Intellectual Property Rights and Communications in Asia

This volume explores the contested nature of the ownership of knowledge and access to it in Asia. It offers insights into solving some of the key issues related to intellectual property (IP) and communication in the contemporary world. With the ownership of IP becoming a core feature of media/information industries and state policy, issues related to access to knowledge and its use have become a matter of critical concern. While trade regimes, the state and the core cultural and information industries have begun to advocate greater scope for a variety of knowledge enclosures, civil society is increasingly arguing for a people-centered vision of knowledge futures. This vision includes the need for equity-based and flexible licensing regimes; the legitimacy of local solutions to IP related issues; support for cultural diversity; and access to knowledge based on need rather than the ability to pay for knowledge. This book explores these important issues, supported by case studies from the Asian region. It presents an extensive picture of a dynamic and complex process that reveals some of the dilemmas of the digital age.