[WSIS CS-Plenary] commentary UNESCO, Microsoft, convention

[veni markovski]

Divina, and all,
the problem with Microsoft "working" with UNESCO and other 
UN-organizations, is that it just gives software, calculated at high 
prices, and thus pretending they are actually investing...
Simple trick, but it works.
Once you have them "infected" and working on Windows, then it's easier to 
sell them at even higher prices software, when they become ministers, 
governmental officials, etc.

v.


At 09:42 18-11-2004 +0100, Meigs wrote:
>
>Hi, lisa, Djilali and all
>
>Thank you for your very insightful responses. They confirm the fact that the
>UN partnerships with the private sector have to be watched carefully, as
>they may create precedents, within the WSIS framework. They may become
>standard practice in the name of multistakeholder partnerships, even if the
>other partners have not been consulted and have no public say in the matter
>at work.
>
>It is necessary to assess how Microsoft has framed its offer within the WSIS
>goals and how Unesco deals with this and its other commitments (to open
>software for instance). The actual text of the agreement is available on the
>Unesco site, as Francis Muguet informs us, and it is worth checking on it,
>so as to consider all the implications.   We can then address crucial issues
>of transparency, accountability, etc.
>
>However, I still think it should be the task of the "content and themes "
>group to draft a response document, but it doesn't prevent us to include it
>within the positions of the  Civil Society Finance Mechanism working group,
>as suggested by Djilali. What do yo think, karen and Steve, as co-chairs of
>the content and themes group?
>
>Best
>Divina,