special coverage: information society & WSIS

28.08.2003 A Vietnam court has reduced the 13-year prison sentence of cyber dissident Dr Pham Hong Son to five years’ detention and three years’ house arrest at an appeal hearing. He was charged with espionage after translating an article What is Democracy? from the Website of the United States embassy in Vietnam, and sending it over the Internet to both friends and senior party officials.

28.08.2003 An international group of librarians and publishers has re-asserted the importance of freedom of expression on the Internet for democracy and creativity. The group has expressed its willingness to further promote and work towards ensuring respect of this fundamental human right in a digital era.

28.08.2003 A forum is being organised on the eve of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Geneva in December 2003 to discuss the role of science in the information society. The organisers are currently seeking proposals for exhibits to be displayed during the summit week. Deadline for sending proposals: 30 September 2003.

25.08.2003 The WSIS Gender Caucus is organising an orientation session, a one-day event to be held on 13 September 2003, in Geneva, Switzerland. Open to women and men who work on advocacy issues for social justice and change in international organisations, governments, academia and CSOs, it will focus on building teamwork across diverse networks of gender advocates.

21.08.2003 The world's leading association of libraries has called on the upcoming World Summit on the Information Society in Geneva this December to recognise the key role of libraries in making knowledge available to the information poor and tackling the growing digital divide.

15.08.2003 The first ever World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) to be held in Geneva this December is attracting a wide cross-section of civil society. But views on what the summit can do are as diverse as the civil society groups taking part. This could lead to a lack of clarity in agreeing an agenda for an information society, some organisers have said.

14.08.2003 The Platform for Community Networks (WFCN) is publishing in three languages (French, Spanish and English) summaries of what is being discussed on a number of civil society lists dealing with the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) process. The first and current issue covers the WSIS Intersessional meeting recently held in Paris.