NGO statements make jaws drop
The debate this morning was about points two and three of the list of proposals: The establishment of a standing committee on “Intellectual Property” and technology transfer; and a treaty on Access to Knowledge. These points being a bit more conflictive than the points discussed yesterday, this sparked an unusually vocal controversy between Brazil and the US.
With view to the “let’s leave everything as it is” US proposal of this morning (see last entry), the Brasilian delegate said: “I get the impression that the United States totally reject anything that regards development.”
This being largely true, the US delegate had no remedy but to bring up that glorious database idea again: Establish a website where people from developing countries can go begging to be thrown a few crumbs by the rightsholders. Oh, I shouldn’t call it a “website” anymore. The US consider that term derogatory.
Around the lunch break, NGOs got their speaking slot. When Georg delivered a statement on behalf of the global Civil Society Patents, Copyrights and Trademarks working group formed at the UN World Summit on the Information Society in 2003, a few jaws dropped. Not a miracle when, in the holy halls of WIPO, sentences like this are pronounced:
“Patents, copyrights and trademarks are designed to limit access and knowledge sharing. If applied wisely and with measure, they can foster creativity and innovation. If applied carelessly, they can kill both along with their potential benefit for society: progress. This holds true for any nation in this world, rich or poor, north or south.”
Being this clear is not quite customary here. It was especially good fun as he got to speak right after the Business Software Alliance, which is representing the giants of the software industry. Their delegate turned progressively more red in the face, got up and left the room and the building. Are big companies and their lobbyists so easily scared?
Ten other NGO statements have been put off until tomorrow morning.
For a concise overview of what’s been happening here, you might also want to check the new stories by IP-Watch.
As for the rumours department: During the afternoon, there might be a new paper from the EU. I don’t know if this will take the shape of a proposal or some sort of advising paper, and much less what it will contain. But during the coffee break right now, the EU is having a meeting in a side room. I’m curious what they will be cooking up. We will see that when the meeting continues after the coffee break.