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THE EQUAL RIGHTS OF A CHILD TO AN EDUCATION WITHIN A GLOBAL, KNOWLEDGED BASED, INFORMATION SOCIETY IRRESPECTIVE OF THEIR SEX, COLOR, CREED, AND NATIONALITY OR SOCIAL/ FINANCIAL STANDING This paper argues the right of every child to have equal access to an education, irrespective of their colour, creed, nationality, ethnicity, or social and financial status, so they may obtain gainful employment and contribute to the growth of their society in the 21st century. Within any knowledge based global society, the basic tools of education must include educational and operational softwares. UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS Article 1. · All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and a conscience, and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. The Declaration of the Rights of the Child 1. Every child must be given the means requisite for its normal development, both materially and spiritually. 2. Every child that is hungry must be fed, the child that is sick must be nursed, the child that is backward must be helped, the delinquent child must be reclaimed, and the orphan and the waif must be sheltered and secured. 3. Every child must be the first to receive relief in times of distress. 4. Every child must be put in a position to eventually earn a livelihood, and must be protected against every form of exploitation. 5. Every child must be brought up with the idea that its talents are best employed when devoted to the service of its fellow men. Surely ‘The United Nations Human Rights’ and ‘The Declaration of the Rights of the Child’ leave no doubt that it is the right of every child to have equal access to education, irrespective of his or her, colour, creed, nationality, ethnicity, age or financial status. Knowledge now forms a major component of all human activity; economic, social and cultural, and has become a major creative force of all developed societies, hence creating new ‘Knowledge Based’ societies and economies. Knowledge is gained from access to education; hence an essential element for the development of all children, societies, countries, economies, and humanity. Knowledge based societies are not a new occurrence. Fishermen, for example, have long shared the knowledge of forecasting the weather to their community, and this knowledge gets added to the social capital of the community. What is new is that: · With current technologies, knowledge based societies need not be constrained by geographic location · Current technology offers many more possibilities for sharing, archiving and retrieving knowledge · Knowledge has become the most important capital in the present age, and hence the success of any society lies in harnessing it. All governments and individuals who truly believe in Human and Child Rights, and the equality of all, must surely also believe in providing equal access to all information and tools required for children’s education, irrespective of a child’s, colour, creed, nationality, religion, ethnicity, age, or financial status. Hence the tools and information required for a child’s education should not be withheld for the monetary gain of a few. Humanity can never allow a global society to develop that promotes the haves and have nots of a basic education. In this high tech, computerised, interconnected world of the 21st century, a world reliant on high speed access to information, no one country, state, or community, can hope to compete on equal footing with others unless their children have equal access to the programs and softwares that all others enjoy, as part of their education and vocational training. Essentially, all men and women have but their labour to give or trade in return for the basic necessities of life, of which education is one. A man or woman from a developing country cannot be seen as a lesser man or woman than one from a developed country simply because the price of their labour is less. Their labour affords them the basic necessities of life within their own communities, as their government can ensure the cost of the basic necessities of life are commensurate with the average weekly income of their country. The advent of a ‘Global Economy’ has, however, strained this basic principle of human existence for the poorer nations and people, denying them the fundamental tools of a modern education. Software piracy does not occur because the populations of poor or developing countries are somehow inherently criminal. It occurs because the young people of these developing countries need access to an education that their families cannot afford, as the exorbitant costs of ‘legal copies’ of essential educational software are extremely prohibitive. Access in this context is unfairly equated to piracy. PUTTING THE PROBLEM IN CONTEXT 2009 Average Salaries for Developed Nations Luxembourg 49,663 United States 49,483 Ireland 44,013 Switzerland 42,980 Netherlands 42,514 Australia 42,019 United Kingdom 40,825 Belgium 40,591 Norway 40,177 Denmark 39,143 Austria 38,682 France 35,430 Germany 35,292 Sweden 