[WSIS CS-Plenary] Liberation/Francia: l'accord Microsoft-UNESCO - English translation

[Rui Correia]

Dear All

Herewith a rushed translation of the French text found in the link provided
by Martin Oliveira to the French newspaper in which it was published today.
The translation was fed through translation software and then polished up
where necessary for comprehension - it is far form being a perfect product;
it was done only in the interest of sharing this article. The names of the
authors and their affiliation appear at bottom

Regards, Rui
___________________________________________________________________________
Liberation newspaper, Paris - 5/1/2005

On November 17, Bill Gates, on a trip to Paris, returned visit to the head
office of UNESCO to sign an agreement of partnership with the organization.
The agreement defines eight objectives for which UNESCO and Microsoft
promise themselves to work together, by exchanging experiment, know-how and
projects of development. 

As praiseworthy as are these objectives, we are astonished to see UNESCO
choosing to implement them with the assistance of Microsoft.  That, the more
so as the international organization showed has in the past shown
significant signs of support for free/ libre software, setting up a portal
dedicated to it, recognizing project GNU (1)  "A world cultural heritage",
or by supporting the development of live CD Freeduc of the project Ofset
(2).  The annual report 2003 of the UNCTAD concluded that " the free
software could invigorate the ICT sector in the developing countries " and
UNESCO affirmed, by the voice from Abdul Waheed Khan (Information department
and Communication):  "UNESCO encouraged always the extension and the
dissemination of the information and recognizes that in the field of the
software, the free software diffuses this knowledge in a manner that the
software owner does not allow."  

However here that with the signature of this partnership we have the feeling
to see this honourable institution loosing out on a real opportunity to
reduce the digital divide in the developing countries.  Because, what will
be the effects in the long term for the two parts?  With examining them, one
realizes that they are " commercial repercussions " with regard to Microsoft
while it is the term of " negative consequences " which is essential for
what looks at the countries of the South... 

The Redmond firm [Microsoft], in exchange for a tiny investment and the
provision of copies of already obsolete programs, is given the opportunity
of [..] commercial penetration in the countries of the South, and rewarded
with prestige and the power to prescribe to a large international
organization.  For the developing countries the list of the consequences and
let-downs is longer.  

By promoting the software owner, the agreement encourages the countries in
the process of development to perceive the software as a thing which one
buys rather than to build it, as an industrial product rather than a
cultural technique which deserves to be taught and shared.  The agreement
adheres to the idea that it is acceptable to give up essential freedoms with
an only aim of having access to certain data-processing programs.  Education
and the culture cannot be reduced to know-how and knowledge:  they are also
made values. When software is used as a conduit for education and culture,
these values should not be relegated to the background.  

If the developing countries aspire to reduce the digital divide which
separates them from the industrialized countries, they do not hope to
sacrifice their linguistic and cultural specificities to it. However
Microsoft, to which one proposes to allow them to become captive customers,
is not able to develop versions of its software in languages or for uses
which do not offer a profitable outlet for trade for MS.  Such is not the
case of the free software where engagement, voluntary or not, of a reduced
number people allows this localization.  Internet Navigator Mozilla can thus
from now on be used with an interface in Luganda, thanks to the efforts of a
small team of eight people.  This translation was concluded in less than one
year by a team of eight motivated users, including four translators, without
financing and formal organization.  

As very recently emphasized by the Association of the Ivory Coast GNU/Linux
and the free Software:  " to learn, it is necessary to understand".  How
must one conceive of how the students in data processing of the developing
countries would adapt techniques of which the essence remain hidden?  Or
worse, where is the legitimacy as far as teaching, of a firm whose
commercial model rests mainly on the prohibition of the study and the use of
the technical processes that it implements?  Contrary to this skimped
mentality, the philosophy of the free software is founded on knowledge
sharing, perfectly in harmony with the traditional culture of sharing of a
number of developing countries, in particular African. A well-worn slogan of
the development aid the Seventies proclaims:  " By giving a fish to a man,
one nourishes it one day;  while teaching him how to fish one nourishes it
all his life."  At the computer age, by giving a software owner to a man,
one makes a simple consumer of technology of it;  while by making it
possible to him to adapt the technique of the free software, he becomes
producer of it.  

