The Harris/Excite poll, one more time

[James Love <love@cptech.org>]

End of day vote on Harris/Excite Poll.  


I checked today and looked at the end of day results 
from yesterday's (April 12) poll regarding
compulsory licensing.  When I checked, 11,580 persons 
voted, with 5,363 voting yes, 3,424 voting no and
2,793 unsure.

As is always the case with these polls, the wording the
questions makes a big difference.  It would appear as 
though the Harris organization framed the questions.

The phrase, "should the US permit compulsory licensing" 
is an indication of the mindset in the USA.  It seems 
natural even to the people doing the poll that this is
a decision for the USA to make for the whole world.

I would have suggested something like, "should the U.S. 
bring trade sanctions against developing countries that 
use compulsory licensing to manufacture cheaper AIDS drugs?"  
Or something that more closely reflected the nature
of US policy on this issue.

In any case, this is useful, because we can show the 
Clinton/Gore administration that there is no consensus 
in favor of the U.S. government's policy, and even though
these internet polls are not based upon good sampling criteria, 
the fact that more than 5,000 persons voted to reject
US policy, and few defended it, is useful.   

   Jamie Love <love@cptech.org

<-----------poll results as of morning April 13-------------->

Should the U.S. permit
compulsory licensing to
developing countries so that
those countries have access to
cheaper AIDS drugs?


Yes - Compulsory licenses would help poor
countries gain access to AIDS drugs and
slow the spread of AIDS.

46%  =>  5363 votes


No ­ Pharmaceutical companies maintain
patents on AIDS drugs and require a certain
level of profit to finance millions in research.

29%  =>  3424 votes


Unsure ­ All countries deserve equal access
to AIDS drugs, but compulsory licensing may
discourage pharmaceutical companies from
developing new drugs.

25%  =>  2793 votes



     Current Vote Tally: 11580




-- 
James Love, Director, Consumer Project on Technology
I can be reached at love@cptech.org, by telephone 202.387.8030,
by fax at 202.234.5176. CPT web page is http://www.cptech.org