Open letter to UNESCO on Microsoft agreement

"As social activists in the field of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) for development, we applaud those activities of UNESCO directed towards placing knowledge in the public domain and, in particular, promoting FLOSS (Free Libre and Open Source Software) in developing countries. We recognise and value the battles fought by UNESCO in the context of the World Summit for the Information Society. This position, from an intergovernmental organisation, is one of the closest to the position of civil society. In this context it is with surprise that we receive news of an agreement between UNESCO and the Microsoft company, proposed for application in the fields of information, communication, education and learning. Our perplexity grows with the knowledge that at the same time UNESCO is finalising an important agreement on cultural diversity."