITY BUILDING --
-- WOMEN & ICTs –-
-- APC IN THE NEWS --
-- ONLINE TOOLS & RESOURCES --
-- COLLABORATING OPPORTUNITIES --
-- SITES OF INTEREST --
-- IMPORTANT DATES --
-- WHERE IN THE WORLD IS APC --
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-- NEWS FROM THE MEMBERS –-

ARABDEV, Egypt: Playing games with computer education: ArabDev’s Menia 
initiatives

Gaming is very popular with the children and youth. So what better way 
is there to introduce computing and free and open source software (FOSS) 
to kids, than through fun didactic software? - APCNews
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=5039199

FMA, Philippines: Philippine ICT body presents roadmap, civil society 
takes a stand

The Philippine Commission on Information and Communications Technology 
presented its proposed ICT roadmap last June 5 2006, in Pasig City, 
Philippines. Gathering nearly a hundred stakeholders from government, 
the private sector and civil society, the activity took place amidst 
warnings of what could become a roadmap for navigating an increasingly 
commercial terrain. – FMA
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=5039148

FMA, Philippines: FMA conducts national training on online tools for 
collaboration

APC-member Foundation for Media Alternatives, organised a successful 
information and communication technology training workshop for 
Philippine independent organisations and social movements between the 
14th and 17th of June 2006 at the National Computer Center in Quezon 
City. – FMA
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=5039146

ITEM, Uruguay: Redefining local and global working spaces

Uruguayan civil society has insisted on showing its successive 
governments that information and communication technology (ICT) related 
policies are a key issue in the country's development that goes beyond 
expanding the software industry. – APCNews
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=5039367

RITS, Brazil: Latin mosaic launched by RITS

With the objective of producing and disseminating relevant content on 
the Latin American reality from civil society’s perspective, RITS, in 
partnership with another eight South American organisations including 
APC members from Colombia, Peru and Argentina, launched the Social 
Mosaic information portal on July 5. - Rets
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=5039293

WEB NETWORKS, Canada: Web Networks supports Guatemalan Indigenous ICT 
practitioners

Web Networks welcomed two young staff from Ajb'atz' Enlace Quiché, a 
Guatemalan NGO that pioneers innovative use of information and 
communication technologies to empower indigenous communities. Ajb'atz' 
was one of five winners in the e-inclusion category of the World Summit 
Awards presented at the World Summit on the Information Society in 
Tunis, last November. The staff took part in a month-long intensive 
training session focused on using the open source content management 
system Drupal, and two multimedia educational tools developed by Web 
Networks, Quicklearn and Yodigo.
http://action.web.ca/home/services/whatsnew.shtml?x=82287&AA_EX_Session=250e779c2ea1762d75793ad4ed625d77

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-- NEWS FROM APC --

APC CONTRIBUTION TO INTERNET GOVERNANCE: Reduce the cost of 
international internet connectivity

In Argentina, internet access averages 13 dollars a month and almost a 
fifth of the population are online whereas in Sudan internet access 
costs 160 USD a month and only 9 people in a thousand are online. 
Africa, the poorest continent in the world, has the highest costs for 
internet access. In the run-up to the first-ever meeting of the Internet 
Governance Forum in Athens, starting October 30, APC releases a set of 
recommendations that encourage the IGF to tackle the availability and 
affordability of the internet in the developing world and especially 
Africa as a matter of urgency. In pdf. – APCNews
http://rights.apc.org/documents/apc_igf_icc.pdf

APC WEBSITE RANKING: APC.org site ranks near top 15,000 globally

APC.org - the bilingual English-Spanish site of the Association for 
Progressive Communications - currently ranks 15,260 in terms of traffic 
among sites globally rated by the alexa.com information service. "This 
is simply extraordinary for a .org site," commented Daniel Pimienta of 
Funredes.org, an organisation that recently became an APC member. – APCNews
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=5039161

