[WSIS CS-Plenary] Re: WSISII, Free Access to Information, Search Engines

[Dr. Francis MUGUET]

Att: Dr. Sander-Beuermann
C/C Ralf
C/C Plenary

Sorry for my belated answer.
I had put my answer in the draft folder, and I forgot it there.

Dear Wolfgang

>this email to you is because Ralf Bendrath (Germany, Bremen/Berlin, CC set)
>gave me the pointer to contact you.
>
thanks Ralf

> My objective is already very shortly
>described by the subject line of this email: I strongly believe it's beeing
>necessary to introduce a clear and realistic statement into the declarations    
>of WSIS2 concerning the free access to information. Access to information is
>already stated at WSIS1 (Declaration of Principles: B3 no. 24-28, Plan of
>Action: C3), but it does not make sense without more precision regarding the
>process of gaining information.
>  
>
Quite true !
It has been always my feeling that the plan of action was not 
technological enough.
If there are not statements about the technology being used, then we are 
dealing with
vague and inefficient declarations of intent.
It would be a good occasion in the second phase of the WSIS to make more
precise statements and propose technological solutions.
You are most welcome.

>This process is governed in real life by the search engines. Search engines
>nowadays are overtaking the role which libraries have had for centuries. And
>in that field we observe a monopolism which we never had before in mankind:
>  
>
True, a de facto monopoly, and therefore a possible danger by nature

>one company (Google) has practically taken over the market (more than 80%
>marketshare in Germany). This is like if there would be just one library or
>just one newspaper for the whole world. The owner of that one company has
>then gained control over the minds of all human beeings.
>
Partly true, but if Google misuses its power, but it could be punished
very quickly, ... I tend to believe that people could
switch very easily to another search engine that is better,
or simply more fashionable.
People switched very quickly from Altavista to Google.
The situation is quite fluid and is not similar to the situation
with software ( Operating systems or applications ).
May be I am wrong. May be only a fraction of people would
switch.. Is there any study concerning the degree of
"faithfullness" of search engines users ?

> The only "chance"
>might be that an ever bigger monopolist (Microsoft) will take over that
>segment too, which would certainly not generate a better situation.
>
>  
>
Agreed ! , I would not welcome at all Microsoft in this field.
Microsoft has a track record of not playing fair.
As a free software activist, I have no desire to see the
Empire to extend any further.

on the other hand, Google is making a truely massive and
seemingly commendable effort to make available online the
content of Public Libraries ( yet limited by the absurd duration
of the Copyright in the USA where works fall into the public domain
only when they were created before 1923 ! ).

see
Google and Research Libraries Launch Massive Digitization Project
http://www.infotoday.com/newsbreaks/nb041220-2.shtml
http://news.com.com/2100-1025_3-5489903.html

so it might appear wonderfull and nice.

However, it is also the occasion of teaming up with Amazon, when
dealing with copyrighted books, of which only selected pages pages
at random will be available and with a link with Amazon to buy !
http://money.cnn.com/2004/12/14/technology/google_library.reut/
"Google will provide links to search and advertising partner Amazon.com 
<http://money.cnn.com/quote/quote.html?shownav=true&symb=AMZN> (Research 
<http://cnnfn.multexinvestor.com/Reports.aspx?ticker=AMZN>) and
to libraries where the books can be borrowed. Google will get no 
compensation for the links."
Well, Google will get indirect compensation from Amazon...
This is *big business*...
and in this case, I wonder if other online
bookstores could have also their links too... and at what price ?...
therefore if Google maintain its ( fragile ) position as a search engine
monopolist, it could be become the accomplice of a ( less fragile )
bookstore monopoly !


>I strongly feel, that this threat of the information society has to be
>clearly phrased at WSIS2.
>
Agreed.

> I'm working in the field of search engines at
>Hannover University, Germany, since about 8 years
>(http://meta.rrzn.uni-hannover.de/suma-eng.html) and I'm really concerned
>about what happens in this field.  
>  
>
A really serious threat is developing that is still
below the radar of most people, because it is being used
only for scientific information so far.

The fact that scientific information does not belong to the public
domain is one of the greatest scandal of today, when
most of research is publicly funded, and when scientific
authors are donating for *zero money* their articles to
reviews that are horribly expensive to buy.
( This is another topic, but related, it is the
fight for *Open Access to Scientific Information* ).

