Global Information Society Watch 2009 Report
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GLOBAL INFORMATION SOCIETY WATCH (GISWatch) 2009 is the third in a series of yearly reports critically covering the state of the information society 2009 2009 GLOBAL INFORMATION from the perspectives of civil society organisations across the world. GISWatch has three interrelated goals: SOCIETY WATCH 2009 WATCH • Surveying the state of the field of information and communications WATCH technology (ICT) policy at the local and global levels Focus on access to online information and knowledge ETY ETY – advancing human rights and democracy I • Encouraging critical debate I • Strengthening networking and advocacy for a just, inclusive information SOC society. SOC ON ON I I Each year the report focuses on a particular theme. GISWatch 2009 focuses on access to online information and knowledge – advancing human rights and democracy. It includes several thematic reports dealing with key issues in the field, as well as an institutional overview and a reflection on indicators that track access to information and knowledge. There is also an innovative section on visual mapping of global rights and political crises. In addition, 48 country reports analyse the status of access to online information and knowledge in countries as diverse as the Democratic Republic of Congo, GLOBAL INFORMAT GLOBAL INFORMAT Mexico, Switzerland and Kazakhstan, while six regional overviews offer a bird’s eye perspective on regional trends. GISWatch is a joint initiative of the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) and the Humanist Institute for Cooperation with Developing Countries (Hivos). GLOBAL INFORMATION SOCIETY WATCH 2009 Report www.GISWatch.org ASSOCIATION FOR PROGRESSIVE COMMUNICATIONS (APC) AND HUMANIST INSTITUTE FOR COOPERATION WITH DEVELOPING COUNTRIES (Hivos) Tapa GISW2009.indd 1 21/10/09 04:25 PM Global Information Society Watch 2009 Global Information Society Watch 2009 Global Information Society Watch 2009 Steering committee Anriette Esterhuysen (APC) Paul Maassen (Hivos) Loe Schout (Hivos) Coordinating committee Monique Doppert (Hivos) Karen Higgs (APC) Natasha Primo (APC) Project coordinator Natasha Primo Editor Alan Finlay Assistant editor Lori Nordstrom Publication production Karen Higgs Graphic design MONOCROMO [email protected] Phone: +598 (2) 400 1685 Cover illustration Matias Bervejillo Translation coordinator Analía Lavin Proofreading Valerie Dee, Lori Nordstrom Financial partners Humanist Institute for Cooperation with Developing Countries (Hivos) Swedish International Cooperation Agency (Sida) Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) Printed by MONOCROMO Printed in Uruguay Edición hecha al amparo del Art. 79 de la Ley 13.349 Dep. Legal 350401 Global Information Society Watch Published by APC and Hivos 2009 Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Licence <creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/> Some rights reserved. ISBN 92-95049-73-X APC-200911-CIPP-R-EN-P-0065 Dedicated to A.K. Mahan - an activist who valued intellectual rigour and concrete outcomes. APC and Hivos would like to thank the Swedish International Cooperation Agency (Sida) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) for their support for Global Information Society Watch 2009. SDC is contributing to building participation in Latin America and the Caribbean and Sida in Africa. Table of contents Preface ............................................................................ 9 Colombia .............................................................. 106 Introduction: Access to online information Congo, Democratic Republic of (DRC) ................ 109 and knowledge – advancing human rights Congo, Republic of ............................................... 111 and democracy ...............................................................11 Costa Rica ............................................................ 114 Croatia .................................................................. 117 THEMATIC REPORTS Egypt ..................................................................... 120 Intellectual property rights .............................................17 Ethiopia ................................................................ 123 Information and democracy: Accessing the law ............19 India ..................................................................... 127 Information and livelihoods ........................................... 21 Iraq ....................................................................... 131 Knowledge rights .......................................................... 24 Jamaica ................................................................ 135 Access to libraries ........................................................ 27 Japan .................................................................... 139 Access to educational materials .................................. 29 Jordan ................................................................... 142 Open standards ............................................................. 31 Kazakhstan ........................................................... 144 Open culture .................................................................. 33 Kenya .................................................................... 147 INSTITUTIONAL OVERVIEW Korea, Republic of ............................................... 150 Institutional overview .................................................... 37 Kyrgyzstan ............................................................ 153 Mexico .................................................................. 156 MEASURING PROGRESS Morocco ................................................................ 159 Measuring progress .......................................................43 Namibia ................................................................ 161 MAPPING DEMOCRACY Netherlands .......................................................... 164 Conducting social research with the web ..................... 49 Nigeria .................................................................. 168 Occupied Palestinian Territory ............................ 171 REGIONAL AND COUNTRY REPORTS Pakistan ................................................................ 174 Introduction ................................................................... 61 Paraguay .............................................................. 177 Regional reports Peru ...................................................................... 179 North America ......................................................... 63 Philippines ........................................................... 183 Latin America and the Caribbean .......................... 67 Romania ............................................................... 187 Africa ...................................................................... 70 Rwanda ................................................................. 191 Middle East and North Africa ................................. 73 Saudi Arabia ......................................................... 194 Europe .................................................................... 75 South Africa .......................................................... 197 South Asia .............................................................. 80 Spain .................................................................... 201 Country reports Switzerland ........................................................... 204 Algeria .................................................................... 83 Syria ..................................................................... 207 Argentina ................................................................ 86 Tajikistan .............................................................. 210 Bangladesh ............................................................. 89 Tunisia .................................................................. 213 Bosnia and Herzegovina ........................................ 92 Uganda ................................................................. 216 Brazil ...................................................................... 95 Uruguay ................................................................ 220 Bulgaria .................................................................. 98 Uzbekistan ............................................................ 223 Cameroon ............................................................. 101 Zambia ................................................................. 226 Chile ..................................................................... 104 Zimbabwe ............................................................. 229 Preface Freedom of expression and the free flow of GISWatch 2009 is dedicated to Amy K. Mahan. information and knowledge are essential to Amy was part of GISWatch since its conception democratic societies. Therefore the focus and, as a special contributor, wrote the section of this year’s Global Information Society called “Measuring progress” for GISWatch 2007 Watch (GISWatch) report is “access to online and GISWatch 2008. If not for her untimely death information and knowledge – advancing human on 5 March 2009, she would have undoubtedly rights and democracy”. been part of GISWatch 2009. Amy touched all who worked with her, leaving a legacy of activist GISWatch aims to be a leading platform for work that aspires to combine intellectual rigour civil society perspectives on the state of the and concrete outcomes that make a difference in information