Already, voices in developing countries demand tiered pricing
for Western textbooks sold in emerging economies. Quoted in the Free
Online Scholarship newsletter, Lai Ting-ming of the Taipei Times
criticized, on March 26, "western publishers for selling textbooks to
third world students at first world prices. There is a "textbook
pricing crisis" in developing countries, which is most commonly solved
by illicit photocopying."
Touchingly, the issue of the dispossessed within rich country societies
was raised by two African Special Rapporteurs in a report submitted
last year to the UN sub-Commission on Human Rights and titled
"Globalization and its Impact on the Full Enjoyment of Human Rights".
It said:
" ... The emphasis on R & D investment conveniently omits mention of
the fact that some of the financing for this research comes from public
sources; how then can it be justifiably argued that the benefits that
derive from such investment should accrue primarily to private
interests? Lastly, the focus on differential pricing between (rich and
poor) countries omits consideration of the fact that there are many
people within developed countries who are also unable to afford the
same drugs.
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