APC-ENDORSED STATEMENT ON WAR: For an immediate and unconditional cease-fire

International appeal -- On July 30th, another massacre was committed in 
Lebanon: More than sixty civilians, among them 37 children, were killed 
by Israeli bombs while they were sleeping in shelters in the village of 
Qana. They died not very far away from the mass grave holding the bodies 
of 106 civilians burned by a previous Israeli attack in April 1996 
inside a shelter provided by a UN battalion. - AIC/ANND
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=5039361

NEW APC BROCHURE: This informative e-booklet tells you who we are, what 
we do and how our network works. There’s a map showing where members are 
based and an infographic of the network. The pdf brochure is in English, 
Spanish and French.
http://www.apc.org/books/apc_brochure2006_web.pdf

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-- ICT POLICY & INTERNET RIGHTS --

ARTICLE: South Asia needs to talk across borders to solve language issue

An Indo-Pakistan encounter, in war or cricket, leaves behind tonnes of 
bitterness and rivalry. But, in information and communication 
technology, the main regret facing techies from both sides of the 
troubled South Asian sub-continent, is why they can't work more 
effectively together, to tackle the common problems their people face. – 
APCNews
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=5039307

REPORT-BACK: From here to where? APC meet zooms in on FOSS in South Asia

 From here to where? And how? APC's April Bangladesh consultation on 
communication policy, which brought in diverse people from across South 
Asia, helped to connect ideas that nudge forward ideals of 
freedom-in-computing in this populous part of the planet. One of the 
sessions that participants themselves felt the need to look at, are the 
critical issues facing free and open source software. – APCNews
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=5039311

E-GOVERNMENT ANALYSIS: An opportunity for citizen participation in the 
era of digital development

The initiatives that have been adopted to improve e-government in Latin 
America primarily focus on improving online services and state 
administration. Citizens, however, remain unable to participate in the 
decision-making process because this dimension, which is at least as 
important if not more then the previous one, has been left aside. APC’s 
Valeria Betancourt discusses. - APCNews
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=5039285

ORGANISATION PROFILE: Asia’s doors open only very slightly to community 
radio

AMARC Asia-Pacific is part of an international non-governmental 
organisation serving the community radio movement, with almost 3,000 
members and associates in 110 countries. APCNews met with Suman Basnet, 
the AMARC Asia-Pacific's regional coordinator who talked about his 
organisation and provides an poignant overview the challenges faced by 
community radio stations in Asia and the Pacific region. – APCNews
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=5039236

BLOGGING in RIO: Report on iCommons, iSummit 2006
By Jac SM Kee

iSummit 2006 was held in Rio de Janeiro from 23rd – 25th June 2006. 
There were 250-300 participants from various countries and regions. 
Three days before the conference, Creative Commons (CC) announced that 
Microsoft would embed a CC tool in its Word, Excel & PowerPoint. 
Lawrence Lessig was reported to be “excited”, Gilberto Gil “thrilled”. 
Some participants were disturbed. Jac offers critical reflections on 
this event. – APC blog
http://blog.apc.org/en/index.shtml?x=5039423

BLOGGING at WALC 2006: Linking technology to the interests of citizens
By Dafne Plou

Dafne Plou, from the APC Women's Networking Support Programme, blogged 
from WALC 2006. WALC 2006 is a yearly workshop organised by APC member 
EsLaRed that focuses on internet networking in Latin America and the 
Caribbean. After the technical sessions of the workshop, which took 
place the 24th-29th of July in Quito, Ecuador, APC organised a forum on 
internet and society. In this post, Dafne shares her impressions on the 
panel on e-government and citizen participation. – APC blog
http://blog.apc.org/en/index.shtml?x=5039305
More information on WALC 2006:
http://www.walc2006.ula.ve/

BLOGGING in PRAGUE: EU, travel and privacy event - Czech style
By Karen Banks

Well, here I am in Prague, participating in an event on ‘privacy, travel 
and the EU’ hosted by 'ludicrum remedium', a small NGO that shares space 
with the APC folk in Prague. Karen reports on the event and provides a 
feel of what’s to be expected from the field of biometrics and radio 
frequency identification – APC blog
http://blog.apc.org/en/index.shtml?x=5039380

REPORT BACK: Call for working together for long-term sustainability of 
ICT policy

