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233 Zeilen
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HTML
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<title>On "Intellectual Property" and Indigenous Peoples</title>
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<h1>On "Intellectual Property" and Indigenous Peoples</h1>
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-- <font size="+1"><a href="/about/people/greve/">Georg C.F. Greve</a></font>
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<!-- if you translate this article, please add a line like "language translation by name" here -->
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<br/><br/>
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<p>As a side effect of my work for the World Summit on the Information
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Society (WSIS), I made contact with people I might never have met
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otherwise. This has proven to be inspiring in ways that I would never
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have imagined. </p>
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<p>The following is a direct result of my trying to understand the
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problems of the Indigenous Peoples and some of their core needs and
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concerns, a process that started even before WSIS, when meeting and
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discussing with people such as a lawyer from Sri Lanka who is working
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to preserve local medical and botanical knowledge.</p>
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<p>Although I won't claim understanding the local situation to its
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full extent, it seems obvious that Indigenous Peoples all over the
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world are suffering from overzealous monopolisation of their grown
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knowledge. In particular, pharmaceutical companies are gaining limited
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intellectual monopolies, especially patents.</p>
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<p>In a dual strategy of using existing power-imbalances and lawsuits
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against people who often cannot afford hiring lawyers themselves,
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these are afterwards used to exterminate traditional and existing
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practices, replacing them by their patented ones, effectively
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disallowing usage of what has been common and customary for
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generations.</p>
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<p>For this problem was created by overzealous monopolisation, I was
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surprised that many Indigenous Peoples seem to be demanding even
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stronger monopolisation in the form of "intellectual property rights,"
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including their culture and heritage.</p>
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<p>Having followed the discussions about the problems created by
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patenting of genes in Europe where people were (often unknowingly)
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deprived of the right to their own, most personal self by physicians
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applying to patent genes they found when examining them, such increase
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in monopolisation has never provided more freedom.</p>
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<p>Feeling solidarity with the Indigenous Peoples of this planet, I would
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like to understand what has caused you to come to ask for such an
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increase in monopolisation. Which is the reason for this document to
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exist.</p>
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<p>Let me try to express what seems to be the most likely outcome of such
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increased monopolisation. How would the situation change for your
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peoples if the demands for expansion of limited intellectual
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monopolies succeed?</p>
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<p>Assuming a perfect world, the foreign monopolisation stops,
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Indigenous Peoples are given full "ownership" and "control" over all
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their cultural, intellectual and so-called natural resources.</p>
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<p>It will not change the situation regarding fundamental problems such
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as food, water, health care, education, economy, stability or
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political independence. Most importantly, it will not provide access
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to the knowledge accumulated by the North that might help with these
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issues.</p>
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<p>The price to pay for that change is to agree to the basic ideology
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that knowledge and culture are things that individuals could "own" and
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that it was morally right to give full "ownership" and "control" to
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those who built up that knowledge.</p>
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<p>If this is the accepted moral benchmark, following the principle of
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equality of human rights, Indigenous Peoples have agreed that the
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North is morally entitled to not give them access to the knowledge it
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assembled over the centuries, which is massively responsible for the
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digital divide and global power inequalities.</p>
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<p>Also, "intellectual property rights" are pure trading goods. By
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including the culture and heritage of Indigenous Peoples in this
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system, it is classified primarily as a trading good. It is therefore
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to be bought and sold and to be respected for its economic value
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before everything else. An ideology that carries within the tendency
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to percieve cultural and traditional knowledge mainly as something to
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maximise profits from.</p>
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<p>Having removed the moral obligation for the North to share its
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wealth and knowledge, their traditional knowledge trading good will be
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the only bargaining chip of Indigenous Peoples to secure the future of
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their peoples.</p>
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<p>Because of current global power inequalities, the price and
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contractual conditions will be largely dictated by the Northern media
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companies. Resisting that would mean being able to afford not making
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any deal, at all. But making the deal will often be the only way to
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obtain basic access to food, water, health, education and the public
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domain of global knowledge.</p>
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<p>So in the most extreme case, the culture and heritage of Indigenous
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Peoples would end up as the "property" of Northern media
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companies. Depending on the contracts, future generations of
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Indigenous peoples may not even be entitled to "use" their own
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cultural heritage.</p>
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<p>Regardless of who gets the monopoly, it is such monopolisation
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itself that threatens to cut the social bonds between you and the rest
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of humankind. The way rituals are kept alive is by practising and
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sharing them, the way to keep languages alive is to speak them with as
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many people as possible.</p>
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<p>In a system of "intellectual property," sharing, even communicating is
