CHILE: Free Software Activists Criticise Low-Cost Computer Deal

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Gustavo González

SANTIAGO, Sep 7 2005 (IPS) - The “My First PC” campaign launched by private companies in Chile with government support has drawn criticism from free software activists, who are working on their own initiatives to expand access to the Internet and the information society.

Chilean authorities are willing to support any private initiative aimed at expanding access to personal computers (PCs) and “narrowing the digital divide,” Daniel Urbina, technical secretary of the Economy Ministry’s Digital Agenda, told IPS.

“My First PC” got underway on Aug. 8, after President Ricardo Lagos met in the presidential palace with the executives of a telecommunications firm and 11 companies that assemble and sell computers, as well as the directors of INACAP (National Institute for Professional Training), a government institution.

The companies are offering low-cost computers at a base price of 500 dollars, payable in 36 instalments. The package includes broadband Internet connection through the Via Trans Radio (VTR) telecommunications and cable TV company, and four hours of computer training provided by INACAP.

Urbina said “‘My First PC’ is a private sector initiative that responds to the third proposal set forth by the Digital Agenda, aimed at getting manufacturers, retailers, banks and telecommunications firms to coordinate more economic alternatives for families with mid-scale incomes, to enable them to invest in computers hooked up to the Internet.”

The campaign forms part of the 2004-2006 action plan included in the “policy of universal access to the information society”, whose objective is to boost connectivity in Chile, where 24 percent of households have Internet connection.

Although that is a high proportion in Latin America, Chile ranks 43rd in the world, and connectivity is far below the level found in industrialised countries.

Equitable access to telecommunications services and computers is one of the central focuses of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), taking place in two phases – in Geneva in 2003 and next November in Tunis.

Rubén Palma, a free software movement activist, launched the campaign “My First Real PC”, in which he is trying to gather, by the end of this month, 25,000 signatures to present to the government a more realistic proposal for achieving broader access to computers and the Internet.

Free software is software which, once obtained, can be freely used, copied, studied, modified and redistributed. It is often made available online without charge or offline for the cost of distribution.

According to Palma, “My First PC” could be “My First WC” (water closet or toilet), because the equipment offered by the programme uses “an amputated version” of the Microsoft Windows XP operating system, adapted in such a way that makes it impossible for users to expand memory, increase disk capacity or invest in other upgrades.

The campaign is governed by “the profit motive,” he said, because it ties users to a single software provider, Microsoft, and to a specific number of companies that will charge high interest on the monthly instalment payments, which will increase the final cost of the computers by 60 percent, according to his estimate.

But Urbina stressed that the government had never considered providing “a subsidy or interest-free loan to help families purchase a PC. This was always conceived of as a challenge for the private sector, and as a contribution by that sector to the Digital Agenda.”

He said public funds have been focused on creating community infocentres, helping 470,000 people achieve computer literacy, and computerising bureaucratic procedures in government agencies.

The government is setting up 700 full-time and 800 part-time infocentres or telecentres nationwide, to provide broad public access to the Internet.

Laurentzi de Sasia, manager in Chile of the U.S. computer chip giant Intel, which is taking part in “My First PC”, described the campaign to IPS as “the most affordable and attractive offer” aimed at expanding connectivity, and “a first step for other companies and people who think they can come up with similar initiatives to join in the effort.”

De Sasia did not respond to a question on the technological limitations of the computer package offered by the campaign, but underlined the need to put oneself in the place of the programme’s “real target audience”.

“These are people who have not had contact with technology, who need a complete, user-friendly package, and above all, who need flexible payment facilities in order to break down the hurdles to access,” he said.

Nicolás Aguilar, a 25-year-old university student, remarked to IPS that “It’s good that everyone can have access today, because there are still a lot of people who are computer illiterate.”

De Sasia said that “in the first weekend after the programme was launched, more than 10,000 units were sold – more than the total number sold over the Christmas weekend.”

Since these sales did not have an impact on “the demand for higher-cost computers, that effectively means that those who gained access to ‘My First PC’ are really those who could not afford one before,” said de Sasia.

Linux, which created the Linux free operating system, has taken on the challenge. On Aug. 30, the organisation’s head of research and development in Latin America, Eduardo Kaftanski, announced that he was involved in conversations with the government.

What Linux wants to do is to make available to Chileans computers that are cheaper than those offered by the “My First PC” programme. That would be made possible by the fact that the Linux system is distributed without the payment of copyright licence fees, while the per-copy fee for Windows is 200 dollars.

“We have already met with the government’s people to prepare an alternative,” said Kaftanski. “We haven’t established any timeframe yet. But they guaranteed us the same facilities and requirements that they offered the ‘My First PC’ consortium.”

Leonardo Cepeda, a 22-year-old supermarket employee, told IPS that despite the payment facilities offered by “My First PC”, it is still hard for him to buy a computer.

“Maybe the government could pay part of the cost, because for a family living on the minimum monthly wage (140 dollars), it’s still difficult to afford a computer,” he said.