A failure to strike the appropriate balance between intellectual property rights and open access to knowledge can harm innovation, competition and economic growth in both developed and developing countries. Put simply, patents of poor quality and overly restrictive access to copyrighted materials containing important knowledge are bad for the global economy....Similarly, there are rising complaints from the biomedical research community that patents claiming research tools are impeding the quest for important new knowledge. Other industries complain that their ability to make rational investment decisions is hampered by organisations that accumulate large patent portfolios solely for the purpose of bringing complex patent infringement litigations that create years of uncertainty. These examples illustrate the deteriorating balance between intellectual property rights and free competition....The time has come not only for a pause in the imposition of greater levels of intellectual property rights protection but, more importantly, for a careful re-examination of whether the existing rules regarding both the creation and enforcement of those rights are balanced in a manner that truly supports sustainable development.
Posted by
Peter Suber at 11/22/2005 11:13:00 AM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
I recommend the OA tracking project (OATP) as the best way to stay on top of new OA developments. You can read the OATP feed on a blog-like web page or subscribe to it by RSS, email, or Twitter. You can also help build the feed by tagging new developments you encounter.