By making the choice of the software owner, a State is limited to rent a
technology hiring which it will discharge in the form of renewable licences
and from paying updates of his tools.  In the case of the free software, the
software development will be carried out locally, and this capital which
left abroad will remain in the GDP.  The capacity to be undertaken in the
company of information depends firstly on the access to the software on
which it is based.  An industrialist who would be dependent on a supplier in
situation of quasi-monopoly which prohibits to him to modify the software
tools to adapt them to its activity loses any hope to enter one day on an
equal footing the world competition.  An industry based on the free software
is placed, it, from the start, on the same level of technology as the
largest international actors.  At the age of the information society, only
the country which controls its software tools can hope to control its
development.  Or else, it is victim of an initially economic and cultural
crawling colonization, then, with final, political.  To be convinced some,
it is only to observe the intense efforts of lobbying anti free software
currently carried out by the United States within the world Summit on the
information Society (WSIS).  

In addition to its effectiveness, the political leaders wait for a
communication system which the deliberations  and decisions that it prepares
to take are subjected neither to the glance nor with the influence of a
third voice, be it a foreign power or private interests.  Insurances that
cannot in no case to deliver the Microsoft products because of the character
confidential and dissimulated their source codes.  Besides as of year 2000,
a report of the Delegation of the strategic businesses by the French
ministry of the Armies, pointed the collusion between the NSA (National
Security Agency) and Microsoft, going as far as denouncing, while remaining
however prudently with conditional, the presence of civil servant of the NSA
among the teams of developers of Microsoft.  Four years later, the
parliamentary report on the economic intelligence ordered by the Raffarin
government with the deputy Bernard Carayon underlined the same dangers
attached to the software owner as regards informational independence.  The
free software, whose source code is verifiable by all, is not suspect to
collusion between states and private interests.  He only can guarantee to
the countries South that by making up for their technological lost time,
they do not abdicate at the same time a share of their sovereignty. 

We are apprehensive that through this partnership, with the assistance quite
involuntary of UNESCO, Microsoft be in a position to force the hand of the
developing countries to place them on the way, not of a sustainable
development, but of a subjection just as sustainable.  We are apprehensive
also that the Microsoft "gift" could be the "kiss of death " given to the
research and software industry of these countries.  The offer of Bill Gates
to UNESCO is an offer of commercial development for Microsoft, whereas the
free software presents a real alternative of cultural development,
scientific, technological and economic for the countries of the South 

We take note of the declaration of Koïchiro Matsuura, general manager of
UNESCO, which indicated that " the relation between Microsoft and UNESCO
were not exclusive ".  We sincerely hope to see these remarks finding soon
their confirmation through a step which gives the priority to the free
software, step which would restore a balance now broken.  

(1) Project launched in 1984 to build an operating system chorus and the
head of orchestra of any completely free computer.  Name GNU, " GNU' S not
Unix ", is a joke of data processing specialist, the acronym will never
reveal its meaning.  

(2) Freeduc is an entirely free GNU/Linux distribution not requiring any
installation.  It is especially dedicated to the world of teaching and gives
the possibility to the actors of the field of being familiarized with the 40
selected free applications.  

Sergio Amadeu da Silveira of the national Institute of information
technologies (Brazil), Benoit Sibaud 
association for promotion and research in free data processing and Frederic
Couchet of the Foundation of the free software.  

________________________________________________
 
 
Rui Correia
Advocacy, Media and Language Consultant
36 Finch St, 
Ontdekkers Park, Roodepoort, 
Johannesburg, South Africa
Tel/ Fax (+27-11) 766-4336
Cell (+27) (0) 83-368-1214



-----Original Message-----
From: plenary-admin at wsis-cs.org [mailto:plenary-admin at wsis-cs.org] On Behalf
Of Martin Olivera
Sent: 05 January 2005 14:23
To: plenary at wsis-cs.org
Subject: [WSIS CS-Plenary] Liberation/Francia: l'accord Microsoft-UNESCO

Saiu hoje (05/01) no "Libération" França:
    http://www.liberation.fr/page.php?Article=265884

Crítica ao acordo da Microsoft com a UNESCO assinada
por Sergio Amadeu da Silveira, do "Instituto Nacional
de Tecnologia da Informação (governo brasileiro)";
Benoît Sibaud da "Association pour la promotion et la
recherche en informatique libre"
e Frédéric Couchet da "Fondation du logiciel libre"

    Bill Gates à la conquête du Sud

    Le partenariat entre Microsoft et l'Unesco risque
d'assujettir les
    pays en développement.



=====
SOLAR Software Libre Argentina
http://www.solar.org.ar

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