Athens IGF: Call for an elaboration on a Treaty on Access to Knowledge

31 October 2006
FromGeneva
Thiru Balasubramaniam


In the discussion session on "Openness" at the Athens Internet Governance Forum moderated by Nik Gowing of BBC World, the representative from the Republic of South Africa posited that the Internet Governance Forum could consider an elaboration on a Treaty on Access to Knowledge as a tangible way forward to find the balance between the rights and obligations conferred by intellectual property and the public interest. James Love (CPTech) called upon his fellow panelists (see list below) to endorse the elaboration on a Treaty on Acces to Knowledge first proposed by the Friends of Development in 2004 at WIPO. Hanne Sophie Greve, former judge at the European Court of Human Rights, endorsed the Treaty on the spot. This panel is being webcast now.

Here is the program and list of panelists.

31 October, 1000-1300

Openness
Session Chairman: Theodoros Roussopoulos, Minister of State of Greece

Moderator: Nik Gowing, Main Presenter, BBC World

* Carlos Afonso, Technical Director of RIT (services and capacity-building network of ICTs)
* Anriette Esterhuysen, Executive Director, APC
* Hanne Sophie Greve, former judge at the European Court of Human Rights
* Joichi Ito, Creative Commons
* Jamie Love, Director, CPTech
* Senator Paschal Mooney, Government Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs (Ireland), broadcaster/ journalist
* Andrew Puddephatt, OBE, various human rights organizations
* Art Reilly, Senior Director, Strategic Technology Policy, Cisco Systems
* Richard Sambrook, Director BBC Global News
* Fred Tipson, Senior Policy Counsel , Microsoft,
* Catherine Trautmann, Member of the European Parliament