[Upd-discuss] UPD Proposals for the WIPO Development Agenda Meetings - April 13, 2005

[James Love]

This was delivered to WIPO on April 13, 2005, by Vera Franz

UPD Proposals for the WIPO Development Agenda Meetings - April 13, 2005

Mr. Chairman, congratulations on your election as chair. The Union for 
the Public Domain is an international organization that works for the 
protection of the public domain and access to knowledge.

Social and economic development is increasingly dependent on access to 
knowledge.  WIPO must have a more balanced work program that gives 
attention to the mechanisms that promote or expand access to knowledge.

1) WIPO should evaluate alternatives to monopolies on knowledge.

Granting monopoly rights over knowledge restricts freedom, imposes costs 
on consumers and presents barriers to follow-on innovation.  Knowledge 
monopolies should only be used sparingly by national governments—in 
cases where better means to stimulate creativity and innovation do not 
exist, and where human rights are respected.

In the last decade, models of open innovation such as the Internet 
Engineering Task Force, the World Wide Web consortium, free and open 
source software, the human genome project, and the open access 
publishing movement have proved to be useful and powerful tools to spur 
innovation and provide access to knowledge.  WIPO needs to understand 
and support such new business models.  WIPO should avoid policies, like 
software patents, that undermine these efforts.

  2) Exceptions and limitations must be utilized to promote development.

WIPO has played an instrumental role in explaining TRIPS obligations to 
developing countries. The WIPO secretariat should redouble its efforts 
to identify and explain flexibilities that exist under TRIPS for 
facilitating access to knowledge.

The Standing Committees on Patents and Copyrights should discuss the 
implementation of Article 40 of the TRIPS on the control of 
anti-competitive practices. WIPO should consider how developing 
countries can adopt per se rules that will encourage the transfer of 
knowledge and promote access to knowledge.

3) WIPO should evaluate the long run consequences of new technological 
measures that control access to knowledge.

Technological locks, such as "technological protection measures" and 
"digital rights management" are being used to override national 
copyright exceptions and limitations, increase the cost of access to 
knowledge, restrict competition and preclude the development and use of 
Free and Open Source Software.

The Standing Committee on Copyright should schedule on its agenda a 
discussion of how TPMs and DRMs affect consumer interests.

Finally, WIPO should develop a pro-active agenda to address growing 
problems concerning access to knowledge. The relevant standing 
committees, or a special committee, should consider possible elements 
for a proposed treaty on Access to Knowledge.