The Collusion of Law and Science in the Piracy of Human Genes

Advances in biotechnology over the last decade have created a demand for biological resources by transnational corporations. The search for biological resources has primarily focused on acquiring these resources from indigenous communities and countries of the South. However, the means by which these biological resources are obtained is exploitative and often tantamount to theft (or, as it is commonly known, biopiracy). As a result of communities attempting to prevent this theft and corporations seeking more international legitimacy for their bioprospecting , bioprospecting contracts are more frequently being concluded between governments and corporations. Through the prism of current events in Iceland, I will demonstrate that bioprospecting contracts resolve little; they merely rename and reformulate an old crime into a new shape of exploitation which may be even more insidious than earlier forms of biopiracy. The events in Iceland will illustrate the problems inherent in encouraging governments to conclude contracts, and will show that a contract is only as good as the terms negotiated. The example of Iceland will also highlight the flexible and polymorphous nature of biopiracy as well as the myriad types of damage it can inflict on a community. Finally, I will discuss how the law, science and language each play a role in both obscuring international acts of biopiracy and maintaining existing power inequalities

The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act: A Lost Opportunity to Democratize Canada\u27s Technological Society

Bill C-6, more recently known as the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, is promoted by the Canadian government as privacy legislation to protect Canadians\u27 personal information. This paper explores that characterization and concludes that it is inaccurate and misleading. The problems that motivated a response by Parliament are the proliferation and commercial importance of personal information, concerns Canadians have about its uncontrolled use by the private sector and the inadequacy of existing law to address those concerns. However, the Act has not responded to these problems. There are several reasons for this, primarily the disproportionate and antidemocratic importance of business interests in the promulgation of the legislation and the characterization of privacy in market terms rather than in the language of human rights and long-term policy objectives. The Act\u27s failure to achieve its substantive goals is demonstrated by comparing it with other models of privacy protection, such as the Privacy Charter proposed by the House of Commons Standing Committee on Human Rights, equivalent legislation in Quebec and the Australian Privacy Charter. Ultimately, the paper proposes solutions that would be more responsive to citizens\u27 privacy concerns

The Collusion of Law and Science in the Piracy of Human Genes

Advances in biotechnology over the last decade have created a demand for biological resources by transnational corporations. The search for biological resources has primarily focused on acquiring these resources from indigenous communities and countries of the South. However, the means by which these biological resources are obtained is exploitative and often tantamount to theft (or, as it is commonly known, biopiracy). As a result of communities attempting to prevent this theft and corporations seeking more international legitimacy for their bioprospecting , bioprospecting contracts are more frequently being concluded between governments and corporations. Through the prism of current events in Iceland, I will demonstrate that bioprospecting contracts resolve little; they merely rename and reformulate an old crime into a new shape of exploitation which may be even more insidious than earlier forms of biopiracy. The events in Iceland will illustrate the problems inherent in encouraging governments to conclude contracts, and will show that a contract is only as good as the terms negotiated. The example of Iceland will also highlight the flexible and polymorphous nature of biopiracy as well as the myriad types of damage it can inflict on a community. Finally, I will discuss how the law, science and language each play a role in both obscuring international acts of biopiracy and maintaining existing power inequalities

Discrimination Law

Book review of Discrimination Law by Sandra Fredman and published by Clarendon Law Series (London), 2002. (205 pp.

The Tools and Levers of Access to Patented Health Related Genetic Invention in Canada

This Article argues that there is a prevailing problem of access to genetic invention in Canada caused by disputes over intellectual property rights arising from conflicting normative orders

Landscapes of Science

This edited collection brings together six original essays that explore the intersections of environmental history, history of science, and history of technology. Five of these essays first appeared as blog articles in 2015 on The Otter~La loutre. They appear in this collection with an additional chapter, new preface and conclusion