Freedom of Expression in Cyberspace

Codes & Creativity3-4 February 2005, UNESCO

Chris Kabwato, Highway Africawww.highwayafrica.ru.ac.za

Acknowledgements

• Lawrence Lessig, Free Culture• Joost Smiers, Arts Under Pressure• UNESCO, Cultural & Linguistic Diversity

in the Information Society• Fred von Lohmann, Electronic Frontier

Foundation

The Spirit

“Whatever you do, don’t kill the spirit of this most beautiful thing – the Internet,”

Mouhamet Diop, Senegal

“The Internet – its structure and processes are an experiment,” Vint Cerf, USA

The Contrary Spirit

• Fear of technology – threat to established business and political models. From the phonograph, the VCR, the MP3 to P2P

• Closing of the public space• Appropriation of public goods

The Return of the Ogre

• Edward Felten, Princeton University & Recording Industry Association of America

• Napster, KazaA, Morpheus• David Buren, Place des Terreaux, Lyon and

the Fountains

3 Crosscutting Issues

• Freedom of expression & Freedom of the media

• Intellectual Property• Indigenous Knowledge

Free Culture vs What?

The opposite of a free culture is a“permission culture”—a culture in which

creators get to create only with the permission of the powerful, or of creators from the past.

Lawrence Lessig, Free Culture

Creative Commons

Packaging Oxygen

• Ngugi Wa’Thiongo’s Devil on the Cross• “Lets sell air to the people. We could make

money out of it.”

Indigenous Knowledge & Oxygen

• Indigenous Knowledge & Oxygen• Both: provide sustenance to life• One nourishes the soul• Other nourishes the body

Marrakech Declaration

Principles:• A19 is an essential foundation of the Information Society• Freedom of Expression and press freedom are at the

construction of the IS in Africa, the Arab region, and throughout the world

• The Internet and other new media forms should be afforded the same freedom of expression protections as traditional media

Marrakech Declaration

Action Plan• Recognize the status of online journalists and

grant them the same economic and social rights as other journalists in traditional media

• Encourage the establishment of national and regional networks to monitor and act against violations of free expression, create knowledge banks and provide advice and technical assistance in media development

• Reaffirm multilingualism as a crucial, fundamental component in the building of an open and inclusive information society

Marrakech Declaration

Action Plan• Encourage the development of technical standards

for digitally processing local or international languages on the Internet

• Ensure that ISPs are independent public authorities and not found legally responsible for the content of the online media service

• Protect the privacy of journalists who subscribe to the electronic message services of ISPs…

Declaration on Cultural Diversity

• 4 main themes• Diversity & Pluralism• Cultural Diversity & Human Rights• Cultural Diversity & Creativity• Cultural Diversity & International Solidarity

Some Int’l Copyright Agreements

• Berne Convention on Copyright• WIPO Treaties• TRIPS

Heart of the Matter

• “…to balance the moral and economic interests of the creators on the one hand and the provision of access to the socio- economic and cultural benefits of such creativity world-wide on the other hand”

Cyberlaw & Civil Society, p.60

In comes the Internet

• Digital Technology and the Internet have caused “migration of intellectual property”

• Digital Technology perfects the art of copying

The Response?

• Digital Millennium Copyright Act (1998)• EU Directive on Information Society (2000)

The Grey Areas

• Originality• Material form of the creation• Ownership of copyright• Transfer of ownership of copyright• Duration of copyright• Reproduction right• Moral rights• Fair dealing/use

The Codes at War?

• Source Code – proprietary software; open source; free software

• Digital Rights Management Technologies – anti-copying mechanisms (SDMI); P2P; circumvention technologies

• Unicode – supporting multi-lingual text• Cookies/Filtering/Blocking

Fair Use, Fair Play

• Fred von Lohmann, Electronic Frontier Foundation:

“If DRM systems are to preserve fair use, they must somehow preserve its ambiguity, its ability to evolve and embrace as yet unrealized uses of copyrighted works. A consideration of technologies past, present and future, and their collisions with the fair use doctrine, illustrates the virtues of ambiguity in fair use.”

African Position on IPR

Preservation of the IP in language, culture, music, art, medicine etc, to ensure that in the anticipated global economy any value that accrue as a result of African heritage is protected for the benefit of its impoverished peoples.

E-Africa Vision, p.16

WSIS Declaration of Principles“The creation, dissemination and preservation of content in

diverse languages and formats must be accorded high priority in building an inclusive Information Society, paying particular attention to the diversity of supply of creative work and due recognition of the rights of authors and artists. It is essential to promote the production and accessibility to all content –educational, scientific, cultural and recreational- in diverse languages and formats. The development of local content suited to domestic or regional needs will encourage social and economic development and will stimulate participation of stakeholders, including people in rural, remote and marginal areas.”

African Alphabet - 1978

A Wise Society?

• Information• Knowledge• Wisdom• Another world is possible?

Data, Information, Knowledge & Wisdom

“Raw data can be turned into information, which then, through much added effort and value, can rise to the level of knowledge, which is the foundation for wisdom.”

James Billington, Librarian

Last but one statement

• Zano marairanwa – “Ideas are the fruit of sharing”Shona Proverb• Above pre-supposes:Knowledge is the product of a process• But when does the process begin and end and who

owns the final product? • The control of that process, product and its

distribution are at the core of our present and the future

Closing Statement

• Journalists, knowledge workers, artists, cultural workers, teachers – PEOPLE – want the space, freedom and platform to share their stories, ideas and experiences.

• The Internet promises such a space and platform if can be FREED from the increasing usurpation by corporate interests and increasing attention by anxious governments

• FOE, IK, IPR interplay in our context Thank you!

www.highwayafrica.ru.ac.za