[LINK] RFC: Submission to the Innovation Review

[Roger Clarke]

There's a Review under way of the 'National Innovation System':
http://www.innovation.gov.au/innovationreview/Pages

My draft Submission is below, and at:
http://www.anu.edu.au/people/Roger.Clarke/EC/InnovSub-0804.html

Constructive negative feedback greatly appreciated  ...  Thanks!


This submission addresses firstly the role that open accessibility of 
information plays in innovation, and secondly the impact of 
intellectual property laws on open accessibility.

The analysis in Clarke & Dempsey (2004) - Annex A to this Submission 
- concludes that the current state of patent and copyright laws are 
seriously detrimental to innovation in Australia.

Many of the harmful aspects of patent and copyright law derive from 
international conventions and in particular from the spectacularly 
inadvisable intellectual property chapter of the 'Free Trade' 
Agreement entered into with the U.S.A. by the previous Government. An 
assessment of the US-FTA provisions is in Clarke (2004) - Annex B to 
this Submission.

It is vital that the excesses of patent and copyright law be wound 
back, and the mechanisms adapted to appropriately balance the needs 
of producers and users of information, rather than being grossly 
biassed in favour of large corporations that extract long-term rents 
from their IP portfolios, and in the process slow down innovation.

This Submission urges the Review Committee to confront the political 
challenges, the treaty obligations and the entreaties of lobbyists 
for retention of the corporate welfare scheme that intellectual 
property laws currently represent. Unless major changes are made in 
this area, the positive measures that the Review Committee will 
doubtless recommend will have disappointingly limited impact.


Annexes

A:
Clarke R. & Dempsey G. (2004) 'The Economics of Innovation in the 
Information Industries' Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd, 2004, at 
http://www.anu.edu.au/people/Roger.Clarke/EC/EcInnInfInd.html

B:
Clarke R. (2004) 'The Economic and Cultural Impacts of the Free Trade 
Agreement Provisions relating to Copyright and Patent Law' Xamax 
Consultancy Pty Ltd, March 2004, at 
http://www.anu.edu.au/people/Roger.Clarke/II/FTA17.html


-- 
Roger Clarke                  http://www.anu.edu.au/people/Roger.Clarke/
			            
Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd      78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA
                    Tel: +61 2 6288 1472, and 6288 6916
mailto:Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au                http://www.xamax.com.au/

Visiting Professor in Info Science & Eng  Australian National University
Visiting Professor in the eCommerce Program      University of Hong Kong
Visiting Professor in the Cyberspace Law & Policy Centre      Uni of NSW