[bestbits] [governance] Call for Participation: Global Congress on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest, 2015

David Cake dave at difference.com.au
Tue May 19 06:05:24 EDT 2015 

My first reaction is that this seems to be a category error. A multi stakeholder perspective is a description of how a workshop should be constructed, and public interest a description of its content. One does not substitute for the other because they aren't the same thing. Just as you couldn't claim a workshop was civil society only if it was filled with commercial operators talking about their NGO customers. Structure and composition of a workshop are different. And frankly, Parminder, I'd be surprised if you couldn't put together a multi-stakeholder workshop comprised entirely of sceptics of multistakeholderism, which to my mind would incorporate a 'multistakeholder perspective'.

That said, I'm going to agree with Peng Hwa that 'public interest' is a problematic term. The IP lobby are just one example of a group who, with some skill and apparent sincerity, will strongly argue that advancing the relative power of their narrow set of interests is also in the public interest (the public surely wants to combat the various evils strengthened by counterfeiting, they say). Governments always justify calls for increased censorship and surveillance on public interest grounds (the public must be protected from terrorism, drug smuggling, and immorality). And you'd probably be quite appalled if you saw the uses to which the concept has been put within ICANN, such as 'Public Interest Commitments' taken on by many new GTLDs that commit them to lobbyist led expansion of the rights of large trademark holders. Almost every serious lobby group can manage the necessary mental gymnastics to argue that they act in the public interest, and claiming to act in the public interest is the go to strategy if you want to justify overruling a community or consensus policy to favour your lobby group. 

This isn't to say that a prolonged look at the issue of the public interest - some serious examination of what relatively object ways we have to determine it, or what processes lead to a relatively consensus understanding of we determine public interest, wouldn't be very valuable. A global process that looked at this idea would be great. I think the current situation, where the concept is used to justify all sorts of policies but is defined loosely or informally, is very problematic. In this respect I agree with Parminder that it merits much deeper discussion.

But thinking of public interest as in some way opposed to, or distinct from, multistakeholderism is a misguided position that is only going to lead to a shallow and disappointing discussion. 

