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| Third UNESCO Congress on Ethical, Legal and
Societal Challenges of Cyberspace
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| Objectives |
The goal of the UNESCO INFOethics Congresses is to stimulate reflection and debate on ethical, legal and societal aspects of the Information Society - bringing together participants from the largest possible number of countries representing the widest range of educational, scientific, cultural and social environments.
The objective of INFOethics 2000 is to further develop this debate.
Expected results
A - The role of public authorities in access to information
Concrete actions that UNESCO should undertake to facilitate broader and fairer access to information, in particular on fundamental issues such as:
- broader access to information resources of the public domain in a global context;
- economic obstacles to access, the "right to communicate" and effective use of information and communication facilities for education, science and culture;
B - The "fair use" concept in the Information Society
Elaborating common principles that could guide the Member States in the formulation of rules governing the application of "fair use" within the framework of their national legislation, including:
- the coverage and limits of fair use applications in the electronic environment through the existing conventions and consultative processes;
- the application of legal exceptions to copyright that will facilitate access to information for developing countries;
C - Protecting human dignity in the digital age
A set of general "best practices" to facilitate approaches of governments, business and civil society in ensuring security, privacy protection and freedom of expression on global information networks, including:
- proposals for the definition and use of codes of conduct ensuring reliability and security on global networks;
- formulation of self regulation guiding principles establishing a reasonable balance between the users' rights for freedom of expression and their rights for privacy.
Follow-up action
1. UNESCO position statement
The proposals should serve to further consolidate the UNESCO's new Information for All Programme based on co-operation among public, private and civil society partners in facilitating access to information.
2. Elaboration of the UNESCO plan of action, including the following elements:
2.1 To facilitate broader and fairer access to information and communication networks and services as well as provision of information;
2.2 To facilitate the application of legal exceptions to copyright for developing countries through international conventions;
2.3 To promote freedom of expression while protecting privacy on global networks;
2.4 To consolidate activities aimed to observe and inform on the progress of the Information Society development in the Member States.
3. Strengthening consultative services for the implementation of the above-mentioned plan of action.
4. Submitting proposals to governing bodies of UNESCO.
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