The Google scholar search engine
http://scholar.google.com/
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-scholar27dec27,0,6529481.story
so far limited to scientific information
allows to search and find "on-free access" content with
a search engine ( with a link to buy of course... )
The search engine is still in its experimental phase,
and the results are far from exhaustive.

The Google scholar search engine allows also to find ( but not always
as I tested on my own papers ) freely available documents,
when scientists have had the good idea to post on their
personnal sites the pdf of their papers ( a practise which is
formally allowed by some publishers, forbidden by other, but
I have not been aware of any litigations so far ).
So the Google scholar search engine has a good side...
it clearly favours Open Access Journals, but concerning
content published in non-free journals, until when, under which conditions ?
"Ed Pentz, executive director of linking specialists (and Google 
partner) CrossRef,
warned: "Some publishers are concerned about the versions of articles 
that are shown in the Google results.""
It is clear that some publishers are not happy to see the freely 
available "version"
showing up in the search instead of linking to the article you must buy.
I am deeply concerned by CrossRef.

The danger is that technically,
it can be generalized to any kind of non-free information and the
Web can be transformed in a shopping mall !

Google may search into "non-free" content with the help of CrossRef
http://www.crossref.org/
http://www.linksolver.com/site/white_paper2.jsp
Publishers must pay to get a DOI from CrossRef and for the DOI
to be resolved into a URL linking directly to a document.
It is managed by
"Publishers International Linking Association, Inc. (PILA),
an independent membership organization comprised of
publishers of original scholarly material. Fees are subject to change 
without notice."

At this stage, it is neccessary to become more precise
http://www.crossref.org/02publishers/16openurl.html
while decrypting the elegiac language
---------------------------------

    * The /OpenURL/ is a mechanism for transporting metadata and
      identifiers describing a publication, for the purpose of
      context-sensitive linking. The OpenURL standard is currently on
      the path to NISO accreditation. (For more information on the
      OpenURL, see http://library.caltech.edu/openurl.)

    * A/ link resolver/ is a system for linking within an institutional
      context that can interpret incoming OpenURLs, take the local
      holdings and access privileges of that institution (usually a
      library) into account, and display links to appropriate resources.
      A link resolver allows the library to provide a range of
      library-configured links and services, including links to the
      full-text, a local catalogue to check print holdings, document
      delivery or ILL services, databases, search engines, etc.
    * /CrossRef/ is a system for the persistent identification of
      scholarly content and cross-publisher citation linking to the
      full-text and related resources using the DOI. CrossRef DOIs link
      to publisher response pages, which include the full bibliographic
      citation and abstract, as well as full-text access (for
      authenticated users or at no charge, as determined by the
      publisher). The publisher response page often includes other
      linking options, such as pay-per-view access, journal table of
      contents and homepage, and associated resources. CrossRef is a
      collaborative membership network, and not a product for purchase.
    * /DOI /stands for Digital Object Identifier and is an open
      standard. A DOI is an alphanumeric name that identifies digital
      content, such as a book or journal article. The DOI is paired with
      the object's electronic address, or URL, in an updateable central
      directory, and is published in place of the URL in order to avoid
      broken links while allowing the content to move as needed. DOIs
      are distributed by publishers and by CrossRef, and there is no
      end-user charge associated with their use..

The DOI and the OpenURL work together in several ways. First, the DOI 
directory itself - where link resolution occurs in the CrossRef system - 
is OpenURL-enabled. This means that it can recognize a user with access 
to a local resolver. When such a user clicks on a DOI, the CrossRef 
system does two key things: (1) it redirects that DOI back to the user's 
local resolver, and (2) it allows the DOI to be used as a key to pull 
metadata out of the CrossRef database, metadata that is needed to create 
the OpenURL targeting the local link resolver. As a result, the 
institutional user clicking on a DOI is directed to appropriate 
resources. By using the CrossRef DOI system to identify their content, 
publishers in effect make their products OpenURL aware.

Secondly, since DOIs greatly streamline linking and data management 
processes for publishers, more publishers are beginning to require that 
the DOI be used as the primary linking mechanism to full text. Link 
resolvers can use the CrossRef system to retrieve the DOI, if the DOI is 
not already available from the source (i.e., citing) document.

