Technology law education effort underway to help developing world deal with IP

A bric-a-brac approach to cyberlaw-making in developing countries has prompted a Canadian academic to launch a new group dedicated to providing impartial advice on drafting the most advantageous Internet laws. Michael Geist, a well-known professor of Internet law at the University of Ottawa, has launched the Technology Law and World Economic Development Project to respond to the training needs of academics, jurists and policy-makers in the third world in the fields of ecommerce, privacy, Internet governance and intellectual property (IP) laws. Geist says the group was proposed by him and others at a recent United Nations (UN)-sponsored conference on ecommerce law harmonization that was held in Thailand. At the conference, which atypically saw participation from many of the least developed nations in the region – Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Bhutan and The Maldives, for instance – Geist noticed some disturbing aspects. " barely have telephone connectivity at this stage, much less ecommerce. And, after three days of discussions there, I found it incredibly troubling that you had sort of for-hire consultants scaring countries that simply don’t know any better about the vital need for ecommerce legislation or strong intellectual property rights – much of which is not necessarily in those countries’ best interests at all. We also had a significant IP presentation, this one coming from Europe and not the United States, extolling the virtues of database legislation and business method patents and WIPO treaties. This is going to countries whose basic needs are nowhere near there. They really need to focus on a range of other things when it comes to intellectual property – traditional knowledge and the like. I think the debate is very much open as to whether or not there is real value for many of those countries in adopting aggressive, highly-protectionist IP regimes." As a result, he is currently sounding out academics around the world about providing their expertise on a pro bono basis, under the U.N. banner. Replies are coming in from around the world, he says, as the need becomes clear for the group’s work. While Geist says the opportunities are great for the developing world to take advantage of Internet technologies to improve their fortunes, there is also a danger in adopting more restrictive laws on information that characterize many developed nations. "Many of these jurisdictions are at such an early stage of development that some would argue what they need is some of the tools to be able to start learning and start gearing up for some of the benefits that are provided by IT. Take database legislation as an example. We haven’t even decided that we need database legislation, and I think the jury is very much out. Providing effective protection for information on facts in a jurisdiction where they’re just at the earliest stages of trying to ensure that information is proliferated throughout their society is a dangerous step to take." Yet, he says, many third-world countries are being influenced to adopt developed-country style law. "It’s rather amazing, actually. You talk to countries like Myanmar, which has US$125 per person GDP, yet they have a draft cyberlaw. Bhutan, which up until two years ago didn’t have email within some of their ministries and has two phones for every 100 people, has a draft cyberlaw. The message that has been going out to many of these jurisdictions is that one of the things that they need critically, in fact, is a draft cyberlaw. There’s a reference in my (July 19) Star column to one of the presentations on Cambodia where they talk about their problems, and they reference low literacy and poverty. But their greatest challenge, they say, is the absence of an ecommerce law. Part of this is to try to provide some perspective to many of these jurisdictions. Clearly the law is not going to solve every issue." Once a roster of volunteers has been formed from the replies Geist has been getting, he says, he will begin applying for funding from groups such as the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) to cover travel costs for the group, and begin looking at how the group can work within or complement ongoing development work under the U.N. or other banners.

Technology law education effort underway to help developing world deal with IP

Broadcast | July 23, 2004

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