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dangerous. Whenever someone who happens to be an author or artist gets
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in touch with someone else, they have to be very careful and possibly
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break off contact immediately and stop talking to you; otherwise they
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risk infringing Copyright and expensive lawsuits in case they may have
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felt inspired by the discussion.</p>
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<p>That lawsuit may or may be brought upon them by the Indigenous
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Peoples or the Northern media company that has "bought" that specific
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piece of heritage and now "owns" it.</p>
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<p>Consequently the monopolising system is breaking the bond of
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solidarity, sharing and communication connecting all of humankind. To
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the Indigenous Peoples it means their language, rituals and heritage
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will be in danger of becoming extinct along with the last generation
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that grew up with them.</p>
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<p>So in a perfectly working system and world, the price to pay for such
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expansion of monopolies may be nothing less than the cultural identity
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of the Indigenous Peoples.</p>
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<p>As we don't happen to live in a perfect world, reality won't be as
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clean as this, although the price will still have to be paid.</p>
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<p>Based upon past experience, one would assume that Northern companies
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will hire plenty of expensive lawyers that this particular plant, that
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particular ritual and this piece of music is not exclusive to the
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Indigenous Peoples they are dealing with, so its "ownership" was
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unclear.</p>
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<p>If the Indigenous Peoples wish to assert their claims, they will have
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to spend years in court with high expenses against the best lawyers
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money can buy and corporations that can often afford to wait for a
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"biological solution" of their problems -- a cynical euphemism used to
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refer to the death of those who have taken them to court.</p>
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<p>With or without such cases, they will enter into negotiations with all
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the Indigenous Peoples that can arguably make claims to that
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"property" and buy from the those that make the cheapest offer,
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leaving the others with a suddenly worthless bargaining chip. </p>
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<p>If you know that your bargaining chip will be worthless if you don't
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make the deal yourself, your willingness to make the deal might
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increase quite a bit.</p>
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<p>Also, when being offered food and education for their children, other
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Indigenous Peoples may be tempted to support the company position in
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court. So it seems plausible this will stress the solidarity between
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the Indigenous Peoples. Possibly even do damage that cannot be
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repaired.</p>
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<p>Having turned what was originally a moral and cultural issue into a
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trading good and courtroom issue, it will show all normal shortcomings
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of the legal systems -- including the question of neutrality and the
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tendency to favor those who have the better lawyers.</p>
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<p>Some Indigenous Peoples may win in the "intellectual property rights
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lottery" by finding some valuable plant or something of equal economic
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value. But this lottery will know few winners, but many losers -- and
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winning in this context really means coming out below neutral, as the
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value will always be small compared to the assembled portfolios of
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Northern corporations.</p>
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<p>Given the price that is to be paid for playing the system, it is a
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kind of russian roulette where all the chambers of the gun but one are
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loaded and you have to hope for the empty one.</p>
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<p>The system and ideology of "intellectual property" has evolved
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exclusively to cater to the needs of large Northern media
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corporations. Northern societies, and in particular their artists and
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authors, have massive problems with the system themselves. </p>
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<p>It is precisely for this system that the digital divide and current
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power inequalities are as large as they are.</p>
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<p>Considering what seems like the most likely outcome, the only chance
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of long-term survival and prosperity for Indigenous Peoples appears to
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be less monopolisation, a stop of monopolisation of their cultural and
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intellectual resources.</p>
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<h3>Perspectives</h3>
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<p>Most like the problem should be approached from within and without at
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the same time. Find allies active in the field from the North and
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train your own people to know the ways of the system so they can help
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you questioning it from within. Also they will be able to help you
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setting up defenses against immediate attacks while the system still
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exists in its current state.</p>
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<p>At the same time, it will be necessary to avoid legitimising the
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current system and trying to withstand being missionised by the dogma
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that "intellectual property" has become.</p>
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<p>Part of that will be to avoid the dangerous and ideologically charged
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terminology of "intellectual property" and prefer alternative
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terminology like "limited intellectual monopolies" or -- even better
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when talking about their effects -- to be precise about the specific
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areas like copyright and patents exists.</p>
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<p>Instead of asking for "ownership and control of," it might be better
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to ask for "benefitting fully and with priority from" your "cultural,
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intellectual and so-called natural resources."</p>
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<p>This emphasises the problem and the need for a solution without
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submitting to the ideology and power-system that is "intellectual
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property."</p>
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<p>I hope this will prove to be a useful contribution to an essential
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debate that has happened around the World Summit -- and would like to
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see whether we manage to come up with concrete visions on how to
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overcome these problems together.</p>
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