ABSTRACT
We live in an information society, and, resultantly,
significant attention is devoted to ensure “information-based rights” are
protected among other essential human rights. Fostering and protecting
information-based rights is essential to human well being, and the traditional
strategies to support these rights focus on ensuring free and unfettered access
to information, such as the right to education, the freedom to read, or
providing for fair use of copyright-protected works. While ensuring
informational goods and services are accessible is necessary for participation
in our contemporary information society, we argue, however, that given the
complexity of our information environment, additional factors must be
considered within any information-based rights framework. Building on Amartya
Sen’s capability approach, we suggest that individuals’ ability to access and
use information is influenced by their relative capabilities. Those advocating
for information-based rights – such as the free software, access to knowledge,
and open access movements – must adjust their focus to include not only
achieving access, but also the fostering of human capabilities.
capability approach _ Amartya Sen__ information rights__
information access
