Julian Assange as a wannabe IP lawyer and medical doctor
Op-Ed Commentary: Chris Devonshire-Ellis
Nov. 14 – Wikileaks has released a chapter of the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, making some somewhat inflammatory statements about the agreement as a whole. The TPP – which includes the United States, Canada, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Brunei, Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam – is a proposed free trade zone encompassing a variety of differing nations and is designed to promote the upgrading of production and manufacturing facilities in the less wealthy members – mainly to offset the dominance of Chinese exports and to upgrade wealth creation among those same smaller members. Among some extraordinary journalism from a number of newspapers, and The Guardian in particular, a number of claims are being made by Julian Assange concerning the TPP agreement, not least that the proposed trade deal has been “negotiated in secret between 12 nations” and “would trample over individual rights and free expression.”
These are remarkable claims. Firstly, the TPP is not being “negotiated in secret.” Like many trade agreements before it, negotiations are held at a multilateral, inter-governmental level with both foreign ministers and trade ministers of the respective nations all taking part. There is nothing secret about such discussions, as they are being held by democratically elected governments responsible for the welfare of the peoples of the nations they represent. Indeed, sessions concerning the TPP were held at the APEC meetings in Bali just a few weeks ago, which was open to invitees, including many journalists. As a matter of fact, U.S. President Barack Obama’s non-attendance – related to the U.S. government shutdown – delayed the TPP negotiations. That was an issue that if anything, suggests that the agreement is subject to the democratic whims of American politics just as many are. There are no “secrets” here – only inter-governmental discussions that have not yet concluded. Assange, it seems, wishes to gatecrash the entire negotiation process – already attended by ministers appointed by democratically elected governments – and claim “secrets” just because these are works in progress and still under negotiation. Wikileaks doesn’t seem to understand how diplomatic agreements are negotiated, dismissing them as “trampling human rights” purely because their followers feel these are being held “secretly” and aren’t invited to the discussions. It is absurd. There is a huge difference between multilateral diplomacy, negotiations and “secrecy.” In fact, many economic journalists have been covering the TPP agreement and its evolution. We have published several articles concerning this – for example Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, the 16th round of negotiations in Singapore and related commentary here and here. There is no secrecy concerning specific negotiations, only non-disclosure over a completed document – which has not yet been released because it is still a work in progress.
Assange has also claimed that the TPP tramples over human rights and free expression. These are strong statements, yet reading through what he actually seems to object to, he singles out intellectual property as an area of concern. The leaked documents actually contain proposals to increase the term of patents, including medical patents, beyond 20 years, and lower global standards for patentability. Now, drug companies are never anyone’s particular favorites, but with the age of antibiotic use coming to an end, and a whole serious raft of potentially globally life threatening diseases on the horizon, intense medical research is needed – right now – to boost the development of new drugs and treatments. If that means extending new medical patents beyond 20 years to claw back the development costs of such research then so be it. The last time I looked, Julian Assange was not a medical doctor. His inference that the extension of drug patents within the TPP agreement tramples human rights is nonsense.
The chapter Wikileaks featured also contains clauses that push for measures to prevent hackers breaking copyright protection, although that comes with some exceptions: protection can be broken in the course of “lawfully authorized activities carried out by government employees, agents, or contractors for the purpose of law enforcement, intelligence, essential security, or similar governmental purposes.” Assange views that as trampling free expression and human rights (again). What that clause actually reinforces is that hacking into websites and stealing patented information is a breach of copyright laws. Which it is. The portion relating to the exclusion of law enforcement agencies from this clause is to ensure that governments cannot face IP prosecution from investigations carried out into non-benign research into the medical industry, which is a safeguard. After all, we wouldn’t want anyone trying to genetically bio-engineer fatal viruses even if that technology was patented. Assange is not an IP lawyer.
I leave readers to make up their own minds. But Julian Assange and Wikileaks are fast becoming a shrieking, howling petulant group of ill-mannered and uneducated activists with no understanding of international trade, the changing of global dynamics, or how democracy and diplomatic negotiations actually work. When Assange and his ilk are actually trained to deal with issues such as medical patents and IP protection, then maybe their rhetoric would carry some weight. Forcing his views into screaming headlines is not only entirely undemocratic, it is also extremely dangerous. Instigating backlashes against documents still being negotiated that have the intention of providing and speeding up investment into much needed global medical research is foolish and uncalled for. Julian Assange and Wikileaks are way out of touch with reality.
Chris Devonshire-Ellis is the Founding Partner of Dezan Shira & Associates – a specialist foreign direct investment practice providing corporate establishment, business advisory, tax advisory and compliance, accounting, payroll, due diligence and financial review services to multinationals investing in emerging Asia. Since its establishment in 1992, the firm has grown into one of Asia’s most versatile full-service consultancies with operational offices across China, Hong Kong, India, Singapore and Vietnam as well as liaison offices in Italy and the United States.
For further details or to contact the firm, please email asia@dezshira.com, visit www.dezshira.com, or download the company brochure.
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