E-drug: Re: E-Commerce and pharmaceutical drugs (cont'd)
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I much appreciate the account from Dr. Ham, who was apparently
involved in WHO meetings on this topic. I can also report that
WHO staff have indicated to me that there were concerns regarding
methods of promotion on the Internet, and that the US played a
role in discouraging discussions of measures that would be
perceived as regulatory. I also was involved in a number of
discussions with US policy makers in e-commerce, particularly Ira
Magaziner, the former Internet Czar of the US government, who
was very dedicated in his opposition to forms of regulation of
commerce on the Internet, and that only recently are US
government officials beginning to examine obvious consumer
protection problems in a realistic light.
We have a page detailing the larger debates about electronic
commerce here:
Including our proposal for a World Consumer Protection
Organization, modelled after the World Intellectual Property
Organization (WIPO), which is on the net here:
http://www.cptech.org/ecom/cpt-wcpo.html
Jamie
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James Love, Director, Consumer Project on Technology
I can be reached at love@cptech.org, by telephone 202.387.8030,
by fax at 202.234.5176. CPT web page is http://www.cptech.org
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