[ipr-ict] Error: ENGLISH synthesis (NOT French synthesis) last mails (Bandé M Sissoko, Adamou Iro, Achille Kouawo, Papou Kponton, Mawaki Chango)

["klohento@panos-ao.org" <klohento@panos-ao.org>]

PS : We would like to have more contributions from English speaking 
countries.

KL
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> From Bandé Moussa Sissoko,

Mr Sissoko, journalist (daily newspaper L’Essor, Mali) writes to say 
that he is enjoying the discussions. He lead the association of Malian 
Journalists using English as working language (Union des Journalistes 
Maliens d'Expression Anglaise - UJMEA); he is member of the National 
Journalist Union.

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From Adamou Iro

Adamou Iro, a_iro@yahoo.fr <mailto:a_iro@yahoo.fr> from Niger, lawyer 
and manager, affirmed that IPR ICT issues are not known in his country 
by lawyers. The existing legal instrument on copyright has been adopted 
under the lobbying of the musician association and does not include 
issues like the protection of computer software. He said that the new 
high committee on ICTs just created by the Prime Minister will work on 
information society legal issues. He will have to contact WIPO in this 
regard. According to him a regional approach should be better efficient.

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From Achille Kouawo

Achille Kouawo, kouawo@clapnoir.org <mailto:kouawo@clapnoir.org>, 
journalist in Niger, and chief editor of the webzine Clapnoir 
www.clapnoir.org <http://www.clapnoir.org> thanked contributors of the 
debate. He said we have to be convinced that Africa will participate in 
the information society, and that even if there is not a political will, 
the practical actions undertaken by some stakeholders would be a driving 
factor. Human resources are available, more and more stakeholders are 
integrating ICTs in their activities; he said content creation is the 
key factor of the information society. Regarding IPRs, he said creators 
are more and more aware of their rights due to the information 
circulating on the internet. But according to him, copyright bureaux in 
Africa need to communicate better on their work. People are not informed 
of what their activities and on the internet there is not much 
information on them. Informing people and target audiences should 
therefore be a priority. Action should follow.

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> From Papou Kponton

Papou Kponton, papoulov@yahoo.fr <mailto:papoulov@yahoo.fr> journalist 
from Togo, wrote to inform us that ICTs are stagnating in Togo, a 
country which was one of the pioneers in West Africa in this domain. He 
thinks it’s mainly due the government disinterest and thus Togo does not 
have an ICT policy. He hopes that with the continued effort and lobbying 
of the private sector (which has created a great number of cybercafés in 
the countries). He said journalists should play an important role to 
raised awareness on these issues. He just participated in a training 
co-organized by the Panos Institute West Africa on ICT issues.

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From Mawaki Chango

Mawaki Chango, voodoojazz@gmail.com <mailto:voodoojazz@gmail.com> 
apologized for replying to a contribution not focussing on the issue 
dealt with by the current debate but confirmed Mr Kponton’s opinion. He 
mainly regrets the high cost of the internet in the country. He promises 
to contribute on the IPR debate in a next mail.
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