Following the entry of lobbyists from proprietary business interests, international governments' support for open source software have considerably cooled down.

The draft Plan of Action released in June 2003 championed the wide adoption of open source software.

Suggested text in the draft then promoted open source awareness, the creation of intellectual property mechanisms supporting open source, and the formation of a UN "Programmers Without Frontiers" body to support open source software (OSS) in developing nations

Paragraph 14 of the June draft Plan of Actions stated:

Open-source/free software shall be adopted by all public authorities and bodies:

• Awareness of open-source/free software should be created, especially in the developing countries.
• Capacity in open-source/free software development should be built through the development of incubator funding, a knowledge warehouse of expertise in developing countries, development of regional and national open-source/free software portals, and by ensuring that technical experts in developing countries have full opportunity to participate in the development of open-source/free software.
• A "Programmers Without Frontiers" initiative, focused on open-source/free software as applied to development needs, should be launched and coordinated, under the auspices of the UN.
• A collaborative network of open-source/free software technology tools for civil society must be promoted.

OSS is also considered as one of the "common goods of mankind" by the prestigious think-tank Club of Rome (COR). It considers OSS an aid to advancing the productive use of ICT in developing countries, where proprietary software is particularly expensive in real terms.

In the latest draft however, the open-source endorsement was replaced with a more general recommendation under Paragraph 11:

"Encourage research and promote awareness among all stakeholders of the possibilities offered by different software models, and the means of their creation, including proprietary, open source and free software, in order to increase competition, freedom of choice and affordability, and to enable all stakeholders to evaluate which solution best meets their requirements."

According to observers at the Third Preparatory Committee Meeting (PrepCom 3), the changes were made after input from several nations uneasy with excluding mentions of proprietary software from the Plan, and from the business lobby's delegation, which came out strongly against open-source.

The Computer Business Review Online reported that U.S. and E.U. delegates were prominent among those asking that commercial software interests get a fair representation in the Plan, and that certain provisions should be deleted. Commercial interests also came out against the provisions.

The same report quoted a delegate from the business lobby who said, "Business has consistently stated that it is essential for governments to ensure technologically neutral policy towards different software models."

Sources: "Open Source Ardor Cools at WSIS" by Stephen Bell, extracted from Computerworld 09 October 2003 and posted on the WSIS CS-Plenary mailing list; "UN Summit Tones down Open-Source Stance" by Kevin Murphy as posted on Computer Business Review Online last 30 October 2003 at http://www.cbronline.com/cbr_archive/fe901320d97a56ee80256db10018cfbd