SEE ALSO:
press releases
WTO news
Mike Moore's speeches
Renato Ruggiero's speeches,
1995-99
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"I am deeply concerned about the recent appearance of anonymous websites which
copy important design features of the WTO’s official websites. This causes confusion
among visitors looking for genuine information from the WTO, disrupting a much-needed
democratic dialogue. It’s illegal and it’s unfair to those who have a genuine
case in criticizing the WTO, an organization that only functions with the authority of
sovereign governments. "By creating
confusion, the fake websites are interfering with the public’s ability to obtain
information from the WTO. They have copied the WTO website’s design, and they use
domain names such as ‘www.gatt.org’ and page
titles such as ‘World Trade Organization / GATT Home Page’ which make it
difficult for visitors to realize that these are fake pages. Whereas the WTO uses the
image of the official logo of the WTO Ministerial Conference as a hyperlink to the
official conference website, these fake sites use it to link to anti-WTO material —
further misleading web users.
"The
WTO and its members uphold the rights of others to criticize and comment on WTO affairs,
including the right to protest publicly. The WTO is, after all, a forum for governments to
debate and negotiate trade issues, reflecting the various concerns and interests of their
citizens.
"Confusing
the public is another matter. Contrary to critics’ allegations, the WTO is highly
transparent. The WTO website already contains over 60,000 official documents in the three
official languages (English, French and Spanish), including minutes of meetings, and some
200,000 visitors per month download the equivalent of millions of pages of documents in
addition to browsing regular web pages. The vast majority of these documents are released
to the public immediately and the rest are derestricted within about six months. The WTO
Secretariat receives and replies to thousands of enquiries each week by telephone and
email, a large number coming through the WTO website, either directly by email or via the
contact telephone numbers on the website.
"Those
who wish to see the WTO become more transparent should join me in deploring any action
which makes it more difficult for the public to gain access to WTO information. It’s
ironic that while the WTO is accused of lacking transparency, some critics who put out
misleading or false information are camouflaging their identities." |
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