Access to Knowledge
Access to Knowledge (A2K) is a movement that tries to juxtapose existing copyright guidelines with social and economic requirements and needs and to reconcile them.
The main goal of the project is - true to its name - to give everyone free access to knowledge. It is hoped that this will promote the creative and inventive influence on culture and society . A new paradigm aims to bring the creation and management of knowledge resources back into harmony so that everyone benefits from it. The residents of developing countries in particular suffer from the restrictions on access to knowledge, as many people there cannot afford the prices for essential goods such as books or medicine. Knowledge goods - precisely because of their ability to be copied and passed on - are to be fundamentally differentiated from physical goods if greater promotion of development opportunities is to be supported. An equalization of the differences between the rich and the poor is not as decisive in any other area, but also as promising as in access to knowledge.
By freedom of knowledge , media scientists and education politicians understand the right to free access to information. They describe free access to knowledge as a basic right and a prerequisite for a democratic society. Proponents of the freedom of knowledge refer to the sociologist Max Weber , among others , who assumes that from a political point of view, a knowledge advantage is always a power advantage. With equal access to knowledge, knowledge-poor populations have a better chance of realizing an equalization of the differences between rich and poor on their own.
Access to Knowledge aims to provide a balanced intellectual property system that protects both author and consumer rights. The worldwide movement is different from a proposed concentration non-profit organizations, businesses, individuals, governments, the so-called. Developing countries (the Global South), libraries, teachers and trainers and the Free / Libre / Open Source Software (FLOSS) community driven .
The work of A2K includes, among other things, creating awareness and education about the important role of access to knowledge in today's societies, improving access possibilities in poorer countries, and promoting understanding of copyright regulations and intellectual property rights the resulting impact on society.
A2K agreement
In 2004 the idea of a global A2K agreement was primarily developed, which was promoted by NGOs , some academies and governments. In August of the same year, Brazil and Argentina proposed such an agreement as part of a larger catalog of proposals to Wipo. Discussions on this draft contract took place in 2005, which led to a first draft contract in May 2005. However, this agreement was not pursued, as an agreement with the industrialized countries is sought and a pre-formulated treaty could reduce the chances of an agreement.
Other contracts are recognized by A2K and should not be explicitly revoked. A2K should only supplement these and draw attention to currently neglected already existing regulations. The agreement also refers to earlier regulations such as the Florence Agreement of 1950. The way in which the individual countries implement A2K into law is up to them. An extended implementation that goes beyond the draft is explicitly encouraged.
The subject areas covered include an exception regulation for copyright-protected content and a new regulation of patent law including the definition of what patents can be applied to. Furthermore, a new approach to knowledge commons / public domain is presented; so the knowledge financed by the state should be accessible to everyone and public domain. The draft promotes the use of open standards and lays the foundation for technology transfers to developing countries. Finally, various other topics are briefly addressed - here, however, the current version of the contract has not yet been completed, so that large parts have not yet been worked out.
A2K conference
The A2K conference, which has lasted several days, has been held every April since 2006. Your goal is to work out specific proposals and timetables for the implementation of A2K. This is where the people who drive the project from industrialized and developing countries as well as NGOs meet.
swell
Knowledge and intellectual property working group of the Economics competence group of the Association of German Scientists (www.vdw-ev.de), coordinated by Frank Schmiedchen
See also
Web links
- Official Draft and discourse page ( English )