The dispute concerns drugs which are not subject to patent, often because the research was government funded and entered the public domain. For example, the unpatented cancer drug Taxol commands very high prices in the United States, because Bristol-Myers Squibb is the only firm that is permitted to relpy upon the National Cancer Institute's extensive research that was used for FDA marketing approval. The USTR wants Argentina and other countries to prohibit competition from generics for Taxol and similarly situated drugs. The dispute raises important questions in terms of ethics, public health and the dissemination and use of scientific knowledge. Since the first Computers, Freedom, and Privacy Conference in 1991 the impact of computer and telecommunications technologies on our society, locally and globally, has been dramatic.
Telecommunications networks continue to undergo remarkable evolution and growth.
The Internet and the World Wide Web have become household words. It's clear that we stand on the threshold of fundamental change in the ways we do business and engage in political and social interaction. This change has transformed even such fundamental notions as speech, assembly and property rights, throwing into question basic social conventions and legal protections. Global economies and networked communities span international boundaries, challenging existing economic, political, and social systems. Community and commerce, the twin themes of this year's conference, are at the nexus of this change.