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

Sun May 17 11:13:57 EDT 2015

>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!

What a curious (mis)reading.

First of all, I do not see how the APrIGF can be representative of “dominant groups”. We are, at best/worst an n of 1. Nah, I would not want to be one of the MASTERS of the UNIVERSE.

Second, it is precisely because public interest is a problematic concept that the APrIGF is not using that notion. We have no time to discuss it before we roll out the meeting. Everyone knows what multistakeholder is. That’s easy. But public interest—we could discuss it as a panel if you wish.

It would of course have to be next year.

But if I say that it is next year, it is because of the deadline. Not because, once again, that public interest is not a problematic conception.

Regards,
Peng Hwa

From: Parminder Singh <parminder at ITforChange.net<mailto:parminder at ITforChange.net>>
Reply-To: "governance at lists.igcaucus.org<mailto:governance at lists.igcaucus.org>" <governance at lists.igcaucus.org<mailto:governance at lists.igcaucus.org>>, Parminder Singh <parminder at ITforChange.net<mailto:parminder at ITforChange.net>>
Date: Sunday, 17 May 2015 9:46 pm
To: "governance at lists.igcaucus.org<mailto:governance at lists.igcaucus.org>" <governance at lists.igcaucus.org<mailto:governance at lists.igcaucus.org>>, BestBitsList <bestbits at lists.bestbits.net<mailto:bestbits at lists.bestbits.net>>, "Forum at Justnetcoalition. Org" <forum at justnetcoalition.org<mailto:forum at justnetcoalition.org>>
Subject: Re: [governance] Call for Participation: Global Congress on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest, 2015

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>
<mailto:globalcongress2015 at gmail.com><mailto:globalcongress2015 at gmail.com>.

Organisation

The Centre for Internet and Society <http://cis-india.org/><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/><http://www.nludelhi.ac.in/>.

The implementing partners arethe <http://www.openair.org.za/><http://www.openair.org.za/>American
Assembly <http://americanassembly.org/><http://americanassembly.org/>at Columbia University in New
York,Open A.I.R <http://www.openair.org.za/><http://www.openair.org.za/>., and theProgram on
Information Justice and Intellectual Property <http://www.pijip.org/><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><http://SpicyIP.com>
Founder, Know-GAP
Twitter: @swarajpb

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