[for immediate release]
Free Software as part of the German governmental delegation at the
UN- Preparation - Conference to the World Summit on the Information
Society (WSIS) in Paris
Karlsruhe, 12.07.2003
>From July 15th to 18th, a preparative conference towards the World
Summit on the Information Society will be held in Paris, at which the
future and destination of the information- and science- society shall
be discussed as requested by the UN- General Assembly.
As a nominee from the coordinating circle of the German Civil Society
for the WSIS, Georg Greve, president of the FSF Europe will take part
in the meeting as a member of the German governmental delegation.
"To take part in such an important meeting as a member for the
coordinating circle of the German Civil Society for the WSIS means a
huge honor and a challenge to fulfill the great expectations", said
Georg Greve at the LinuxTag in Karlsruhe. "In this function I would
like to thank the German Government that they opened the door for the
participation of the civil society. We hope to build upon this during
the two years of the summit's process and to serve as a role model for
other countries."
Georg Greve continues: "The sustainability of the information society
will be my focus. Besides questions like equality of knowledge and
access as well as informational independence, which are part of my
regular work for Free Software, also gender- equality and greater
possibilities of access by means of new media will play a seminal
role."
"Especially for developing countries, Free Software offers various
possibilities to gain access to the information- and knowledge-
society. Therefore, we warmly welcome Georg Greve as a member of the
German governmental delegation", said Markus Beckedahl, Chair of the
Network of New Media (Netzwerk Neue Medien e.V.).
"Free Software provides transparent and open digital
infrastructures. Thanks to the civil commitment of numerous
programmers worldwide, those are open to everybody. The network new
media e.V. is convinced, that Free Software is fundamental in helping
close the global digital divide", continued Markus Beckedahl.
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About the FSF Europe:
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSF Europe) is a charitable
non-governmental organization dedicated to all aspects of Free
Software in Europe. Access to software determines who may participate
in a digital society. Therefore the freedoms to use, copy, modify and
redistribute software - as described in the Free Software definition
- allow equal participation in the information age. Creating
awareness for these issues, securing Free Software politically and
legally, and giving people freedom by supporting development of Free
Software are central issues of the FSF Europe, which was founded in
2001 as the European sister organization of the Free Software
Foundation in the United States.
http://fsfeurope.org
Contact
FSF Europe:
Georg C. F. Greve <greve(a)fsfeurope.org>
phone: +49-40-23809080
fax: +49-40-23809081
The network new media e.V.:
Since one year, the network new media works on the networking of the
civil society for the first World Summit on the Information Society
(WSIS) of the UN, that will take place in Geneva from 9th ~12th
December 2003. Out of this work now the ~coordinating circle of the
German Civil Society for the WSIS~ has emerged.
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More information about the wsis is available under:
http://www.worldsummit2003.orghttp://www.itu.int/wsis