The Access to Knowledge (A2K) movement is a loose collection of
civil society
Civil society can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere.[government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...]
s, and individuals converging on the idea that access to
knowledge
Knowledge is an Declarative knowledge, awareness of facts, a Knowledge by acquaintance, familiarity with individuals and situations, or a Procedural knowledge, practical skill. Knowledge of facts, also called propositional knowledge, is oft ...
should be linked to fundamental principles of
justice
In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...
,
freedom
Freedom is the power or right to speak, act, and change as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving oneself one's own laws".
In one definition, something is "free" i ...
, and
economic development
In economics, economic development (or economic and social development) is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and object ...
.
History
The
Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities from 2003 is a major declaration reflecting the goals of the movement pertaining to academic publishing.
In October 2004, the
Geneva declaration on the future of the World Intellectual Property Organization emerged from a call from
Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
and
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
for a development agenda for the
World Intellectual Property Organization
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO; (OMPI)) is one of the 15 specialized agencies of the United Nations (UN). Pursuant to the 1967 Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization, WIPO was created to pr ...
, and was supported by hundreds of organizations.
Supporters included the
Free Software Foundation
The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded by Richard Stallman on October 4, 1985. The organisation supports the free software movement, with the organization's preference for software being distributed ...
, with a statement ''Towards a "World Intellectual Wealth Organisation": Supporting the Geneva Declaration.''
One of the proposals of the declaration was to a "call for a Treaty on Access to Knowledge and Technology. The Standing Committee on Patents and the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights should solicit views from member countries and the public on elements of such a treaty".
A shared discussion platform on A2K issues is the
mailing list
A mailing list is a collection of names and addresses used by an individual or an organization to send material to multiple recipients.
Mailing lists are often rented or sold. If rented, the renter agrees to use the mailing list only at contra ...
of that name, which was initiated around discussion of the Geneva declaration.
A draft "A2K treaty" was later produced. The proposed treaty is intended to ease the transfer of knowledge to developing nations, and to secure the viability of open innovation systems all over the world.
Human rights debate
Access to knowledge and science is protected by Article 27 of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the Human rights, rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN Drafting of the Universal D ...
. The article balances the right of access with a right to protection of moral and material interests:
Article 27
Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.
Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.
A2K academics argue that "material interests" are not simply equivalent to current intellectual property provisions, not least because these rights are saleable and transferable, and therefore not "inalienable". The right to access is ultimately the more important part of the right. Current levels of IP protection seem out of balance with Article 27, according to A2K theorists:
... in a very real sense, rights delayed are rights denied. Had access to oral rehydration therapy and second-generation vaccine technologies been delayed for twenty years ... three million children would have died. Even for less life-and-death technologies, a twenty-year delay works an immense limitation on enjoyment of the right. For cultural works, the situation is even worse; protection lasts longer than a human lifetime.
Supporters
Knowledge Ecology International
CP Tech (now
Knowledge Ecology International) say: "the A2K (Access to Knowledge) movement takes concerns with copyright law and other regulations that affect knowledge and places them within an understandable social need and policy platform: access to knowledge goods."
Consumers International
Many different groups refer to the A2K movement.
Consumers International
Consumers International is the membership organization for consumer groups around the world. Founded on 1 April 1960, it has over 250 member organizations in 120 countries. Its head office is situated in London, England, and has numerous region ...
is particularly prominent, running a dedicated domain, and defines the movement as:
the umbrella term for a movement that aims to create more equitable public access to the products of human culture and learning. The ultimate objective of the movement is to create a world in which educational and cultural works are accessible to all, and in which consumers and creators alike participate in a vibrant ecosystem of innovation and creativity.
These goals are of interest to a broad coalition of consumer groups, NGOs, activists, Internet users and others. For many of them, coming to grips with the issues involved in the A2K movement can be daunting. These issues, including copyright and patent law reform, open content licensing, and communications rights, often involve legal and technological concepts that even specialists find difficult.
See also
*
Access2Research
Access2Research is a campaign in the United States for academic journal publishing reform led by open access advocates Michael W. Carroll, Heather Joseph, Mike Rossner, and John Wilbanks.
On May 20, 2012, it launched a petition to the Whit ...
*
Academic journal publishing reform
*
Free culture movement
The free-culture movement is a social movement that promotes the freedom to distribute and modify the creative works of others in the form of free content, otherwise known as open content. They encourage creators to create such content by using p ...
*
Information privilege
*
Open access
Open access (OA) is a set of principles and a range of practices through which nominally copyrightable publications are delivered to readers free of access charges or other barriers. With open access strictly defined (according to the 2001 de ...
*
Open knowledge
Open knowledge (or free knowledge) is knowledge that is free to use, reuse, and redistribute without legal, social, or technological restriction. Open knowledge organizations and activists have proposed principles and methodologies related to the ...
*
Right to education
The right to education has been recognized as a human rights, human right in a number of international conventions, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights which recognizes a right to free education, free, pr ...
*
Timeline of the open access movement
The following is a timeline of the international movement for open access to scholarly communication.
1940s-1990s
* 1942
** American sociologist Robert King Merton declares: "Each researcher must contribute to the 'common pot' and give up in ...
References
Further reading
Draft Text of the A2K Treaty* New, William
"Experts Debate Access to Knowledge" ''IP Watch'', Feb. 15, 2005. Accessed April 23, 2007.
"Convergence of movements to fight IPRs on information" ''Seedling'', 2005. Accessed April 23, 2007.
* The A2K term is also used in academic discourse and literature. Bloomsbury Academic have produced a series on issues in Brazil, Egypt and India; while UCT Press have published an overview of the issues in Africa.
* An academic overview of the issues can be found in 'Access to Knowledge in the Age of Intellectual Property', published in 2010.
External links
Global
*
Consumer Project on Technology'sbr>
A2K resourcesConsumers International's A2Knetwork.orgYale Information Society Project A2K Program
Local
A2K BrazilA2K Derechos Digitales (Chile)(Spanish)
Bibliotheca Alexandrina's A2K Portal(English/Arabic)
Access to knowledge in Egypt
{{Intellectual property activism
Politics and technology
Internet-related activism
Scholarly communication
Intellectual property activism
Intellectual property law
History of social movements
Open government
Social movements