A2K3: Examining Access to Knowledge, international trade, and development
The last several years have witnessed the coalescing of the Access to Knowledge (A2K) social movement that champions human rights, human development, and the public interest as the focal points of innovation and information policy. A2K is essential for promoting human rights, economic and cultural development, innovation, individual freedom, and creativity.
It is in this [...]
The world’s poor need Doha, says the World Bank
The world’s poor need a successful conclusion to the WTO Doha Round, said the World Bank president, Robert Zoellick on 18 August.
Addressing the stalled Round, Zoellick drew his attention to the most vulnerable populations who are expected to be hit the hardest by a failure to conclude a deal on Doha. “Given the high [...]
Colombian health organizations seek generic AIDS drug
Access to essential life saving drugs and the role of IPRs and compulsory licensing were among the main issues addressed during the Seventeenth International Aids Conference, held in Mexico City from 3-8 August 2008.
A recent proposal by Colombian public health and HIV/AIDS organizations to facilitate access to crucial HIV/AIDS treatment by filing requests with the [...]
Aftermath of the collapse
Following the collapse of trade talks during the end-July WTO mini-ministerial meeting in Geneva, international negotiators are contemplating what went wrong and what the next steps—if any—may be for the Doha Round. Here, the BBC World News offers a brief overview from key players on the important issues that did not make it to the [...]
Post-mortem for the Geneva Mini-Ministerial: Where does TRIPS go from here?
Disagreement over TRIPS issues did not cause the “collapse” on July 29, 2008 of the Mini-Ministerial talks at the WTO. Because the talks floundered for other reasons, there is not much known about what “might have happened” on the TRIPS front had typical pressures associated with reaching a conclusion been brought to bear. Here, Frederick [...]