advocacy: March 2006 Archives

Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Former top judge says US risks edging near to dictatorship

Sandra Day O'Connor, a Republican-appointed judge who retired last month after 24 years on the supreme court, has said the US is in danger of edging towards dictatorship if the party's rightwingers continue to attack the judiciary.

America's Blinders | The Progressive

"Now that most Americans no longer believe in the war, now that they no longer trust Bush and his Administration, now that the evidence of deception has become overwhelming (so overwhelming that even the major media, always late, have begun to register indignation), we might ask: How come so many people were so easily fooled?"

The information revolution holds great promise for development, freedom, and justice, but this potential is fragile. Without a coherent framework for why access to knowledge matters and an agenda how to achieve it, this potential could be undermined by the growing propertization and regulation of knowledge. The Information Society Project (ISP) at Yale Law School invites you to help determine the future of A2K.

From April 21st to April 23rd, 2006, join policy makers, activists, industry leaders, and academics at Yale Law School for a conference addressing this topic in areas such as intellectual property policy, telecommunications, education, culture, science, and health care. Leading thinkers and advocates from North, South, East and West will focus on generating cutting edge research agendas, concrete policy solutions, and strategic partnerships for the next decade.

Please register from the conference website.

Plenary Panel defining Access to Knowledge include:

-- Framing A2K in human rights and development
-- Political economy of trade treaties and intellectual property
-- The economics of information
-- Privacy, national security, and free expression
-- Innovative public and private solutions to knowledge access and knowledge production in developing countries

Policy Panel topics include:

-- Measuring Access to Knowledge
-- Wireless Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and A2K
-- Traditional Knowledge
-- Access to Scientific Knowledge
-- Network Neutrality in the Developing World
-- Exceptions and Limitations to Copyright
-- Access to Medicines: India and TRIPS
-- Peer Production and Education
-- Digital Rights Management (DRM) and Globalization
-- Agriculture, and Genetically Modified Crops
-- Licensing Frameworks for Access to Knowledge
-- Open Archives (OA), OA Publishing and Libraries

For a full conference description and list of speakers, please visit the conference website. Space is limited, so please register soon.