Thanks to Daryl D'Monte, former editor, for sending this to the India-EJ
mailing list for environmental journalists. Of course, one is not
particularly enamoured by the term 'developing countries' (it suggests
that these countries are actually catching up... the gap is widening and
things get worse with every devaluation of Southern currencies; it also
implies that we all have to aspire to be like the North, but is that the
desirable or sustainable goal?). Maybe the unnecessarily-critiqued and
deliberately-misunderstood term of Third World (the left-out like the
Tiers Etat) is more apt. Anyway, some of the points below are
interesting. -FN
PS: Copyright-versus-copyleft too could be a crucial debate, if the bulk
of the planet is to get access to the information they so badly need! To
liken those copying books illegally with men who attacked ships for loot
in high seas and killed innocents centuries ago means skewing the debate
with our terms ('piracy').
---------- Forwarded message ----------
ONLINE PUBLISHING COULD REVOLUTIONIZE INFORMATION PRODUCTION AND
DISTRIBUTION IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Online newspapers, publications and books... are the developing
countries in a position to get anything out of the digital revolution?
Will the drop in production and distribution costs afforded by the new
technology allow them to catch up with the developed-country firms that
are monopolizing the market? The E-commerce and Development Report
2002, released today by UNCTAD, surveys current trends and suggests
future strategies.
On the plus side, digital publishing technology offers fresh
opportunities for developing countries, many of which produce little in
the way of artistic and literary output due to lack of resources. New
technology could transform the situation. Online publishing gives small
businesses the opportunity to establish a presence in a market dominated
by the developed-country giants of the culture industry. By lowering
production costs and cutting out middlemen, it generates new markets and
enables authors who would not otherwise be well known to expand their
readerships. A Jamaican company, Overdrive, has set up a virtual
publishing centre allowing over 200 publishers to produce and distribute
their books electronically.
In press and university publishing, a quick glance at websites listing
online libraries and media shows that even the poorest -- the least
developed -- countries have been won over to electronic distribution,
which radically alters relations between publishers, the media and
consumers. And although the volume and quality of content, the level of
sophistication and the functions available through search tools vary
considerably from one newspaper to the next, an online presence now
appears essential.
For the time being, the important thing is to "stake out a claim" and
respond to growing user demand, as it is far from certain whether online
newspapers will prove profitable.
Growing awareness of the potential of online publishing is driving a
number of new initiatives, both national and international. They range
from the promotion of African publications in the United States to the
establishment of a digital scientific library in Brazil, which is now a
beacon for the whole of Latin America. UNCTAD believes that
developing-country governments should make more use of this form of
distributing information, encourage educational institutions to provide
education online and support libraries financially so that they can
computerize their publications and enable the entire world to benefit.
On the down side, the same inequalities to be found in the publishing
world between developed and developing countries are reflected in online
publishing. Then there are technical and practical obstacles, such as
the paucity and high cost of Internet connections and the lack of
training among potential users.
Since the new technology allows virtually anything to be copied to
perfection, copyright is threatened by digital piracy. Such piracy is
becoming exorbitantly expensive, both for the developed countries that
produce most intellectual property and for developing countries as well.
Commercial losses in the United States in 2001 due to book piracy are
estimated by the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) at
over $650 million. Profits from the "informal" book industry in Peru are
higher than those from publishing.
The international agreements governing intellectual property rights were
extended in 1995 and 1996 to encompass digital technology. In order to
comply with them, developing countries have to pass legislation and find
the means to enforce it. But they have a lot to gain from the process,
as developing and protecting their creations is very much in their
interest. Thanks to copyright, publishing in the United States was a $4
billion industry in 2001. In Brazil, one of the world's largest markets
for intellectual property, 70% of pirated music is locally produced -
representing a loss of over $300 million in 2001, according to the IIPA.
The country passed suitable legislation that same year.
Copyright issues aside, online publishing could become a formidable
vehicle for development, not just allowing businesses to stake out
positions in markets formerly closed to them but also providing wider
access to information, especially for academia and research, while at
the same time promoting the country. Now all that remains is to make the
political decision makers aware of what is at stake.
Darryl D'Monte
Chairperson, Forum of Environmental Journalists of India (FEJI)
President, International Federation of Environmental Journalists (IFEJ)
29-B Carter Road, Bandra West,
Mumbai 400 050, India
Tel: 91-22-2642-7088
Fax: c/o: 91-22-2645-8870
E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Website: www.ifej.org
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