[WSIS CS-Plenary] WIZARDS OF OS 3 - The Future of the Digital Commons

[Markus Beckedahl]

WIZARDS OF OS 3 - The Future of the Digital Commons

International Conference
June 10-12, 2004
Berlin Congress Center

Digital networks are the fertile soil on which commons-goods like free
software grow. Since a few years, groups all over the world enabled by new
wireless technologies are beginning to turn the network itself into a
commons: it grows collaboratively, and in free agreement among equals. New
technologies remove the bottleneck of distribution of cultural goods. Free
access to networks and to information comes within reach of all.

The conference "Wizards of Operating Systems 3" (WOS 3) has its
foundations in the grand liberation movements in the realm of knowledge:
free software, free networks, and open archives are among the topics of
this year's conference. The WOS is not about problems but about solutions.

Wikipedia is such a success story. The freely accessible and editable by
all online encyclopaedia, thanks to the co-operation of hundreds of
thousands all over the world has in only four years brought forth half a
million articles. It is therefore not only the largest encyclopaedia of
all, also in quality it measures up to the commercial competition.

The movement for free access to scientific publications brings back a
fundamental principle of science: collaborative scrutiny of and building
upon a common wealth of knowledge.

Just like free software, free content needs a license that expresses and
protects this freedom. We are therefore very happy that the Creative
Commons will launch the German versions of their licenses at WOS 3.

"The principle of Western science, the principle of free software, and the
principle of non-exclusion are the path of development for the
twenty-first century," writes New York law professor Eben Moglen, who will
be giving the opening keynote at WOS 3. Other speakers at WOS 3 include
Lawrence Lessig, law professor at Stanford University and founder of the
Creative Commons project, Jimmy Wales, founder of the free online
encyclopaedia Wikipedia, and Armin Medosch, author of a book on free WLAN
networks.

While WOS 1 (1999) focussed on free software, WOS 2 (2001) asked how this
success model can be applied to other forms of knowledge. WOS 3 picks
these threats up and goes beyond them, providing a forum for a powerful
movement for the establishment and protection of a digital knowledge
commons. Free software was only the beginning of the path to a wealth of
knowledge for all.

WOS 3 is funded by the Federal Culture Foundation, Germany.

More information at: http://www.wizards-of-os.org

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