Our last suggestion to delegations ( 10 November version 2 ) paragraph 22 was proposed, late at nigth during the night session ( 10 Nov. 7PM-10PM) by the Australia, supported by Morroco, and killed by the US and the EU. We express our deepest thanks the Australian and Morrocan delegations. The text below is certainly not what we should recommand as the ideal text, it is a text that has been proposed as compromise that might be felt acceptable by the US and EU delegations, after numerous informal talks. The general distinction between "equitable access" and "open access" had to abandonned. This is very unfortunate from the conceptual point of view.

22.( 20 ) The sharing and strengthening of global knowledge for development can be enhanced by removing barriers to equitable access to information for economic, social, political, health, cultural, educational, and scientific activities,by facilitating access to public domain information. and by encouraging open access to scientific information.

23. ( 21 ).A rich public domain is an essential element for the growth of the Information Society, creating multiple benefits such as an educated public, new jobs, innovation, business opportunities, and the advancement of sciences. Information in the public domain should be freely accessible to support the Information Society, and protected from misappropriation. Public institutions such as libraries and archives, museums, cultural collections and other community-based access points should be strengthened so as to promote the preservation of documentary records and free and open access to information.

25.(23) (23) We strive for open access with equal opportunities for all to scientific knowledge and the creation and dissemination of scientific and technical information, while respecting copyrights.

We have submitted in support of the explicit mention of "Open Access", the declaration that the German and French research agencies undersigned in Berlin (22 October 2003) It is now available online on the WSIS site and nearby the registration desk. desk.

The Open Access movement therefore now benefits from significant official support all over the world: in India ( India Academy of Science ), Germany ( DFG, Max Planck Soc. ) and France ( CNRS - INSERM) as well as the growing support of foundations ( Open Society Institute, Wellcome trust, Moore Foundation, Howard Hughes foundation ) as well as Libraries associations ( ARL ) in the USA and UK. There is now a strong dynamics in favor of Open Access, and many more countries, research agencies and foundations are expected to follow this trend.

Justification 22
The different flux of information must be distinguished with the appropriate word for each flux. Precision is required.

Justification 23
Since we are dealing in this paragraph with public domain, the term open access is most approriate, even more so coupled with free.

Justification 25
The content of the paragraph has moved to another section (US delegation suggestion) : to Section A. Our Common Vision of the Information Society paragraph 6 6. (23) We recognize that science has a central role in the development of the Information Society. Many of the building blocks of the Information Society are the result of scientific and technical advances made possible by the sharing of research results.
"encourage" was replaced by "strive for" at the suggestion of the Iranian delegation. The only suggested modification of this ( rather redondant if our addition to paragaph 22 is accepted, crucial if not ) paragraph is to replace "universal" which is vague by "open".