A2K for Consumers: Reports of Campaigns and Reports 2008-2010

Announcing the release of Access to Knowledge for Consumers: Reports of Campaigns and Reports 2008-2010, a substantial new volume of reports from Consumers International on our research and campaigning activities over the last two years. Building on a survey of 15,000 consumers worldwide, and supplemented by groundbreaking country research on consumers and copyright, this book offers new insights into how consumers are impacted by laws and policies on access to knowledge.

As the peak body of the global consumer movement, CI believes that a  knowledge society can be developed only when there is access to information on all fronts. Such a society is sustainable when access to knowledge is unhampered and inclusive, promoting co-operative forms of knowledge production as the basis for innovation and creativity.

In this context, Consumers International and its members from around the world have engaged in a series of research and advocacy programmes on access to knowledge from 2008 to 2010, with the support of Ford Foundation and the Open Society Institute.  This volume presents the results of these activities, including:

• A global survey of consumers, revealing for the first time the extent of the barriers that they face in accessing and using copyright materials.
• Research from Australia and Israel on the impact of reforms to those countries' copyright laws which introduced new flexibilities for consumers.
• Advocacy and campaigning activities in India, Nigeria, Brazil, South Africa, Cameroon and Zambia focussed on improving access to knowledge for consumers.

Download your free copy of Access to Knowledge for Consumers: Reports of Campaigns and Reports 2008-2010 – or, if you are a member of Consumers International, order a copy in print. You are also very welcome to make copies and distribute them widely - the text is released under a Creative Commons licence so that you can do precisely this.