Archives: Media Ownership

What unites communities across the globe fighting economic and social injustice?  The ability to freely express their views.  Whether groups are working against the suppression of speech in Tunisia or gathering in Venezuela to help make communications affordable worldwide, they all share a common purpose.  They want to build a global movement that empowers the less privileged and underrepresented to be heard.

Views from Venezuela

Magda Herrera, Consumers Union’s Ester Peterson Fellow, attended the World Social Forum as a delegate with the Media and Democracy Coalition. Along with the other members of her group, Magda presented (PDF) at the Universidad Central in Caracas on Consumers Union’s federal media policy campaigns.

Kintto Lucas, Uruguayan journalist based in Ecuador, talks with Brazilian theologian and writer Frei Betto about how the media are the first power in Brazil at the first day of debates at the World Social Forum in Caracas, Venezuela.

Mike Rhodes, a reporter with Indymedia, posted a wrap up explaining what happened at the sixth World Social Forum in Caracas, Venezuela and analyzing where World Social Forum will go in the future.

Reports from World Summit on the Information Society

The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) is a gathering of over 175 countries looking to find solutions and reach agreements in the field of Internet governance. The WSIS met in Tunisia last October to discuss the future of the Internet. Many human rights and non-profit organizations traveled to Tunisia to observe the UN-sponsored summit and participate in a parallel event the Citizens’ Summit on the Information Society.  However, the hosting nation took steps to prevent them from meeting and blocking access to the coalition’s website.

Human Rights Watch put out a report regarding the failures of the World Summit on the Information Society and how most Tunisian human rights organizations were barred from the global conference.

On WIPO Reform

Consumer Project on Technology has information dedicated to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).  Read background on the Experts Meeting focusing on the WIPO Development Agenda and a Treaty on Access to Knowledge, which took place in Geneva, in February 2005.  And read a November 2005, article in the Huffington Post by CPTech’s Director James Love titled "A UN/WIPO Plan to Regulate Distribution of Information on the Internet."

IP Justice has participated in the three Inter-sessional Intergovernmental Meetings held by WIPO on their Development Agenda.  IP Justice delivered a Group NGO Statement (PDF), signed by 138 public-interest groups indicating support for the Friends of Development Proposal and reform at WIPO.