[Upd-discuss] Access to Knowledge Treaty

[Dean Anderson]

On Thu, 27 Jan 2005, Richard Stallman wrote:

>     I don't think putting all research under government control will solve the
>     problem.  I don't think merely removing publication control is quite
>     enough. The researchers are still vulnerable to retribution.
> 
> Those two statements seem to disagree, in spirit--a big change won't
> solve the problem, but a small change isn't quite enough.  However, I
> am not quite sure what putting research "under government control"
> means to you.

By 'putting research under government control', I mean having the
government tax (someone, ie drug companies, general fund, whoever) and
then fund the research directly.  This is probably a big change. Another
proposal, a small change, and likely more palatable, isn't going far
enough.

> What makes researchers at universities vulnerable to corporate
> retribution is corporate funding of university research.  

They would be employed by someone. Even researchers employed by the
government are vulnerable if the politics at their agency frowns on their
information.  AIDS is a good example. Cuba decided to educate generally
and provide condoms. It has the lowest AID infection rate, yet suffers as
much as other poor countries from sex tourism. The US (and many
first-world countries, and many 3rd world countries at the behest of the
"civilized"), thought it better to bury their collective heads and
unrealistically recommend abstinance.  AIDS isn't a unique case, the US is
increasingly moving towards suppressing science that contradicts policy.  
Worse, its hard to sue governments for abuses.

So, I think there should be a strong incentive to publish everything.

> I think this should be eliminated--governments should tax corporations
> more, and give the money to universities for research, as in the past.  
> However, I am not sure whether that fits in a treaty about "access to
> knowledge". 

I agree. 



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