PCDA is WIPO's forum that is taking the Development Agenda, initiated in autumn 2004, into its second year.

There are now a total of 111 proposals on the table. Those will need to be debated, consolidated and - on a consensus basis - put forward to the WIPO General Assembly meeting in September 2006. The good news is, the process is clearly oriented towards deliverables, i.e. actionable proposals. The bad news is, opinions are sharply divided, with Brazil and the US not shy to show their animosity in public.

One issue that was pointed out to me is that last week's discussions were for parts, from a substance point of view, very good. For example, almost a whole day was spent on debating copyright exceptions and limitations and the public domain. At some point, one government educated another about the fact that not only intellectual property, but also the public domain needs to be protected. For A2K advocates this is obvious, for several industry-lobbied government officials this is an important educational experience.

In conclusion, nobody at this point can tell what the future of the DA will be and whether it will be possible to turn word into action, i.e. law making. The next PCDA meeting is set for June. Stay tuned.

For detailed information on last week's event, check the following sites:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/004428.php
http://fromgeneva.blogspot.com/
http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/index.php?p=228&res=1024_ff&print=0
http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/index.php?p=232&res=1024_ff&print=0
http://www.fsfe.org/fellows/greve/freedom_bits/