Message 02740 [Homepage] [Navigation]
Thread: oxenT02740 Message: 1/1 L0 [In index]
[First in Thread] [Last in Thread] [Date Next] [Date Prev]
[Next in Thread] [Prev in Thread] [Next Thread] [Prev Thread]

[ox-en] [Fwd: FREE SOFTWARE, FREE SOCIETY: The Thiruvananthapuram Declaration]



FREE SOFTWARE, FREE SOCIETY: The Thiruvananthapuram Declaration
Date: Tue, 31 May 2005 20:16:59 [PHONE NUMBER REMOVED]
From: Anivar Aravind <anivar.aravind gmail.com>
To: OURMEDIA-L lists.ou.edu


The Free Software Free Society Conference held at
Thiruvananthapuram during May 28-29 adopted a declaration that called
upon the social and political institutions to eliminate systems that
hinder the development of the knowledge society (see
www.gnowledge.org). ~regards Anivar Aravind GAIA (Global Alternate
Information Applications)
--------------------------------------------------------------------

FREE SOFTWARE, FREE SOCIETY
The Thiruvananthapuram Declaration
May 29, 2005

We are currently living in a world that is increasingly
getting interconnected and the issues of our concern are becoming
global. Along the way, new Information and Communication Technologies
(ICTs) transformed the process of knowledge construction and
dissemination in our society. This process is transforming other
fields of human creativity as well — including music, painting or
writing. Human history is calling us to take note of this change.
Creative works today live in a digital world, travel at the speed of
light, get transformed in seconds, become part of several other
creations, and grow in a number of other ways.

As society transforms drastically, we — students, engineers,
IT professionals, social activists, lawyers, elected
public representatives, media persons, film-makers and concerned
citizens —urge our world to take note of the immense potential
opening up for humanity, and to ensure that technology is harnessed
in the needs ofthe time to tackle the wider concerns of our planet.

Free Software has convincingly demonstrated to the world we know
that knowledge building is enhanced by freedom, openness and
social consciousness; and that such features are very effective in
creating a fairer society and enhance the cause of the social good.
In the new networked and digitized society, the
intangible(non-materialistic) aspects of reality are becoming more
important in comparison with the material ones. Several years of
material-centered development has not helped humanity to create a
better world for all; or even for the majority on this planet.

To face the challenges of the day, we need a new model of
development centered around non material aspects of life —
including collaboration, sharing, and compassion. Such a society is
evolving today on the foundations of freedom, collaboration and
shared knowledge.

We call it the gnowledge society (see http://www.gnowledge.org).
In our view, the gnowledge society will and must prefer:

freedom over bondage; sharing over monopoly; public good over
private profit; participation over exclusion; cooperation over
competition; diversity over uniformity.

We find that patent, copyright and other legal and
institutional systems related to human knowledge are not suitable for
the development of the gnowledge society. These systems were
created during the industrial revolution, and then continued in spite
of major changes in how technology shapes our lives. These systems
were not designed for, and therefore cannot cater to, the emerging
gnowledge society. For the development of human society, it is
imperative that we promote the collaborative development and free
sharing of knowledge.

Such principles are not only consistent with, but even mandated
by, the spirit of human rights as defined by the present legal
system.

We, the participants at the Free Software, Free Society conference
in Thiruvananthapuram underline the following:

We call upon the social and political institutions to
eliminate systems that hinder the development of the gnowledge
society.

We demand that every human being works for a more fair distribution
of knowledge for all, and for a world based on knowledge sharing
and collaboration.

Agreed upon in Thiruvananthapuram, South India, amongst
the participants at the Free Software, Free Society Conference,
by participants from the countries
of: Bangladesh, Brazil, India, Italy, Norway, Uruguay, Venezuela.

---------------------------------------------------------------
Declaration: http://fsfs.hipatia.net/wiki
FSFS: http://fsfs.hipatia.net


-- 
    Vereinte Dienstleistungsgewerkschaft ver.di
    Internetredaktion, Projekt di.ver
    Paula-Thiede-Ufer 10, 10179 Berlin
--
    ver.di: http://www.verdi.de
    di.ver: http://verdi.org
    privat: http://www.meretz.de
--

_________________________________
Web-Site: http://www.oekonux.org/
Organization: http://www.oekonux.de/projekt/
Contact: projekt oekonux.de



Thread: oxenT02740 Message: 1/1 L0 [In index]
Message 02740 [Homepage] [Navigation]