The Armchair Politician

As a few of you know, I’ve been active in the Model UN program at Kennesaw State. In a few weeks, we’ll be heading to New York to participate in the National Model United Nations simulation. This year, we’ll be representing Poland in roughly thirteen committees. I got lucky and landed on the World Intellectual Property Committee, which, coincidentally, specialized in intellectual property (IP) concerns. As an even larger number of you know, I love to debate current IP policy, including copyrights and patent protection. For the simluation, we’re required to type up a paper stating our country’s position on the three topics assigned. I’ve posted it below, so let me know what you folks think.

Primarily, our paper focuses on the modern challenges of IP protection (the second topic). However, if anyone has information regarding the first (Patent Protection and Phamaceuticals) or third (Traditional Knowledge and Folklore Protection) topics, I would be so appreciative it would be obnoxious. Especially for the third topic, as it was broadly defined, and difficult to research.

Position Paper for the World Intellectual Property Organization

The handling, acknowledgment, and enforcement of copyright on an international scale is an issue of great importance to the Republic of Poland. As part of our efforts to better integrate our economy with those of both the European Union and the United States, we have taken great pride in our participation in the World Intellectual Property Organization, and the efforts within to help stabilize and unify international intellectual property protection. Although we struggle with significant piracy, it is our sincerest wish that cooperation on a global scale will result in a worldwide decline of such theft, and will assist all participating states in successfully combating it.

I. Patent Protection and Access to Pharmaceuticals

As a state currently fighting significant poverty within our own borders,
the Republic of Poland strongly understands the need for providing modern healthcare facilities and pharmaceutical products to impoverished populations. We have firmly stood by the belief that a person’s economic status should not impede their ability to acquire basic healthcare needs. As a part of this, we recognize the fact that patent protections on pharmaceuticals in many cases increase the costs of healthcare beyond a reasonable limit for many of the world’s poor by preventing cheaper generic brands from being manufactured.

However, we also acknowledge the right of pharmaceutical companies to recoup their research and development investments, as well as the intellectual property protection guaranteed for their efforts through international treaties such as the TRIPS agreement.

Poland believes that a mutually beneficial agreement can be reached between the two parties. One possible solution is the encouragement of international pharmaceutical companies to license production of their medications to impoverished nations at a discount. This would have the benefit of returning profits to companies from states which otherwise might not be able to afford large amounts of newer medicines. The obvious asset to the states would be the ability to produce medicines at cost within their own borders.

II. Contemporary Challenges of International Intellectual Property Laws and Practices

Many of the greatest international concerns with respect to the protection of Intellectual Property (IP) involve the lack of synergy exhibited between states. In many states, IP is enforced with extreme vigilance, but these attempts are undermined when that property enters a country which has less stringent protective policies. In a situation repeated frequently with the United States of America, digital media released domestically is then later exported into states where pirates freely redistribute it without paying royalties or other fees to the original owner. Unfortunately, pirates in these less stringent countries are able to operate without fear of being apprehended.

This poses a threat not only to export sales, but also to the domestic enforcement of property rights. Due to decentralized distribution mechanisms on the Internet, a pirate in one country can allow protected data to be transferred to individuals in the country where it was originally released. Because of this, law enforcement officials can only attempt to stop individuals who accept the transfer. Since the distributor, the person who arguably causes the most damage and is therefore the most culpable, is in a separate nation, he or she is beyond the reach of domestic authorities.

These complications occur in part because of the current lack of harmony between states’ patent and copyright protections, the disparity between domestic levels of enforcement, and the dearth of cooperation between states with regard to apprehending and punishing pirates. Only by increasing the scope of international conjoinance can we begin to successfully deter theft of Intellectual Property.

However, certain considerations must be realized before we can hope to achieve this goal. A current trend of many states is to attack the distribution methods of illegal content rather than confront the distributors themselves. This worked well against centralized distribution systems, Napster as a prime example, but it will be far harder to fight entirely decentralized methods of circulation, such as the Gnutella protocol. Involved parties must realize that there is only a certain extent to which legislation can go to stem the tide of this theft. Recent examples have shown that legal distribution of content over the Internet and other new mediums can work, but many industries have been reluctant to adopt these new methods, making only half-hearted attempts.

Poland asserts that this industrial reluctance may have just as much to do with piracy as the pirates themselves. The sheer number of people stealing music, movies, and other forms of entertainment over the Internet, combined with the large success of Apple Computers’ iTunes service suggests that there is a large demand for this type of distribution scheme, which has not been adequately satisfied to date. This is especially significant considering that much of the content provided on iTunes can be found illegally elsewhere, for admittedly little extra effort. If the large industries involved are unwilling to adapt to these new methods of circulation when there is such an obvious demand for it, then they, too, may be complicit in this international concern.

III. Traditional Knowledge and Folklore Protection

As a staunch defender of minority rights, Poland wishes to help protect the Traditional Cultural Expressions (TCE) of all people. Moreover, as the time nears for Poland to become a full-fledged member of the European Union, we continue to both increase our compliance with expectations and standards set within the EU. In addition, we believe in the protection of folklore and recognize Traditional Knowledge as part of public domain. We are aware of the challenge and importance of granting recognition to Traditional Cultural Expressions as well as the cultures of origin. This is a difficult venture due to the intangibility of many of these expressions and the severe limitations of their definition. As an example of this, Poland is proud to support every effort to bestow domestic protections on TCE and we wish to seek international means to protect the right of all cultures and ethnic groups in practicing their Traditional Cultural Expressions. However, in good conscience, we cannot support measures that would unnecessarily cheapen folklore and/or other cultural heritage through excessive commercialization.