Escaping the TRIPs’ Trap
The Political Economy of Free and Open Source Software in Africa
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6342556 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Christopher May (0000-0002-8369-1649, Lancaster University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2006 |
| Volume | 54 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 123-146 |
| Publication date | 2006-03-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Political Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0032-3217 • E-ISSN: 1467-9248 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1111/j.1467-9248.2006.00569.x |
| OpenAlex | W2023516599 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 8 |
| References cited | 20 |
Across sub-Saharan Africa, the promise of ‘informational development’ is proclaimed. The global governance of intellectual property rights (IPRs), however, currently structured through the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) agreement and overseen by the World Trade Organisation (WTO), makes much software expensive to deploy. There is an alternative: open-source and/or free software ameliorates many of the cost problems countries in Africa have anticipated as they have changed their laws to protect IPRs; using non-proprietary software will enable them to deploy extensive computerisation without making large payments to suppliers from the developed countries. By escaping the TRIPs’ trap, many Africans will be better able to enjoy the potential benefits of ‘informational development
Business · Corporate governance · Developing country · Economic growth · Economics · Intellectual property · International trade · Payment · Political science · Politics · Transport engineering · Trap (plumbing · TRIPS architecture · Computer Science · Economic Growth and Development · Engineering · Finance · ICT Impact and Policies · Innovation and Socioeconomic Development · Law · Software
Knowledge as a Global Public Good
Toward a ‘macro-micro’ analysis of gender, power and ICTs
Mapping the New Commons
The relevance of understanding code to international political economy
Strategic bundling
The strategic importance of information policy for the contemporary neoliberal state
Digital Divide
Advancing Justice and Democracy ‘beyond’ the State
Private Power, Public Law
Doctrines Of Development
The Success of Open Source
Development as Freedom
Development Theory
Development, ethical trading and free software
Licence fees and GDP per capita
The realities of Free/Libre/Open Source Software developers in Japan and Asia
The Political Economy of Proximity
Let Them Eat Cyberspace
Capacity building and the (re)production of intellectual property rights
Interaction between States and Citizens in the Age of the Internet
Bridging the Digital Divide
| Citations per year | 0.4 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2006 - 2015 (10) |
| Highly cited | No |