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A2K for Consumers: Reports of Campaigns and Reports 2008-2010
Consumers International's A2K Access Barrier Survey
31 Aug 2010
The biggest barriers that consumers face in accessing
copyright works are those created by copyright law. Even so,
consumers around the world will choose original copyright works
over pirated copies, provided that they are available at an
affordable price.
These are amongst the findings from a global survey of consumers
conducted by Consumers International (CI), conducted in 13
languages and covering 15,000 consumers across 24 countries. The
survey was designed to determine what obstacles consumers faced in
gaining access to educational and cultural materials and
software.
Limited libraries
CI found that consumers, even in developing countries, would be
more likely to buy original rather than pirated copies of copyright
works, if they provided high quality at a low enough cost. For
those who could not afford to buy, borrowing offered an alternative
-- but particularly in developing countries, access to libraries is
limited and the works they carry are few.
Digital limits
Whilst the means to copy and use copyright works were accessible
to most consumers, others reported problems with digital locks and
with limitations on the ability to access works at their time and
place of choice.
Open source
Part of the solution to the access barriers that consumers face
is the wider use of open content, such as Open Educational
Resources (OER) and free and open source software (FOSS). Our
survey found that most consumers are aware of these alternatives,
and ready to give them a try.
Governments need to act
But the rest of the solution to the access gap lies in the hands
of governments and the private sector, who need to address
consumers' needs for lower cost original materials to buy, borrow
and access online.
Read more
See all the findings of the A2K Access
Barrier survey.