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The World Intellectual Property Organization is at a crossroads. The assembly in Geneva, currently in progress has highlighted the continued dysfunction of the organization. WIPO Director General, Dr. Kamil Idris, basically informed developing countries to join them or die. Not in so many words but the effects of going against the WIPO could be dire in the end. He continues by furthering the myth that intellectual property can benefit developing countries, which is a slap in their faces since many such nations are plagued by deceases that are only treatable by extremely costly and patented drugs that are therefore kept from them. I get so angry I could scream.
And they are SO VERY eager to “integrating IP rights issues into development policies” as they so eloquently put it. Meaning, there is a big risk they might be out of a job if developing countries are left to think for themselves. If worse comes to worst they might even collapse our (post-industrialized information based economies) entire system. No wonder the WIPO and big biz are quaking in their boots.
Whimsical as it is, they also bring up China and foreign direct investment (FDI). As if that says what about IP and WIPO? Ironically, China disregards IP (God bless them) as it pleases them and the reason that so many billions are invested there could just possibly be that labour is cheap. And they get big tax breaks from the Chinese government. Not even the fact that China has one of the worst human rights records in modern time seems to stop investments. Well put WIPO. Bottom line: People want to make money and you are helping them big time. Building a rigid framework, a cage if you will, to promote corporate ideals.
Not all member states agree and want to fasttrack the agenda though. Argentina and Brazil presented a proposal for establishing a “development agenda”, something that would slow things down and amend the current treaty.
WIPO’s Enforcement agenda should be changed, they say, and “Particular attention should be paid to the need to ensure that enforcement procedures are fair and equitable and do not lend themselves to abusive practices by right holders that may unduly restrain legitimate competition.”
At least that is a beginning of something just and sympathetic.
I wonder if certain nations, notably in South America, will be seeing surprise coups if they continue to go against the will of the big WIPO members and beneficiaries (such as the US). Remember Allende. Remember Chavéz. Governments have fallen for far less. And for certain countries, upholding a right over information is a matter of life or death. Without such international agreements, they fall as flat on their puffed up faces.
In the end, WIPO is an extension of the UN. And it will most likely go down the same road as the UN. The recipe is as follows: (A) The US is extremely active in the formation of the organization. (B) For a time and under liberal leadership, everything is fine. (C) As the US slips and is no longer able to control an organization that ultimately has dozens of other member states, they move into position to hinder the joint venture in order to extend their own agenda and obstruct for dissenters. (D) A special extension of the extension might form, like the Security Council in order to obstruct for the original extension or limit the countries that have to be convinced or simply choosing those that mostly agree with said nation and are in a similar position. (E) (D) might also backfire in the end as organizations evolve over time and the members face new challenges that they might not agree on. (F) If failure then invade, blockade, threaten and coup d’etat.
Am I digressing? I do not think so. Try to see the bigger picture.
Reference and hattip: Piratbyrån
