[WSIS CS-Plenary] Statement on WSIS themes is sent to German government

[Ralf Bendrath]

The link for downloading it is below.
Best, Ralf

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http://www.worldsummit2003.de/en/web/437.htm

German Civil Society Coordination towards WSIS  	
Statement on WSIS themes is sent to German government
  	 
3 September 2003. The German WSIS Civil Society Coordinating Group has
issued a statement on central themes of the WSIS Declaration of
Principles to the German government. The statement refers to issues such
as communication rights, privacy and media diversity. The civil society
positions thus conveyed will inform and influence the further thematic
work of the German government at WSIS.

The government had asked for a statement on several issue areas which
had remained unclear in the WSIS process so far. After extensive debates
within the Civil Society Coordinating Group, a detailed position paper
was developed, including concrete proposals for language on the
following issues:

1) Communication Rights
2) Information Infrastructure
3) Free Access to Information and Knowledge
4) Privacy/Transparency
5) Media Diversity
6) Digital Solidarity Fund

For example, the Group calls for an integration of communication rights
into the WSIS documents, open standards for technological
infrastructure, an extension of the Global Knowledge Commons and of free
access to knowledge, better protection of privacy, and a distinct focus
on traditional media and media pluralism.

The discussions and proposals involved contributions from
representatives of a number of organisations and institutions, including
Heinrich-Boell-Foundation, Nethics, University of Konstanz,
Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin, Free University of Berlin, ODEM.org, Terre
des Femmes, University of Bremen, Network New Media, ver.di,
Humanistische Union, Attac-IPR-Group, Research Group Information Society
and Security (FOGIS), PerGlobal und CAMECO.

In a first response a representative of the Ministry for Economy and
Work thanked the Group for its constructive statement but also pointed
to some of the conflicts which necessarily persist between the thematic
position of civil society and that of the government as well as,
particularly, that of the business sector represented by the
International Chamber of Commerce. The proposals will be discussed at a
meeting with government delegates on 11 September.

Download: Civil Society Statement (pdf) (language proposals are in
english, further explanantions in german)
http://www.worldsummit2003.de/download_de/StellungnahmeZivG280803.pdf