Geneva to Tunis, will history repeat itself on FOSS?

Is Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) under threat of getting run over at the World Summit on the Information Society meet coming up in mid-November 2005 in Tunis? Voices from civil society fear this is likely to happen.

"FOSS was completely drowned by proprietary software in the first phase of the WSIS at Geneva. We were quite excited that the International Open Source Network was providing some emphasis on FOSS this time. But it looks like it has been drowned again," cautioned one speaker at Siem Reap's FOSSAPII.

This is a report from Richard M Stallman, founder of the Free Software Foundation, on WSIS at Geneva in 2003. Here is a report that gives more background. This is RMS's speech prepared for Geneva. FSF Europe has this reference document on Free Software and its role in the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS).

This ITU statement says: "Protection is necessary not only for on-line music or written texts and information, but also for software: the debate on “open source” software, i.e. a software which sources can be accessed by users, is ongoing, and its economic consequences are being considered." Meanwhile, ITworld.com reported that WSIS: Delegates fail to agree on open-source 'support' in Geneva two years back.

Will history repeat itself?