Alec van Gelder argues that barriers to technological development are the same barriers that hold back economic development in poor countries generally: an absence of the enforceable contracts and property rights, excessive duties on imported goods, and burdensome market restrictions. This week's UN World Summit on the Information Society in Tunis is a good opportunity to draw attention to these real barriers to development. Click here to read a Spanish-language version of this article in La Nacion, Argentina.

Alec van Gelder's original response to 'Imagine A World Without Copyright' (International Herald Tribune, 8-9 October 2005, by Joost Smiers and Marieke van Schijndel). A shorter version was published in the International Herald Tribune (13 October 2005)