The APC information and communication technology policy workshop ended 
in London with the call for linking national advocacy to global networks 
through collaboration and information sharing and working together for 
long-term sustainability. The workshop attended by 18 participants from 
different countries provided a unique opportunity to the national, 
regional and global portal managers to learn from each other and share 
their experiences. – Bytesforall
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=5039055

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-- STRATEGIC USES & CAPACITY BUILDING --

ARTICLE: Non-profits take to Drupal... increasingly and intensely

When Partha Sarkar of APC-member BytesForAll decided to turn the South 
Asian volunteer-driven network he co-founded into an even more 
participative affair, he opted for Drupal. And Sarkar and company are 
not alone. Other members of the APC network are also finding Drupal is a 
convenient tool for setting up and activating online communities. – APCNews
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=5039382

INTERVIEW: Fresh air and free networks in Denmark

The Djurslands International Institute of Rural Wireless Broadband is 
not joking about free information infrastructures. Its advocates study 
and plan projects, and then go out in the open field to help to start up 
wireless networks. But before antennas were attached to barns and 
receivers taped to posts, summer camp participants convened in rural 
Denmark for some fresh air. APCNews talked to one of them. – APCNews
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=5039369

WORKSHOP ON ONLINE VIDEO: Transmission.cc

It was "a major gathering of video makers, programmers and web producers 
developing online video distribution as a tool for social justice and 
media democracy," says Maxigas from Green Spider and Indymedia Hungary. 
He participated in a workshop called Transmission.cc, taking place in 
Rome between June 7 and 10. Australian APC member c2o was among the 
co-organisers of Transmission.cc. Read on for a complete report. – 
GreenSpider
http://maxigas.hu/research/transmission_report.html

VIDEO: Make ICT training work for you

Getting to know how ItrainOnline's multimedia toolkit works is now 
easier than ever. APC has updated the video "Make ICT Training Work For 
You" in collaboration with APC member, c2o, Toy Satellite and the 
Melbourne-based screen resource centre, OPEN CHANNEL. - ItrainOnline
http://www.itrainonline.org/itrainonline/mmtk/

BETINHO PRIZE: The voices women of women and communities through radio 
telecentres

First it was radio, then the internet. First women's organisations, then 
the community. The story of CEMINA, a Brazilian communication and gender 
organisation, is one of growth, change and openness. Its radio 
telecentre work captivated the APC Betinho Prize jury in 2005 who 
awarded it joint first prize. – APCNews
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=5039388 [a three-part 
interview special from APCNews on the 2005 Betinho Prize winner, CEMINA]

Also part of this series:
2006 joint-winner FLACSO-Chile: Seeing and transforming the world 
through community telecentres in Chile (published in July 2006)

BLOGGING from GOA: New Indian copyright law could help disabled, cripple 
remixes, clamp digital rights management
By FN

India is planning to significantly amend its Copyright Act of 1957, to 
include among other things the concept of Digital Rights Management, a 
move which could well restrict access to knowledge. 
Lawyers-with-a-difference are closely monitoring what's happening on 
this front. – APC blog
http://blog.apc.org/en/index.shtml?x=5039067

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-- WOMEN & ICTs –-

NEW TRANSLATION OF PUBLICATION: The Gender Digital Divide in Francophone 
Africa, a Harsh Reality - Will women really benefit from the digital 
revolution?

The book “The Gender Digital Divide in Francophone Africa, a Harsh 
Reality” first published by ENDA-Tiers Monde in French, has been 
translated into English by APC, the Association for Progressive 
Communications. Sylvie Niombo, APC-Africa-Women co-coordinator, 
interviews the book editor Marie-Hélène Mottin-Sylla. - GenderIT.org
http://www.genderit.org/en/index.shtml?w=a&x=94795
Download the book: 
http://www.genderit.org/resources/africa_gender_divide.pdf

TRAINING REPORT: GenARDIS: supporting the use of ICTs by women farmers 
for social change	

