[governance] Global trade in medicines - we have a new regulator

[parminder]

This is my question to all ICANN-ist here, that great multistakeholder 
body supposed to be representing the global interest.

Why should the question of who is a legitimate actor for online medicine 
trade be decided by the US pharma industry, the most despised actor 
among public health practitioners and actors for trying to maintain 
unaffordably high prices for medicines the world over, and suppressing 
manufacture and trade of the much much cheaper generic dyrugs (in which, 
India is incidently a big players).

Why should ICANN become a lever in the hands of big pharma?

Why cannot for instance WHO manage .pharmacy?

Social activists from developing countries protest this outrage. Such 
things cannot be allowed.

parminder



On Monday 21 July 2014 08:50 PM, parminder wrote:
>
>
>     US pharma industry takes up new levers to control global trade in
>     medicines. (Dont be surprised if sale generic drugs is suppressed
>     and medicine price soars). parminder
>
>
>
>     http://www.ip-watch.org/2014/07/21/can-the-dot-pharmacy-new-generic-domain-name-be-impartial/?utm_source=IP-Watch+Subscribers&utm_campaign=f51d53bf4b-DAILY_SUMMARY&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b78685696b-f51d53bf4b-352131825
>
>
>
>     Can The Dot Pharmacy New Generic Domain Be Impartial?
>
> By Catherine Saez <http://www.ip-watch.org/author/catherine/> and 
> William New <http://www.ip-watch.org/author/william/>, Intellectual 
> Property Watch
>
> New generic top-level domain names seem set to be a constant source of 
> discussions and dissension. The domain “.pharmacy” has been awarded to 
> a United States pharmacy association with industry backing, stirring 
> concerns among civil society and others. But the association insists 
> it will work in an impartial manner to ensure safety of online 
> pharmaceutical sales.
>
> The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) announced in 
> June that the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers 
> (ICANN) decided upon NABP becoming the registry operator of the new 
> “.pharmacy” domain.
>
> This “will soon provide a means for identifying safe online pharmacies 
> and resources,” according to NABP 
> <https://www.nabp.net/news/nabp-executes-registry-agreement-with-icann-for-pharmacy-domain--2>, 
> which adds that under the agreement with ICANN, the new generic 
> top-level domain (gTLD) “will be available only to legitimate online 
> pharmacies and related entities located in the United States or other 
> countries.”
>
> The pharmacy gTLD is expected to be launched by NABP by autumn 2014.
>
> However, according to Gabriel Levitt, vice-president of the company 
> PharmacyChecker.com <https://www.pharmacychecker.com/>, the main 
> funders of the NABP application are Eli Lily, Merck and Pfizer, as 
> shown on NABP “coalition support 
> <https://www.nabp.net/programs/pharmacy/pharmacy-and-nabp/coalition-support>” 
> web page.
>
> The NABP application for the .pharmacy domain has been challenged in 
> the past at ICANN by several groups, such as Public Citizen 
> <https://gtldcomment.icann.org/comments-feedback/applicationcomment/commentdetails/12145>, 
> Knowledge Ecology International 
> <https://gtldcomment.icann.org/comments-feedback/applicationcomment/commentdetails/12168>, 
> and the Canadian International Pharmacy Association 
> <https://gtldcomment.icann.org/comments-feedback/applicationcomment/commentdetails/12174>.
>
> According to Levitt, NABP “is apparently going much further than just 
> creating rules for online pharmacies” as it “will also decide which 
> companies, advocacy groups and other entities – such as those 
> advocating policies to expand access to affordable medications – can 
> obtain the .pharmacy domain ending,” he said.
>
> “NABP will become a global ICANN registry, dominated by an American 
> pharmacy board association, funded by the big three drug companies,” 
> he alleged.
>
> In a response 
> <http://newgtlds.icann.org/sites/default/files/applicants/23may13/gac-advice-response-1-1040-55064-en.pdf> 
> [pdf] to the ICANN Government Advisory Committee (GAC), the NABP 
> sought to settle concerns, arguing that it is “an impartial 
> professional organization that supports the state boards of pharmacy 
> in creating uniform regulations to protect public health,” and that it 
> will work through an advisory committee with members of the pharmacy 
> community to develop standards of operation for all domain registrants.
>
> The vast majority of websites currently selling pharmaceuticals online 
> are doing so illegally, the response states.
>
> “NABP plans to operate .PHARMACY in line with [its] core mission of 
> promoting public health and patient safety,” and will operate it using 
> a “tightly controlled registration policy” restricting second-level 
> registrations to the domain to licensed pharmacies and “prescription 
> drug-related entities that are in good standing and in compliance with 
> all applicable laws in the jurisdictions in which they dispense, ship 
> or sell medications and that agree to conduct business according to 
> all standards of operation.”
>
>

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