Claude Almansi wrote:
From the Microsoft event at WSIS I (Dec. 2003): MS was clever enough to let an UNDP delegate say that developing countries should have a choice between proprietary and free software. Bonnie Bracey and Andy Carvin were there too: maybe their notes are more precise than mine
Hi Claude,
Here's an excerpt from my blog that day:
UNDP's Malloch Brown to Microsoft: Seek Dialogue over Open Source http://www.andycarvin.com/000373.html
After brief presentations by former Costa Rican president Jose Maria Figueres and Microsoft's Jean Philippe Courtios, UN Development Program Director Mark Malloch Brown took advantage of a speaking engagement at Microsoft's Unlimited Potential forum to raise the issue of open source.
"I profoundly believe that [open source] shouldn't divide us" when it comes to bridging the digital divide in the developing world, he said. Directing his comments to Microsoft and to Bill Gates in particular, he continued, "I really count on you to be a part of the fight for freedom on the Internet. UNDP will give no quarter on this issue."
"I also think media ownership is a threat," along with corporate monopolies, he added. But to Malloch Brown, the biggest threats are governments themselves, and they cannot be allowed to quash ICT freedoms. "Every country should make their own choice to select their own software to best suit their needs," he said.
Malloch Brown then compared the need for a compromise on open source to the way a compromise was struck when it came to providing affordable prescription drugs in the developing world. Not long ago, health care costs for individuals in the South were as high as $12,000 per person, he noted. Today, the price has come down to well less than $1,000. Eventually they reached a compromise with pharmaceutical companies that allowed the cost of drugs to plummet, yet remain high enough to ensure that the companies would be able to continue pharmaceutical innovations.
He hoped a similar process could occur regarding open source; that Microsoft would offer more discounts and revise their intellectual property policies to strike a fair compromise. Both Microsoft and the open source community should work together to bridge the digital divide and not allow the situation to degenerate any further.
"UNDP will be happy to hold all the coats when they go into the room and box this all out," he added, provoking laughter from the audience.
Jean Philippe Courtios, CEO of Microsoft's Europe, Mideast and Africa operations, responded: "I'm very pleased to hear from Mark that it's all about open choice," he said. Courtios added that countries should be able to choose the software tools that are appropriate for their particular needs.
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-- ----------------------------------- Andy Carvin Program Director EDC Center for Media & Community acarvin @ edc . org http://www.digitaldivide.net http://www.tsunami-info.org Blog: http://www.andycarvin.com ----------------------------------- _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