In order to take advantage of localized linking, a cookie must be set on 
the user's machine. For information on the Cookie Pusher script, please 
see http://www.exlibris-usa.com/sfx_cookiepusher.htm. (Note that the 
reason this CookiePusher information is available at via SFX is 
historical, due to their role in prototyping this functionality.)

---------------------

The so-called OpenURL is a misnomer,
http://www.fdusa.com/products/olt.html
http://www.sspnet.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3526
it may become a tool that could threaten the freedom of the Web,
the so-call "context-sensitivé" means whether you are an authorized 
person or not, whether a subscriber or not...
of course, you need a cookie...
( This of concern for censorship and human rights too... this could be a 
tool to implement an Orwellian society )

I hope the danger is clear now for everybody !

10.1037/0003-066X.59.1.29 is a DOI
that resolves into
http://content.apa.org/journals/amp/59/1/29
The DOI can use numeric addreses and therefore it can
bypass the DNS system.
The DOI http://www.doi.org/
is more than a DNS,

"DOI persistently identifies an entity of relevance in an intellectual 
property transaction and associates the entity with relevant data and 
services. An entity can be identified at any arbitrary level of 
granularity. DOIs can be used to identify, for example, text, audio, 
images, software, etc., and in future could be used to identify the 
agreements and parties involved, though initial implementations have 
focussed on "creations"."

We have to be carefull that there is a software patent on DOI !
Pat. No. 6135,646 –
System for uniquely and persistently identifying, managing and tracking 
digital objects – 10/24/00.
see also
http://www.contentdirections.com/

One can see that Search Engines + DOI + Software patent
could lead us
towards a consumer's society that would consume and destroy people.
or worse towards an internet turned into a Sci-Fi dictatorship...

I would not like appear as a Cassandra on this topic, that I have been 
warning
the Gouvernance group for quite some time now.
I hope the DOI question would be dealt with at the WGIG, before it is 
too late.
Dr. Jonathan Cave presented by the Scientific Information working group 
would
have been both keen and apt to defend this point at the WGIG, but very 
regreetfully
he was not selected.

>Will you step into this matter too?
>
As you can notice, I am already working
partly on this topic, mostly starting
from is happening in the field of scientific information
( see http://www.wsis-si.org where your expertise is most welcome )
and I can contribute to your efforts.
You are coming with a different background, and with
a direct technical knowledge of how search engines work,
and with a wider scope, this is very interesting.
I am really glad to see a knowledgeable person like you coming in the
WSIS process.

The search engine issue is in my opinion of relevance
to the following groups :
Governance
Patents & Copyrights
Scientific Information

This matter should be dealt with
as a societal issue, it is a global threat,
I agree 100%, but it has been my experience
that it is difficult at times to raise awareness on
technological issues in the WSIS Civil Society.

> I'm looking for people willing to
>act too on this global threat of the information society.
>  
>
Welcome to the Club !

Happy New Year

Francis

>Best Wishes!
>Wolfgang Sander-Beuermann
>--
>Dr. Wolfgang Sander-Beuermann        Tel.: ++49-(0)511-762-4383 Office
>                                           ++49-(0)5085-6118    @Home
>Project Lead SearchEngineLab         http://metager.de/suma-eng.html
>University of Hannover
>
>
>
>  
>


-- 

------------------------------------------------------ 
Francis F. MUGUET Ph.D 

MDPI Foundation Open Access Journals
Associate Publisher
http://www.mdpi.org   http://www.mdpi.net
muguet at mdpi.org       muguet at mdpi.net

ENSTA   Paris, France
KNIS lab.  Director 
"Knowledge Networks & Information Society" (KNIS)
muguet at ensta.fr   http://www.ensta.fr/~muguet

World Summit On the Information Society (WSIS)
Civil Society Working Groups
Scientific Information :  http://www.wsis-si.org  chair
Patents & Copyrights   :  http://www.wsis-pct.org co-chair
Financing Mechanismns  :  http://www.wsis-finance.org web

UNMSP project : http://www.unmsp.org
WTIS initiative: http://www.wtis.org
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