The GenARDIS grants programme was developed in recognition of the 
ICT-related constraints and challenges faced by rural women in African, 
Caribbean and Pacific countries. The grants winners took part in a 
knowledge sharing workshop on gender, agriculture and rural development 
in the information society in Entebbe, Uganda from July 3 to 8. The 
following is a report by Sylvie Niombo - Deputy Coordinator of 
APC-Africa-Women - about the crossroads of gender, rural development and 
ICT, the impact of GenARDIS grants, and recommendations for policy 
makers. – GenderIT.org
http://www.genderit.org/en/index.shtml?w=a&x=94815

ARTICLE: Community radios and feminist voices against repression in Brazil

The repression against community radios in Brazil reaches important 
social projects and initiatives such as Novo Ar - a community 
association and radio station led by Graça Rocha. In this interview with 
GenderIT.org, Graça provides details about the repression that Brazilian 
community radios experience and highlights the critical role that women 
play in the radio and in the community: "women resist better. Here in 
Novo Ar, women are the majority – and although we feel exhausted 
sometimes, we never give up, we keep struggling". – GenderIT.org
http://www.genderit.org/en/index.shtml?w=a&x=94794

ANALYSIS: A Women's 'Commons'? An Exploratory Dialogue on the Potential 
of the Knowledge Commons for Women

The idea of the 'commons' has been at times understood as being both a 
principle of understanding content and creative products, and a 
community that supports the sharing of information and creative content. 
It is also directly linked with subverting current intellectual property 
paradigms, where ownership and control of information, knowledge, and 
content has been commodified. So what exactly is so 'new' about the 
'commons'? Looking at the four paradigms where ideas about the 'commons' 
are supposed to operate, perhaps it is possible to see if developments 
towards a Knowledge Commons resonates with feminist 
tactics/agendas/isms. – GenderIT.org
http://www.genderit.org/en/index.shtml?apc=a--e94793-1&x=94793

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-- APC IN THE NEWS --

MyADSL, South Africa: SAT3 Bandwidth Costs under discussion
By Cara Christian. July 24, 2006.

The cost of international bandwidth on the SAT3 cable is again under 
discussion, this time focusing on what will happen when the SAT3 
monopolies end. The SAT3 workshop, hosted and supported by various 
organizations like the Association for Progressive Communications, 
AfrISPA and the Communications Regulators Association of Southern 
Africa, will look at various issues including possible regulatory 
approaches and perspectives from industry players and consumers.
http://www.mybroadband.co.za/nephp/?m=show&id=3630

TECTONIC, South Africa: Ethiopian activists promote FOSS
By Staff Writer. 11 July, 2006.

NGOs APC (Association for Progressive Communications) and Catia have 
joined forces with the Ethiopian Free and Open Source Network (EFOSSNET) 
to host a series of workshops over the next 10 days to promote the use 
of free and open source software in that country.
http://www.tectonic.co.za/view.php?id=1054

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-- ONLINE TOOLS & RESOURCES --

TELECOTTAGE HANDBOOK: How to establish and run a successful telecentre

A practical guide to establishing a telecottage as well as a valuable source
of experiences and lessons learned, this report was prepared by members 
of the telecottage movement. The Hungarian experience is used as a 
reference point throughout the report's different themes and 
discussions. This publication is intended for ICT professionals, 
community development practitioners and public administrators who wish 
to improve social services delivery at a local level, and who recognize 
that telecottages can be used in service of individual, local and 
community poverty reduction. Published by UNDP Europe and the CIS in 
June 2006
http://europeandcis.undp.org/?menu=p_cms/show&content_id=1EAEB3D3-F203-1EE9-BD0C279330992AC8

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-- COLLABORATING OPPORTUNITIES --

SEEKING TRAINING MATERIALS EXPERTISE: The APC women’s programme -APC 
WNSP- is offering a contract to develop a new unit of APC ICT policy 
training materials focusing on the issue of "Access to information and 
e-governance in the context of Aarhus convention"  for use by civil 
society organisations in CEE. Deadline for applications is Monday August 
18, 2006. Applications should be sent to Katerina Fialova, Gender and 
ICT Policy Monitor project coordinator: kaca [at] apcwomen.org

