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  • From: Natasha Primo <natasha AT apc.org>
  • To: commons-research AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Commons-research] Fwd: APC proposal for Demo session - Media Piracy in South Africa: Towards a detente
  • Date: Mon, 12 May 2008 19:49:29 +0200

Hello All,

A second proposal from the APC for your consideration and comment.  This proposal was also submitted to the commons.demo AT gmail.com list by the deadline. I also just submitted it to the pentabarf system.

Regards,
Natasha Primo



Begin forwarded message:

From: Natasha Primo <natasha AT apc.org>
Date: 25 April 2008 7:26:42 PM
Cc: karen banks <karenb AT gn.apc.org>, willie Currie <wcurrie AT apc.org>, Libby Lloyd <libbyl AT netactive.co.za>, Natalie Brown <natalie AT apc.org>
Subject: APC proposal for Demo session -  Media Piracy in South Africa: Towards a detente

Proposal for Demo Session on ‘Media Piracy in South Africa: Towards a détente’
Prepared for the iCommons iSummit 2008, Sapporo, Japan
Submitted by the Association for Progressive Communications

Contact Person:
Natasha Primo (Natasha AT apc.org)

The importance of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) protection for a global knowledge economy has pushed piracy into the forefront of contemporary debates on globalization. In most countries in the global South, public discourse on IP seems almost synonymous with the phenomenon of piracy. 

Piracy is flourishing in South Africa – similar to other countries with sharp economic and social inequalities. Piracy has dominated the debate in South Africa on intellectual property and globalization.  However, very little independent research appears to have been done on the extent of piracy – and the drivers behind it. The commonly cited research is dominated by international and local media giants – and is used to leverage their ability to lobby for changes in laws, and stricter IP enforcement. 

No known research has been conducted into the possible effects of piracy on expanded access to technology, knowledge, new media practices, and innovation. 

APC is implementing a South African case study - which is part of a multi-country research project coordinated by the SSRC - on media piracy. The purpose of the overall research project is to examine the phenomenon of piracy across the global South, and to provide accounts which explore the discourse of illegality and criminality deployed by mainstream media and law enforcement agencies. The premise of the research is that “‘piracy’ is a fact of life in places where a media-saturated modernity meets severe inequalities of purchasing power for books, software, recordings, videos and other knowledge products. 
 
A key challenge is to provide critical research that provides a more nuanced understanding of piracy, which can be used to create a more balanced discourse on piracy, and can also be used by groups advocating for a more equitable knowledge society.

The target of the South African research and advocacy is first and foremost the policy making bodies of the South African government responsible for intellectual property rights and anti-piracy enforcement. These include the South African Ministry and Department of Trade and Industry in the executive branch and the Trade and Industry Committee in Parliament. Second,  the target of the research is public opinion in South Africa and generating a public debate in the media with the anti-piracy industry. Third, the target of the research is the India Brazil South Africa Forum which has an information society and intellectual property rights component, which may engage with the issue in the framework of the Development Agenda of the World Information Property Organization (WIPO) 

This research project is most aligned with one of the proposed research issues outlined in the CFP, notably: "analyses of policies, court rulings or industry moves that influence the future of Free Culture". The proposed demo session is more concerned with gathering participants' inputs about how best to apply the research findings for advocacy, with the view to furthering Free culture tenets, policy and practice in South Africa.

For the purposes of this proposed demo session, APC is keen to draw lessons from participants and free culture advocates generally around ways to strengthen the advocacy component of the project and deepen the ties between research and practice. Hence the overriding question for us - in relation to this project - is: What lessons can we draw from international experience/practice in the global north and/or south for ways to advance effective, research-based policy interventions in around copyright and IP regimes. What are best practice methods and avenues - in legal and other realms - for advancing open licensing models or generous fair dealing provisions into existing copyright law, and getting buy-in from policy-makers around the value of such provisions. 



--------------------
Natasha Primo
National ICT Policy Advocacy Initiative
Association for Progressive Communications (APC)
South Africa
Tel: +27118372122
Fax: +27865099147
Skype/Yahoo: natashaprimo
Email: natasha[at]apc.org






--------------------
Natasha Primo
National ICT Policy Advocacy Initiative
Association for Progressive Communications (APC)
South Africa
Tel: +27118372122
Fax: +27865099147
Skype/Yahoo: natashaprimo
Email: natasha[at]apc.org







  • [Commons-research] Fwd: APC proposal for Demo session - Media Piracy in South Africa: Towards a detente, Natasha Primo, 05/12/2008

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