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Lucia A Keegan  08/29/2006 03:28:04 PM  From  DB/Inbox:  Lucia A Keegan

Cable 
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UNCLAS        PARIS 05764

SIPDIS
cxparis:
    ACTION: UNESCO
    INFO:   POL ECON AMBU AMB AMBO DCM SCI

DISSEMINATION: UNESCOX
CHARGE: PROG

APPROVED: AMB: LOLIVER
DRAFTED: INT: NSHETH
CLEARED: PAO: CBERGIN

VZCZCFRI254
RR RUEHMO RUEHUL RUEHDK RUEHTC RUEHSA RUEHNE
DE RUEHFR #5764/01 2410501
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 290501Z AUG 06
FM AMEMBASSY PARIS
TO RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 5568
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 1332
RUEHDK/AMEMBASSY DAKAR 1279
RUEHTC/AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE 2576
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA 1176
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 1006

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 005764 
 
SIPDIS 
 
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 
 
FROM USMISSION TO UNESCO PARIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: UNESCO AINF APER BBSR SCUL AINT EINT TINT KPAO
SUBJECT: UNESCO: DISCUSSION OF WORLD DIGITAL LIBRARY WITH UNESCO 
AMBASSADORS 
 
¶1.  (U) SUMMARY.  On Wednesday June 21, Ambassador Oliver hosted a 
luncheon with selected UNESCO Ambassadors for John Van Oudenaren of 
the Library of Congress (LOC) to introduce the concept of the World 
Digital Library (WDL).  With Van Oudenaren, the Ambassadors 
discussed the possibilities of the WDL for the developing world, 
what materials would be included on the WDL, and the issue of 
intellectual property rights.  Participants included the Ambassadors 
from the Netherlands, Russia, South Korea, South Africa, Senegal, 
and India.  END SUMMARY. 
 
------------------------------- 
THE WDL AND THE DIGITAL DIVIDE: 
------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) The Senegalese Ambassador spoke of the problem of the 
digital divide between the developed and the developing worlds. 
Villages in Senegal did not have electricity, let alone the 
Internet, he said, and the country lacked libraries and 
universities.  On that note, the Ambassador informed the group that 
China would be helping Senegal to build a national library.  He then 
spoke of how UNESCO can help Africa address these challenges, 
emphasizing that UNESCO could be a catalyst in the WDL project.  The 
Dutch Ambassador asked how the WDL would benefit the developing 
world. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Van Oudenaren stated that the Librarian of Congress, James 
Billington was committed to putting materials from the developing 
world on the WDL.  Van Oudenaren added that developing countries 
would be able to keep the digital equipment used for putting their 
materials on the WDL.  In response to the Senegalese Ambassador, Van 
Oudenaren Van Oudenaren reiterated that the WDL focuses on 
digitizing materials, not on the digital divide. 
 
------------------------------------- 
CONTENT: WHAT WILL BE PUT ON THE WDL? 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) The Dutch Ambassador asked if the main issue with the WDL 
was the hardware or the content, and how the LOC planned on deciding 
which materials to display on the WDL.  Van Oudenaren explained that 
the site would have four entry points: simple search, search by 
geography, format, or institution.  The South Korean and Russian 
Ambassadors both noted that their countries had a lot of materials 
that they would like to show and repeated the Dutch question about 
choosing content.  In response, Van Oudenaren said that the WDL 
would not put collections of large manuscripts online, though he 
could not give a hard and fast rule about content, other than it 
probably was better to err on the side of too much rather than too 
little.  The Dutch Ambassador later noted to the Mission that 
although the WDL was a great idea, it seemed like if the content was 
not narrowed, it would be taking on too much. 
 
---------------- 
PROPERTY RIGHTS: 
---------------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) The South African Ambassador, noting that many materials 
on her continent were in private hands due to the lack of good 
public facilities, asked Van Oudenaren how the WDL would deal with 
property rights and digitization.  Van Oudenaren responded by saying 
that the WDL would follow the intellectual property laws of the host 
country.  He added that the WDL includes technical safeguards:  the 
owner of the material would receive the highest resolution image. 
The image on the WDL would be of a lesser quality.  This would not 
affect the quality of the image for the WDL user, but it would be 
impossible for anyone to download a publication-quality image of the 
material from the Internet. 
 
----------------------------- 
RUSSIA:  DIVERSITY AND UNITY: 
----------------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) While the Indian Ambassador was interested in the issue of 
national intellectual property law, the Russian Ambassador asked if 
the discussion of it was important, saying that the WDL gave the 
possibility of unifying the whole world's cultures on line.  He said 
he would pitch the WDL to the Russian First Lady, Lyudmila Putina. 
He then went on to ask how the WDL would preserve diversity while 
pursuing a unifying theme.  (COMMENT:  He seemed to be dancing 
around the question of how content would be chosen (the unifying 
theme) and made diverse at the same time.  END COMMENT.) He stated 
that the WDL could help counter dissatisfaction among minority 
groups, saying that by allowing these groups a window onto the 
world, the WDL might help stop aggressive rebellion.  He used the 
Northern Caucasus as an example. 
 
¶8. (SBU) The Russian Ambassador also stated that UNESCO engagement 
on the World Digital Library could improve the "crisis" of the 
Communication and Information Sector, adding that he saw no real 
output from the sector and regularly raised the need to improve the 
sector with the Director General. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) COMMENT:  UNESCO Ambassadors warmly received the project, 
but are hungry for more specifics.  While some worry that the 
project might be too big to succeed, others might worry that the 
project might be too big to control in a more political sense.  It 
will be essential to keep UNESCO Ambassadors informed of the project 
as we move ahead in order to secure their long-term support.  END 
COMMENT. 
OLIVER