ONLINE GREEN ADVOCACY: Vote Nature! Campaign
The Macedonian Green Centre (MGC), in cooperation with six environmental 
south-eastern European civic organisations started the “Vote Nature!” 
Campaign. It will be implemented on national and local levels and will 
aim to inform the voters and initiate debate among the candidates 
running in the 2006 Parliamentary Elections, on four important topics: 
protection of Lake Ohrid; energy; waste management; and compliance with 
environmental obligations set by the European Union.
http://see.oneworld.net/article/view/135369/1/3193

CALL FOR WIRELESS PROJECT PROPOSALS: The WiLAC portal, APC member 
EsLaRed, the Network Startup Resource Center (NSRC) and the Institute 
for the Connectivity of the Americas (ICA) announce a call for proposals 
to participate in the deployment and strengthening of community based 
wireless networks in Latin America and the Caribbean.
http://www.wilac.net/index.php?module=htmlpages&func=display&pid=44

ASIAN CJK GROUP ANNOUNCED: On the 17th of July 2006, the Chinese, 
Japanese and Korean native-language projects of OpenOffice.org have 
decided to join forces to form the Asian CJK Native-Language Group of 
OpenOffice.org.
http://ooonewsletter.blogspot.com/2006_07_01_ooonewsletter_archive.html

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-- SITES OF INTEREST --

ENVIRONMENTAL PRESS CENTRE: At the International Environmental 
Protection Day, the Croatian Environmental Press Centre launched its 
website. The activities of this non governmental organisation aim to 
strengthen environmental journalism, as well as assist the journalists 
in finding sources of information on the environment.
http://www.alertonline.org/press

HUMAN RIGHTS TOOLS: A new website for human rights professionals called 
Human Rights Tools has recently been launched. It includes: monitoring 
and fact-finding tools, advocacy tools and other essential resources for 
human rights work; thematic resources on the protection of detainees, 
human rights defenders, refugees, and more; the top online databases for 
resources on human rights law, refugee law and humanitarian law.
http://www.humanrightstools.org/

IRREPRESSIBLE: Following the success of the launch of its internet 
freedom campaign in the UK, Amnesty International is now going global 
with irrepressible.info. The campaign aims to claim back the web as a 
force for change in the face of an increasing willingness on the part of 
technology companies to aid censorship and repression.
http://irrepressible.info

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-- IMPORTANT DATES --

23-24 AUGUST: Bangalore, India
Fourth International Conference on the GNU General Public License (GPLv3)
http://gplv3.gnu.org.in

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-- WHERE IN THE WORLD IS APC –-

You can meet up with APC and/or APC WNSP (APC women's programme) 
representatives at the events below during the next two months. Write to 
events at apc.org to obtain contact information. See you there!

16-18 AUGUST: Mexico City, Mexico
APC’s Gender Evaluation Methodology (GEM) workshop	
http://www.apcwomen.org/gem

20-25 AUGUST: Santiago, Chile
International Federation of Information Processing (IFIP) World Computer 
Congress 2006
“Women in the Information Society: A Global Context and Tools for 
Ensuring Full Participation of Women in Latin America"
http://www.wcc-2006.org

21-26 AUGUST: Mexico City, Mexico
Know How Conference - Weaving the information society: a gender and 
multicultural perspective
http://knowhow-pueg.unam.mx/

25-27 AUGUST: Montreal, Canada
APC-member Alternatives’ Weekend Retreat 2006
http://www.alternatives.ca/

31 AUGUST- 1 SEPTEMBER: Oxford, United Kingdom
Internet Governance Forum meeting

31 AUGUST- 1 SEPTEMBER: The Hague, Netherlands
Meeting of Building Communications Opportunities (BCO) alliance

2-7 SEPTEMBER: Prague, Czech Republic
APC Management meeting

6-7 SEPTEMBER: Prague, Czech Republic
APC Executive Board meeting
http://www.apc.org

11-15 SEPTEMBER: Grahamstown, South Africa
Highway Africa
http://www.highwayafrica.ru.ac.za

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APCNews, in English, and APCNoticias, in Spanish, are distributed 
monthly by APC -- a worldwide network supporting the use of internet and 
ICTs for social justice and sustainable development since 1990.

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Association for Progressive Communications (APC), 2006