[A2k] Fwd: A2k , more about

[Janet Hawtin]

On 1/24/07, paola.dimaio@gmail.com <paola.dimaio@gmail.com> wrote:
> - main mission/manifesto, ojectives, plans if any

Note the following is my personal take on this issue, there are very
likely to be a range of perspectives.

For me the goal is to communicate policy or communicate to policy makers
that information has a social function, it is part of the
infrastructure which communities use to develop, learn, protect
environment and health, share a common sense of culture and history,
participate in our communities.

Current DMCA based copyright laws and proposals like the broadcast
treaty are promoting a specifically fragmented and fenced perspective
about information
which is congruent with a broadcast model of distributing information products.

Advocates and participants of broadcast models of distribution choose
to perceive distributed communication as a threat. In response they
are establishing discourse and law which encourages the perspective
that commerce is dependent on restriction. Access 2 knowledge is a
group which understands that information as a shared resource has
important social functions, and that in many cases the access to ideas
and research from around the world is essential for good
environmental, medical, agricultural, scientific, cultural, diplomatic
coherence.

Commerce is not the only function of information.
Commerce need not be based on restriction.
Policies about the wider functions of information and technology are necessary
to re-establish core functions and priorities for accessible
information and knowledge.

Those are the core factors from my perspective.
Interesting sites on the issue are many blogs on the WIPO process
CPTech
Medicins sans Frontiers
Adelphi Charter
IPJustice
Yale A2K conference
EFF
a range of information advocacy alliances

Some groups are working on these issues without currently identifying
as A2K. Many of these will be practice based eg agriculture,
libraries, education, medicine, environment, software, governance,
diplomacy and cultural dialogue, democratic discourse and
transparency, open standards groups, commons based cultural groups.
Any group which values participation and distributed models of
creating value over broadcast models of controlling value are likely
to have something in common with A2K.

Information Feudalism by Peter Drahos is a good read on the current
structure of international copyright law, which does help to put A2K
in context.

Janet