33,586 Japan 31,773 Finland 31,211 Italy 29,198 Spain 28,871 South Korea 27,587 Greece 26,929 Hungary 21,161 Czech Republic 18,922 Portugal 18,300 In 2009 the average weekly wage of an American was approximately $950.00/week, or 49,483.00/annum The cost of Microsoft Office is $499.00 (December 2009). This equates to an American parent who is earning $23.70/hour, paying the equivalent of 21 hours of their labour (approximately 3 days) to buy an essential educational tool for their child’s education. In Vietnam the average weekly wage is $25/week , or $1,300/annum The cost for Microsoft Office in Vietnam is also $499.00. A average parent in Vietnam earns $0.62/hour, hence they pay the equivalent of 804 hours (approx 100 days) of their labour to buy an essential educational tool for their child’s education. We stated earlier that all workers have but their labour to give or trade for the necessities of life. So with that in mind if we were to reverse the situation for American workers, by developing a proportionate cost for Microsoft Office based upon their hours of labour, we would find that they would need to pay $19,050 (equivalent to 804 hours of labour). If this was the retail price of Microsoft Office in America, we would surely expect to see a software piracy industry emerge in America similar to that of which we presently see in developing countries. Not because American children overnight had suddenly become criminals, but because the cost of the tools needed for an education had suddenly exceeded their parent’s ability to buy, and they had no other recourse for obtaining the software. Intellectual property laws are meant to protect an author and their developed intellectual works from being copied illegally. These laws should never be misinterpreted or misused as ways to insure wealth by exploiting or disregarding the basic human rights of all. Equal rights must not be idle worlds of the rich or the already-haves. The right of every child to shelter, food, safety, and education, are fundamental human rights, far outweighing economic or intellectual property rights (which would not be considered fundamental by any moral, thoughtful, human being.) INDEXING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS Within a global economic society, the only way to achieve equal rights and access for all to an education and job, is to put in place a ‘Global Index System’ based upon the average salary of a country. A simple example of this would be to allot America the base index of ‘1’. Hence ‘1’ would equal the average annual wage of America. If in 2009 America’s average salary is $49,483.00 then this number will become the base (1) for all other index calculations. If Australia’s average salary is $42,019.00 then its index would be 0.84 (42,019.00 divided by 49,483.00 = 0.84) If Vietnam’s average salary is $1,300.00 then its index would be 0.0262. (1,300.00 divided by 49,483.00 = 0.0262) The intellectual property rights of any educational or vocational software would then be valued, within any country, by taking the price the software is retailing for in America, and multiplying it by that country’s index. (These indexes would be set by a reputable organization such as the World Trade Organisation (WTO) or United Nations (UN) and would be updated each year.) Hence for equality of access by the children of Vietnam to Microsoft Office, the price should be the price of Microsoft Office ($499.00) multiplied by Vietnam’s index of ( 0.0262) which means for equality of access the sale price for Microsoft Office in Vietnam should be $13.07. INTERUM ACTION Countries should not be forced to disadvantage their young citizens of the right to an education by enforcing unjust and unequal global intellectual property laws, when those laws do not take into account the financial differences between developing and developed countries. If developing countries enforce present interpretations of intellectual property laws, they are ensuring that their countries will forever remain developing nations, by dramatically impeding their young peoples from ever gaining the necessary education that will allow them to compete equally within the global economy; as computer literacy and skills in the 21st century are just as important as literacy itself. Until there is a decision reached regards this very important matter, companies and governments should restrain from prosecuting persons in developing countries for using educational and vocational pirated software. If companies do prosecute during this time of decision making, developing countries must rally together and fight the case in the highest courts of their lands, and in front of the Human Rights Tribunal. If developed governments, global organizations, or software companies believe that this moratorium on prosecutions for the use of pirated software is wrong, then they need to start implementation of an interim scheme which would see Microsoft Office retailing in the United States for $19,000. This would be another way of achieving equality for all the young of the world in the short term.