Strange Symphonies Don’t worry, be happy

Roundtable on Intellectual Property Right Cooperation Between Malaysia and the US

Last week I was invited to attend the Roundtable on Intellectual Property Right (IPR) Cooperation Between Malaysia and the US, to be held on April 20th 2006. Well, today was the day.

The event went without a hitch, and was pretty smooth that we even ended early by thirty minutes. Before attending the event, it appeared to me that it may be seen as a negotation. Labelling the event as a 'roundtable' helps emphasize this point. Nonetheless the event was seen as an exchange of ideas, and not a negotiation of any kind.

The event was opened with speeches by both the US Ambassdor in Malaysia, and the Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs. In both of their speeches there was heavy emphasis on piracy, and not enough about the other areas of IPR. For starters Intellectual Property consists of:

• Copyright
• Patents
• Trademark

Ammendments suggested by ditesh

• Industrial Design
• Trade Secrets

In respect to the unknown accuracy Wikipedia

• Geographical Indication
• Sui Generis
• Moral Rights

Each one is equally important, but judging from the discussions, the consumer groups are interested more in Patents, than the other subjects. Also the US Embassador, and the industry groups, seemed to be quite happy that there was a raid last night. Won't you think it was quite timely? Was it fabricated, or the raid planned to happen the night before the event to appease the delegates? Or how about the Mall owners being held liable for renting its premises? If it was planned to happen last night, why are we trying to please the delegates when we don't even know what we are getting yet.

In my perspective they are highlighting the Piracy ( Copyright ), in order to sideline the other topics into the agreement. General consensus had it, that there were ultimately two solutions to combat piracy. Enforcement, and lowering price goods. I'll let you guess who lobbied which solution. Personally, I'm in the lowering price camp. But, I am not a happy consumer, when I cannot play my legally bought DVD on my FOSS operating system.

If what the Malaysian side said was true, then it sounds like we are doing a great job combatting piracy. If this is the case, why should there be any change in IPR protection? Some people would argue otherwise.

I was quite shocked when the American Association of Publishers said that "students want to spend money on their high tech cellphone over books" ( In regards to the large number of photocopying of books near colleges/universities, wording may also be abit different ). First of all not all students have such phones, some even have troubles paying for their tuition. As a student, they are not interested in selling the copied book, they are interested in using it for furthering their studies. Perhaps it should be raised, how can we help these students legally get access to the available resource? The problem with libaries is that typically they do not have a sufficient number of books for the number of students.

The truth is a third option exists. Alternatives. Look at alternatives to the illegal software, such as free and open source software. The application is legally available for free, and with no stupid restrictions applied, bless the four freedoms . For documents and media, perhaps consider using a Creative Commons License. Given this third option, I would definetly chose alternatives, as everyone can benefit from it.

Session Three was aptly labelled, 'Industry Experience in Combating Piracy'. I believe there was a misrepresentation from the Industry, as the Industry players that presented, BSA, AAP, and MPA all represent American interests. Not Malaysians.

The US Congress demands equal to US IPR protection, or else the FTA would not be approved. This boils down to an all or nothing situation. Since this is the case, I suggest the Malaysians discuss the topic about IPR first, rather than wait till the last minute. Because any further discussions would be pointless. Also beware of any legal scrubbing.

I personally do not like how certain people gave long winded answers, and perhaps along the way forgot to answer the actual question. Also the way that some people went to discredit other people, though I don't know if this was intentional.

I will have to thank the people for inviting me, and for Yoke Ling in voicing her opinions at the end of the session.

Kudos to Ditesh and Khairil for being the only representives of the local ICT industry.