[Ecommerce] Press Release re WSIS (and WIPO)

[Manon Ress]

CIVIL SOCIETY PRESS RELEASE
WSIS Phase II, PrepCom2
Geneva, 17 =96 25 February 2005

Geneva, 2 March 2005 - The WSIS process has demonstrated innovative
approaches in the participation of civil society as a key stakeholder,
but there is still a need for systemic reform to embed civil society
participation in international organizations concerned with the
Information Society such as the International Telecommunication Union
(ITU) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

Civil society organizations that focus on intellectual property rights
are deeply concerned at current accreditation arrangements for the
development agenda within WIPO, which remains grossly imbalanced towards
intellectual property rights holders rather than public interest groups.

Despite some concerns about WSIS =93losing its vision=94 and =93moving away
from the Geneva Declaration track=94, civil society entities were
generally satisfied with the response by governments to their efforts in
making the peoples=92 voices heard in =93bridging the digital divide=94. So=
me
groups noted that vision of the inclusive Information Society goes well
beyond internet governance and ICT financing issues.

Even though the Report of the work of the Group of Friends of the Chair
(WSIS II / PC-2/DOCS / 3-E) is lacking some contributions from certain
entities (e.g. gender issues), the civil society groups at large express
their satisfaction with the increased opportunity in addressing the
Plenary and promote =93multistakeholderism=94 as a working model for
PrepCom3, the Tunis Summit and for the implementation and follow-up of WSIS=
.

Working already in close partnerships with other stakeholders, NGOs and
Civil Society Entities, involved in the process through a diverse
network of working groups and Caucuses, are striving for a common
strategy in building an all-inclusive Information Society.

For further information on the civil society participation in the
PrepCom2 as well as for any additional information on future steps in
Phase II, please do not hesitate to contact:

WSIS CS Coordination Secretariat
CONGO Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations
congo@ngocongo.org
http://www.ngocongo.org
ICV International Conference Volunteers
info@icvolunteers.org
http://www.icvolunteers.org
NGLS UN Non-Governmental Liaison Service (ex officio)
ngls@unctad.org
http://www.un-ngls.org/index.html

The WSIS civil society meeting point: http://www.wsis-cs.org
or the official  WSIS website: http://www.itu.int/wsis


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Manon Anne Ress
manon.ress@cptech.org,
www.cptech.org

Consumer Project on Technology in Washington, DC PO Box 19367,
Washington, DC 20036, USA Tel.:  +1.202.387.8030, fax: +1.202.234.5176

Consumer Project on Technology in Geneva, 1 Route des  Morillons, CP
2100, 1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland. Tel: +41 22 791 6727

Consumer Project on Technology in London, 24 Highbury Crescent, London,
N5 1RX, UK. Tel:+44(0)207 226 6663 ex 252. Mob:+44(0)790 386 4642. Fax:
+44(0)207 354 0607