<DIV>no-charge access is a requirement to enable the CS VItual Plenary to function !</DIV>
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<DIV>Amali <FONT size=1>(6:30 AM PST)<BR></FONT><BR><B><I>Esthert Joly <esther.joly@club-internet.fr></I></B> wrote:</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">Of corse I agree and I ask free wifi for us.<BR><BR>Esther<BR><BR>I shall arrive for wesnesday.<BR><BR>----- Original Message ----- <BR>From: "Veni Markovski" <VENI@VENI.COM><BR>To: "Amali De Silva" <AMALIDESILVA@YAHOO.COM>; "Rik Panganiban"<BR><RIKP@BLUEWIN.CH>; "wsis-cs-plenary" <PLENARY@WSIS-CS.ORG>; <CT@WSIS-CS.ORG><BR>Sent: Monday, December 08, 2003 9:43 AM<BR>Subject: [WSIS CS-Plenary] declaration regarding the wireless access in WSIS<BR>from the Civil Society Bureau<BR><BR><BR>> Pls, see below the text we've sent yesterday to the organizers. I hope to<BR>> be able to reach to the Swiss government today and deliver it personally.<BR>> In the meantime, I personally will switch from using Swisscom to using<BR>> Orange as mobile service.<BR>><BR>> regards,<BR>> veni<BR>><BR>><BR>> The Civil Society Bureau to the WSIS strongly protests that ther
e is
a<BR>> change in the established practices for ensruing wireless Internet access<BR>> have been chaned for the actual WSIS. Until now participants in the WSIS<BR>> were connected online during the PrepCom meetings at no price, while - to<BR>> our astonishment - we noted that for the WSIS itself the wireless access<BR>> will be paid, and at the very high business rate of CHF 0.90 / minute.<BR>> Many of our members are coming from developing countries where one hour of<BR>> such usage is equal to more than a monthly salary! That's a bad example of<BR>> what the digital divide may be described as.<BR>><BR>> While we are thankful for the existence of an Free and Open Source<BR>Software<BR>> (FOSS) cybercafe, we must state that many of the participants in the WSIS<BR>> bring their own notebooks, equipped with wireless Internet access cards,<BR>> and they rely on the accessible communications in order to fulfil their<BR>> duties.<BR>><B
R>>
Wireless access was not available during the resumed PrepCom (Dec. 5-6),<BR>> but it is of vital importance to have it at acceptable conditions during<BR>> the whole WSIS, as part of the effort to facilitate in the best possible<BR>> way the work of the Civil Society, the private sector and the governments.<BR>><BR>> Lack of wireless Internet access means that a huge portion of<BR>> representatives of the CS is being driven away from the process, because<BR>it<BR>> will radically diminish their capacity to interact with each other and<BR>> contribute with their knowledge to the whole WSIS process.<BR>><BR>> We urge the local hosts to find a way to ensure that there will be free of<BR>> charge wireless Internet access during the whole WSIS in Geneva,<BR>> re-establishing the practices respected throughout the whole process of<BR>> PrepCom meetings - in Geneva, as well as Paris.<BR>><BR>> We use the opportunity to thank the governme
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Geneve and Switzerland<BR>> for their efforts to perform in the best possible way in the WSIS, and we<BR>> hope that this detail will be fixed as soon as possible in a way sutiable<BR>> for all parties.<BR>><BR>> _______________________________________________<BR>> Plenary mailing list<BR>> Plenary@wsis-cs.org<BR>> http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/plenary<BR>><BR><BR>_______________________________________________<BR>Plenary mailing list<BR>Plenary@wsis-cs.org<BR>http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/plenary</BLOCKQUOTE><BR><BR><DIV>
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<P><STRONG>Amali De Silva-Mitchell MSc.</STRONG></P>
<P>Tel: 1-604-736-9012 & Email: <A href="mailto:amalidesilva@yahoo.com">amalidesilva@yahoo.com</A></P>
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