Putting the brakes on intellectual property rights

[bemildred]

While advanced countries and their companies are pushing hard for the strengthening of intellectual property rights (IPRs) around the globe, there is now a strong movement among the governments of developing countries, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and academia to counter this trend. At the recent general assembly of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva, a groundbreaking move was made when Brazil and Argentina submitted a joint proposal calling for the establishment of a "Development Agenda" for WIPO.

The proposal, which was co-sponsored by Bolivia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Iran, Kenya, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania and Venezuela, was discussed extensively by the assembly and adopted on October 4. These countries argued that the levels of IPR protection should be commensurate with the level of their development and that the present one-size-fits-all approach is detrimental to many poorer countries. India, though not a co-sponsor, backed the proposal by issuing a separate statement to that effect.

This is seen as an important milestone because WIPO, a United Nations body since 1974, is often accused of caring more for the rights of intellectual property owners than users, especially those in developing countries. It also acts as a counterbalance to aggressive moves over the years by advanced countries, led especially by the US, to force other countries to implement strict IPR regulations.

Since most of the world's patents and copyrights are held by companies in advanced countries, these entities have put enormous pressure on their governments to force other countries to strengthen IPR protection. This is done through various channels, either through the multilateral process under the World Trade Organization (WTO), with its retaliatory mechanism, or through bilateral means via free-trade agreements (FTAs). Since Asia is known for its copyright and trademark violations, it is not surprising that intellectual property protection is part and parcel of the US's FTAs with both Singapore and Thailand.

Asia Times

[el_gato]

1. Just think if Newton or Leibnitz had copyrighted Calculus

or Einstein copyrighted GTOR.

[Solon]

2. Think of what the Internet would be today...

If the guy who invented HTML at CERN patented it. Or how about the guy who invented E-Mail as well. It would be MUCH smaller today, and they would have been very rich, without us talking as easily to each other today.

[Massacure]

3. So now they want to put organizations like the RIAA on steroids?