[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.
------------- 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.
Contact
FSF Europe: Georg C. F. Greve greve@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.
-- More information about the wsis is available under: