Thursday, September 6, 2007

**"Happy Feet: What are you really burning?"

The past two days have been great. Yesterday my Voices group went to Dee Why Beach and Freshwater High School to view firsthand the reality of Australia’s water shortage and the implications of water pollution. We discussed ways for Australia to “recycle, reduce, and reuse.”
This morning I attended an ABAC forum entitled Stopping Fakes: Building Awareness – A Dialogue on IP Public Education Campaigns. There were two panel discussions and the members involved demonstrated a commitment to protecting intellectual property. The panelists discussed the need to engage both the consumer as well as the employers and employees within the private sector to make them aware of the IP laws and the economic and social consequences of purchasing counterfeit goods or using pirated software. For example, many companies use child labor to make counterfeit goods. Wendy Pye, a New Zealand ABAC member, recommended a change within the customs policies of APEC countries to ensure that counterfeit goods are not going out of or coming into the country.

There has also been an increase in counterfeit drugs on the market. Thomas Gorrie of Johnson and Johnson explained the implications of counterfeit drug sales. “Fake” medications create the need for new products because the “fake” can cause the body to become more resistant to the real drug. Furthermore, developing nations in Africa and Latin America are often targeted by those producing these “fake” drugs.

Ultimately, both panels concluded that APEC and ABAC must facilitate private and public partnerships for effective, sustainable enforcement practices and education campaigns in order to protect IP.

**(The title of this post is actually the name of a great Ad campaign that has been launched by the Australian Federation against Copyright Theft. In collaboration with the producer of Happy Feet, they have made concerted efforts to raise public awareness about the consequences of using pirated media).

Alli

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