Karsten on Free Software

The IIM started almost on time, a rather unusual thing. After four new NGOs were accredited, the adoption of the report for the last meeting was on the agenda. While most corrections seemed fairly minor, Brasil (which, speaking for the Friends of Development, had said quite a lot) said they were going to present a full eleven pages of corrections, as they felt that the report seriously misrepresented the content of their statements.

Group B, mostly consisting of developed countries, in particular EU member states, has been trying to come up with a common position, but does not seem to have been overly successful. Asked if they had been able to formulate a common statement, one delegate said: “If you make it broad enough, everyone can agree.”

There is a new proposal from the African Group (.pdf, 150 KB). It explicitely supports the Friends of Development proposal an is not too bad overall. It has the customary bit about integrating development into all aspects of WIPO’s work. The statement re-emphasises some interesting points: It clearly states that rules on patents and copyright are tools for the greater good of society, not ends in themselves.

Another point, especially good since it hasn’t shown up too much yet, is that “knowledge has no bounds or confines, and has never had one single source”. The statement also calls for taking into account the UN’s Millenium Development Goals, which have until now not been much of a source of inspiration for WIPO’s work.

But there are some sore spots. The African Group wants national capability for patenting strengthened for local and traditional knowledge. This does not fit the nice words about greater sharing of knowledge said before, and is generally an unwise idea: Since the current patent system is biased against developing countries, they would not gain much from patenting traditional knowledge. They should rather aim for a reform of the system, which, by the way, is also causing considerable damages in developed countries.

Another weak aspect of the proposal is that it mentions things that really have no place in WIPO. It has a paragraph about stopping the “brain drain” from developing countries. While this is a laubdable aim, it does not really have a place in WIPO.

The problem is that this paragraph fits perfectly into the picture rich countries have about developing countries at WIPO: That those countries come in and demand unreasonable things. This is not helped by the fact that the African Group statement makes no mention of what governments of developing countries will themselves do to further development.

Even Brasil has asked what the proposal actually has to add to the topics already presented, although they of course very much appreciate the support for the Friends of Development proposal and the convergence with it.

The atmosphere is pretty professional and friendly so far. The shock that was palpable during the first and second IIM seems to have subsided considerably. Let’s see how this unfolds after lunch.