[IP] WSIS, WIPO Meetings Highlight Growing Digital Policy Divide
Begin forwarded message:
From: Michael Geist <mgeist@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: September 20, 2005 12:26:27 AM EDT
To: dave@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: WSIS, WIPO Meetings Highlight Growing Digital Policy Divide
Dave,
Of possible interest to IP -- my weekly Law Bytes column (posted
below) focuses on the WSIS and WIPO meetings in Geneva over the next
two weeks. While the meetings are distinct, both reflect the
developing world's increasing frustration with global rules that have
an enormous impact on technological development everywhere yet were
crafted primarily with the developed world in mind. With the
importance of the Internet and new technologies readily apparent to
all, those countries are clearly no longer content to sit on the
sidelines as their interests go unrepresented.
Toronto Star version at
<http://geistinternetforkinroad.notlong.com>
Freely available hyperlinked version at
<http://www.michaelgeist.ca/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=960>
MG
WSIS, WIPO Meetings Highlight Growing Digital Policy Divide
The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and World
Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), which focus on global
policy and standard setting for telecommunications, patents,
copyrights, and trademarks, are situated directly across from each
other on a Geneva street in the heart of the United Nations district
of the city. As visitors leave the buildings, the road that
separates the two agencies forks in several directions.
Over the next two weeks, the ITU and WIPO will serve as ground zero
for intense discussions on the future of policies that will greatly
impact on the Internet. Negotiators at both meetings will also face
a fork in the road. Pressure is mounting to turn in a new direction,
away from a U.S.-centric approach toward one that better addresses
the technological needs of the developing world.
Starting today, the ITU will host a two-week preparatory conference
on the World Summit on the Information Society. While the summit
itself is scheduled for mid-November in Tunisia, this preparatory
conference is tasked with laying the groundwork for a global
agreement on Internet governance issues.
Although most Internet users pay scant attention to Internet
governance issues, in recent years there has been growing
dissatisfaction with the current system under which the United States
retains ultimate control over the Internet's core technical functions.
There are several reasons for this dissatisfaction. First, the
importance of the policy issues associated with Internet governance
has become increasingly clear. Many experts engaged in Internet
policy are unhappy with how key issues, including privacy protection
for domain name owners, the free speech implications of domain name
dispute resolution, and the failure to introduce internationalized
domain names that would allow Internet users to create domains in
their local language, are being addressed.
Second, many observers are frustrated by the lack of transparency
associated with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and
Numbers (ICANN), a California non-profit corporation mandated by the
U.S. government to lead the Internet governance issue. Critics argue
that ICANN's decision-making lacks transparency, that it has ignored
commitments to incorporate Internet users into its board governance
structure, and that it has bungled crucial issues such as the
development of new domain name extensions.
Third, and most important, much of the world is no longer comfortable
with surrendering defacto control over the domain name system to the
U.S. government. That discomfort has led to proposals to
internationalize ICANN or to alternatively strip away from its
mandate those activities that have a direct impact on national
sovereignty.
Although the U.S. has thus far indicated that it is unwilling to
yield control to an international body, negotiators will be seeking a
compromise to foster ongoing dialogue that may eventually lead to a
framework that better addresses the interests of the global community.
Across the street, WIPO will be hosting its annual general assembly,
a gathering that charts a course for the future work of the
organization.
The WIPO Development Agenda, introduced by Brazil and Argentina last
fall to focus on developing country concerns, will take centre
stage. Over the past year, the Development Agenda quickly gained
momentum, garnering support from developing countries throughout
South America, Asia, and Africa. Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel Prize
winning economist, recently confirmed the developing world's
concerns, concluding that "intellectual property is important, but
the appropriate intellectual property regime for a developing country
is different from that for an advanced industrial country."
Last year's approval of the WIPO Development Agenda set in motion two
sets of activities. First, civil society groups began work on an
Access to Knowledge Treaty, which could include provisions on access
to medicines and globally funded research, open access to scholarly
research, as well as exceptions to patent and copyright laws that
serve the interests of the developing world.
Meanwhile, WIPO hosted several meetings to decide whether to continue
the Development Agenda. After much discussion, the European Union
voiced its agreement with the concerns of the developing world, and
recommended continuing the agenda as a standalone project. The
primary opponent was the United States, which, with support from
Japan, argued that existing technical initiatives are sufficient to
meet the developing world's needs.
While the ITU and WIPO meetings are distinct, both reflect the
developing world's increasing frustration with global rules that have
an enormous impact on technological development everywhere yet were
crafted primarily with the developed world in mind. With the
importance of the Internet and new technologies readily apparent to
all, those countries are clearly no longer content to sit on the
sidelines as their interests go unrepresented.
Moreover, the two events have unfortunately reduced Canada's role to
that of a bit player on the global Internet stage. Despite Prime
Minister Paul Martin's repeated commitments to the developing world,
Canada has quietly backed the United States on both the Internet
governance and WIPO Development Agenda issues.
That position puts Ottawa at odds with the developing world and fails
to recognize that the national interest lies with a globalized
approach that benefits countries both the rich and poor. ITU and
WIPO negotiators may be facing a fork in the policy road over the
next two weeks, but Canada sadly appears to be unsure of which
direction to turn.
--
**********************************************************************
Professor Michael A. Geist
Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law
University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law
57 Louis Pasteur St., Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 6N5
Tel: 613-562-5800, x3319 Fax: 613-562-5124
mgeist@xxxxxxxxx http://www.michaelgeist.ca
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