Regards 

David

Sent from my iPad

> On 17 May 2015, at 3:46 pm, parminder <parminder at itforchange.net> wrote:
> 
> Interesting theme of this series of global congresses: 'Intellectual Property and the Public Interest' !
> 
> Wonder if you ever thought of calling it "IP and the multistakeholder Interest' ?
> 
> You all have have seen the discussion I recently had with Peng Hwa, head of the AP regional IGF process for many years, who strongly argued that public interest perspective is a very unclear concept but multistakeholder perspective or interest is much easier to establish.
> 
> The discussion started when I objected to the call for workshops for the AP regional IGF which was categorical that every workshop proposal must incorporate a 'multistakeholder perspective'. I suggested that it be replaced by 'public interest'. This suggestion was not accepted.  So, in fact, indeed the dominant groups involved with the IGF process do seem to think that 'public interest' is a problematic concept, and the idea of 'multistakeholder perspective' or interest is a positive political evolution over it!
> 
> Friends, these are serious post-democratic developments to which, it is my duty of observe, most of the civil society involved in IG area are either a silent or active accomplices. 
> 
> Meanwhile, of course, I wait for arguments that Internet ( unlike intellectual property!?) is a bottom up , private, etc etc, thing, and therefore its governance has to be different....  Well, lets admit it, such an arugment really does not hold unless we are intent to be misled by it - the social artefact of the Internet is no more bottom up, private, etc that the social relationships of trade and property, whose governance continue to be done in democratic fashions... Time we claimed democratic governance for the Internet as well, and rubbish the post-democratic multistakeholderist ideas that are so solidly taking root in this space, for which the IG civil society will have to answer to history. 
> 
> Would anyone agree that the proposed global congress on IP and public interest to be held in a 'multistakeholder' way, with equal space for the big IP holders, as one always insists for an IG meeting... What really is the difference, other than that the discourse in the IG space has been captured by powerful forces before public interest actors could assert themselves. Civil society in this area must help in re-democraticing this area, and reclaiming 'public interest'.
> 
> Meanwhile, my best wishes to the the organisers of this very importanr congress.
> 
> In fact some of us have been talking about holding a global congress on 'Internet governance and public interest'. Happy to talk to those who may be interested.
> 
> parminder 
> 
>> On Friday 15 May 2015 03:21 PM, Geetha Hariharan wrote:
>> PFA the call for participation for the Global Congress on Intellectual
>> Property and Public Interest.
>> 
>> Apologies for cross-posting. Please do circulate to anyone you think
>> might be interested.
>> 
>> Best,
>> Geetha.
>> 
>> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
>> From: Swaraj Barooah
>> Date: Wed, May 13, 2015 at 1:05 PM
>> Subject: Call for Participation: Global Congress on Intellectual
>> Property and the Public Interest, 2015
>> 
>> Dear all,
>> 
>> We are pleased to announce the call for participation for the fourth
>> edition of the Global Congress on Intellectual Property and the Public
>> Interest (“Global Congress”). The theme for this year’s Congress will be
>> “Three Decades of Openness; Two Decades of TRIPS.” We are now inviting
>> applications to participate in the Congress, including session
>> participation and presentations. We are also welcoming proposals for
>> panels and workshops.
>> 
>> The application form is available now at
>> [http://form.jotformpro.com/form/50854976184973?] Please note that this
>> form is for application purposes, and does not amount to confirmation of
>> participation. The registrations for the plenary sessions, which are
>> open to the public, will open closer to the date of the Global Congress.
>> 
>> Deadlines
>> 
>> August 1st: Priority Deadline for Applications- Applicants will be
>> considered on a rolling basis, with applications made by August 1st
>> being given first consideration. Applications after August 1st to
>> receive travel assistance will be considered only under exceptional
>> circumstances (these details will be collected in a subsequent form).
>> 
>> November 1st: All applications for session participation and paper
>> submissions will close on November 1st.
>> 
>> Application Information
>> 
>> For applications to participate/host: Applications to present or host
>> workshops shall be considered based on the proposals to be submitted in
>> the form.
>> 
>> For applications to attend sessions:Applications to attend sessions as
>> discussants will be considered based on the statement of purpose and/or
>> any other relevant information provided by the applicant.
>> 
>> Limited travel grants to cover accommodation and/or travel to the
>> Congress will be available, with priority to those from developing
>> countries.
>> 
>> Background, Theme and Expected Outcomes
>> 
>> The Global Congress on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest is
>> the most significant event on the calendar for scholars and policy
>> advocates working on intellectual property from a public interest
>> perspective. By sharing their research and strategies, the network of
>> experts and activists supported by the Global Congress are empowered to
>> put forward a positive agenda for policy reform. The Global Congress
>> began in Washington D.C. in 2011, moved to Rio de Janeiro in 2012, and
>> was held in Cape Town in 2013. The fourth Global Congress will now be
>> held in New Delhi, in December 2015. The event would be the largest
>> convening of public interest-oriented intellectual property
>> practitioners ever held in Asia, and would help link in the world's most
>> populous region to these global debates around how intellectual property
>> policy can best serve the public interest.
>> 
>> The fourth edition of the Global Congress, which brings research, civil
>> society, industry and regulatory and policy-making communities together
>> for active, intense engagement on key public-interest intellectual
>> property issues. Opportunities for these groups to interact are rare but
>> valuable; and have been proven to lead to successful policy outcomes.
>> The 4thedition of the Congress, slated to be held in December, 2015 in
>> New Delhi seeks to be one such opportunity.
>> 
>> The theme for the 2015 Congress is Three Decades of Openness; Two
>> Decades of TRIPS-coming at a pivotal time for reflection, revision, and
>> further strategizing. Specifically, the 2015 Congress seeks to produce
>> three outcomes- first, the mobilization of existing scholarly research
>> directly into the hands of civil society advocates, business leaders and
>> policy makers, leading to evidence-based policies and practices;
>> second,the collaborative identification of urgent, global and local
>> research priorities and generation of a joint research/advocacy agenda;
>> and third, the solidification of an inter-disciplinary, cross-sector and
>> global networked community of experts focused on public interest aspects
>> of IP policy and practice.
>> 
>> Participation Opportunities
>> 
>> Discussions at the Global Congress will be carried out in the form of
>> plenary sessions, thematic tracks, cross-track sessions, and the room of
>> scholars. Participation is invited for the thematic track sessions,
>> cross-track sessions and the room of scholars.
>> 
>> The thematic tracks at the Global Congress are: 1) Openness, 2) Access
>> to Medicines, 3) User Rights, 4) IP and Development.
>> 
>> Cross-track sessions will feature research that cuts across tracks in
>> order to facilitate engagement between tracks on themes of mutual
>> interest.
>> 
>> The Room of Scholars will feature presentations of research outputs such
>> as draft works or white papers that may not fit directly within the
>> thematic tracks but fall within the overall theme of the Global Congress
>> .
>> 
>> Participation could be in the form of presenting / discussing conference
>> papers or policy briefs, or by conducting workshops where they may share
>> their own work and solicit feedback from peers, during the
>> aforementioned sessions.
>> 
>> The application form for participation is available now
>> athttp://form.jotformpro.com/form/50854976184973?. Please forward this
>> invitation to interested lists and individuals. For more information or
>> questions, you may contact globalcongress2015 at gmail.com
>> <mailto:globalcongress2015 at gmail.com>.
>> 
>> Organisation
>> 
>> The Centre for Internet and Society <http://cis-india.org/>serves as the
>> convenor of the fourth Global Congress on Intellectual Property and
>> Public Interest, carried out in cooperation withNational Law University,
>> Delhi <http://www.nludelhi.ac.in/>.
>> 
>> The implementing partners arethe <http://www.openair.org.za/>American
>> Assembly <http://americanassembly.org/>at Columbia University in New
>> York,Open A.I.R <http://www.openair.org.za/>., and theProgram on
>> Information Justice and Intellectual Property <http://www.pijip.org/>at
>> American University Washington College of Law in Washington DC.
>> 
>> 
>> On behalf of the organizing committee,
>> 
>> Swaraj Barooah
>> 
>> Swaraj Paul Barooah
>> Project Manager, "Global Congress"
>> (Global Congress on IP and the Public Interest, 2015)
>> 
>> Editor-in-Chief, SpicyIP.com <http://SpicyIP.com>
>> Founder, Know-GAP
>> Twitter: @swarajpb
> >
> 
>       >
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