Intellectual Property Law

European NGO FFII Opposes Stealth Legislation, Demands ACTA Documents Be Made Public

Posted on November 03, 2008
The Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII) has requested 12 secret Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) documents from the EU Council. Behind closed doors, the EU, US, Japan and other countries are negotiating ACTA. The negotiating parties plan on making the ACTA text public only after the parties have agreed to it...

EU NGO (FFII) Analysis of Anti-Counterfeiting Treaty (ACTA)

Posted on November 02, 2008
Behind closed doors the EU, US, Japan and other countries negotiate an Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). A leaked discussion paper mentions types of provisions that could be included. According to the European Commission's website, a "path breaking" agreement is foreseen...

Open Letter to World Customs Organization Concerning Increased Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights

Posted on October 28, 2008
We the undersigned public interest groups and individuals are writing to raise our concerns about recent developments in the World Customs Organisation, in particular the setting of intellectual property enforcement standards that go beyond the TRIPS agreement (TRIPS plus) in the SECURE Working Group, the lack of dialogue with, and involvement of public interest organisations in the standard setting process and the lack of transparency surrounding the Working Group?s work...

Freedom Not Fear Day 2008 International Campaign

Posted on October 09, 2008
Please Join IP Justice, EPIC, and EFF in signing the Freedom Not Fear Declaration. In recognition of Freedom not Fear Day, many US organizations set out the following recommendations: - End Watch Lists, Fusion Centers and other data profiling programs that fail to comply with the full requirements of the federal Privacy Act; - Affirm international human rights, including freedom of expression and privacy protection, so as to strengthen democratic institutions and protect the rights of individuals; - Repeal the Patriot Act and other legal authorities that permit warrantless surveillance and unconstitutional monitoring and tracking of individuals; - End the culture of secrecy that allows government officials to hide mismanagement, fraud, and incompetence behind the veil of "homeland security"; - Establish comprehensive data protection legislation that will safeguard personal information and reduce the risk of identity theft and security breaches...

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Cautionary Letter on Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) from US Senators Leahy and Specter to US Trade Representative (USTR)

Posted on October 02, 2008
"... we urge you not to rush into a new, broad Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement that may have significant impact on intellectual property protection at home and abroad..."

Secret ACTA Treaty Emerges Blinking into Sunlight (Ars Technica)

Posted on September 24, 2008
The much-maligned, drafted-in-secret, Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, is an odd beast. It's being drafted by a group that includes the US, the EU, and Japan... but also Canada, Mexico, and Korea, which are on US Trade Representative's "special 301" watch list for intellectual property problems...

Coalition of Technology Companies and Digital Rights Groups Comment on ACTA to USTR

Posted on September 18, 2008
Joint Statement on ACTA from American Association of Law Libraries, American Library Association, Association of Research Libraries, Center for Democracy & Technology Computer & Communications Industry Association, Consumer Electronics Association Digital Future Coalition, Entertainment Consumers Association, Home Recording Rights Coalition, Information Technology Association of America, Intel Corporation, Internet Commerce Coalition, IP Justice, Knowledge Ecology International, Medical Library Association NetCoalition, Public Knowledge, Special Libraries Association, US Internet Industry Association, Verizon, Yahoo! Inc.

EFF and Public Knowledge Filed Lawsuit Against USTR demanding Information about the Secret IP Enforcement Treaty (ACTA)

Posted on September 18, 2008
U.S. Trade Office Withholds Documents on Secret IP Enforcement Treaty - Public Kept in the Dark About Serious Civil Liberties and Privacy Issues -- "ACTA raises serious concerns for citizens' civil liberties and privacy rights," said EFF International Policy Director Gwen Hinze...

US Says China To Sign Bilateral Cooperation Deals On IP Enforcement (IP-Watch)

Posted on September 17, 2008
High-level officials from China and the United States on Tuesday reiterated their joint commitment to ?strategic cooperation? on copyright and trademark protection and enforcement, and agreed to hold further meetings of a joint intellectual property working group in the near future...

Google Comments to USTR on Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA)

Posted on September 17, 2008

In Geneva: The Debate About Debate (IGP)

Posted on September 17, 2008
"Tuesday the Internet Governance Forum held its consultations about the 3rd Forum at Hyderabad, India. I am sorry to report that there are still intense pressures to sanitize the IGF program and to prevent the Forum from grappling with the real global governance problems...

UN Agency to Curb Anonymous Internet Communications

Posted on September 16, 2008
An alarming report shows that the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations agency that coordinates global telephony policy, is quietly working to make anonymous Internet use impossible. The ITU's "IP Traceback" proposal would enable governments (and some big companies) to spy on every individual's Internet use via embedding specific technical standards in Internet communications protocols...

Secret Counterfeiting Treaty Public Must be Made Public, Global Organizations Say

Posted on September 15, 2008
More than 100 public interest organizations from around the world today called on officials from the countries negotiating Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) to publish immediately the draft text of the agreement. Secrecy around the treaty negotiation has fueled concerns that its terms will undermine vital consumer interests...

Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement: Fact or Fiction? (Wired)

Posted on September 15, 2008
"There's been speculation for months concerning the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. If ratified, many suggest it would criminalize peer-to-peer file sharing, subject iPods to border searches and allow internet service providers to monitor their customers' communications...

Proposed Copyright Law a ‘Gift’ to Hollywood, Info Groups Say (Wired)

Posted on September 10, 2008
"If the Senate version becomes law, it is not immediately clear how the Justice Department's expanded powers would work in practice. For example, would the department assume the role of the Recording Industry Association of America, which has sued more than 30,000 people in the United States for copyright infringement since 2003?...

Public-Interest NGO’s Express Concerns with Proposed Senate Bill on Intellectual Property Enforcement

Posted on September 10, 2008
Twelve Public Interest Organizations Send US Senate Judiciary Joint Letter on Concerns Regarding S.3325, the "Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights Act of 2008": "The undersigned groups write to express our concerns with S. 3325, the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights Act of 2008, soon to be marked up in the Committee on the Judiciary...

Access to Knowledge Conference Begins Addressing New Challenges with New Ideas (IP-Watch)

Posted on September 09, 2008
A key conference on access to knowledge opened Monday, with veterans of the A2K movement mixed with many new faces and all participants hoping to find new ideas over the next few days, as they seek to clarify the best paths forward. ?The great insight of this movement,? said Yale Law School Information Society Project Director Jack Balkin during the welcome address, ?was bringing together a wide range of people who didn?t even imagine that they were working on similar goals, dispersed as they were in their focus on health, science, movies, music, culture, telecommunications policy, innovation, fair competition, freedom of the press and transparency in governance...

Sen. Joseph Biden’s Anti-Free Speech, Anti-Privacy, and Anti-Internet Platform

Posted on August 24, 2008
"US Senator Joseph Biden, Barack Obama's choice for Vice-Presidential candidate has a long track record in the US Senate of chipping away at Americans' privacy rights and freedom of expression rights - especially when it comes to the Internet and technology...

Statement on Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) to USTR from US Tech Trade Associations and Companies

Posted on August 07, 2008
Letter from AT&T, Amazon.com, Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), Consumer Electronics Association, eBay, Information Technology Association of America, Internet Commerce Coalition, NetCoalition, US Internet Service Provider Association, US Telecom Ass...

LEAKED: “Business Perspectives on Border Measures and Civil Enforcement”

Posted on July 29, 2008
Leaked Industry-Lobbyist Memo to ACTA Negotiators From "Concerned Business Groups in ACTA Nations" at 2nd Round of Secret Trade Negotiations in Washington, DC from 29-31 July 2008

Public Left Out of Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Talks (Toronto Star)

Posted on July 28, 2008
"According to documents obtained under the Access to Information Act and reported here for the first time, the [Canadian] government has been crafting an Intellectual Property and Trade Advisory Group. The initial plans for membership in the group were limited exclusively to 12 government departments and 14 industry lobby groups...

Letter to USTR on ACTA from Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), Library Copyright Alliance, NetCoalition

Posted on July 23, 2008
Tech Industry Statement on 29-31 July 2008 ACTA Negotiations in DC: "We strongly oppose any requirement in ACTA that signatories enact statutory damages... Copyright statutory damages are one feature of our IP law that we should not seek to export......

IP Rights In Standards Impede Competition, Disadvantage Developing Countries (IP-Watch)

Posted on July 17, 2008
"Standards and intellectual property rights appear to be worlds apart and to respond to opposite purposes, according to a recent panel of legal and policy experts. While standards are established to ensure compatibility in technology to the advantage of all users at national, regional or international levels, intellectual property rights are meant to provide an exclusive use, reward innovation, and are territorial in nature, according to speakers...

WIPO Development Agenda committee deliberations on norm-setting, open source and creative commons (KEI)

Posted on July 14, 2008
"The WIPO Committee on Development and Intellectual Property (CDIP) had rich discussions on Thursday afternoon (July 10, 2008) on norm-setting, open source and creative commons as they related to recommendations 22 and 23 of the Development Agenda. Recommendation 22 states: WIPO?s norm-setting activities should be supportive of the development goals agreed within the UN system, including those contained in the Millennium Declaration...

WIPO Enriched by In-Depth Discussion of Public Domain (KEI)

Posted on July 14, 2008
"With respect to the public domain, Richard Owens (WIPO Secretariat) noted that there is a fundamental question of definition that frames the policy debate on this issue. The classical definition of the public domain (in the copyright context) is ?what is not protected by copyright, i...

WIPO Development Committee Ends First Year On Mostly Agreeable Note (IP-Watch)

Posted on July 12, 2008
"While the 7 to 11 July meeting of the Committee on Development and IP (CDIP) did not make any profound changes in the operations of WIPO yet, discussions revealed some of the areas where change may be coming. And while there were moments of tension, the overall spirit of the meeting appeared more agreeable than meetings of the past years...

The fight Against Counterfeiting and Piracy in the Bilateral Trade Agreements of the EU (EU Parliament Briefing Paper)

Posted on July 10, 2008
By Duncan Matthews (Queens Mary University of London)

Comment on ICANN’s Proposed Plan to Censor Top-Level Domains (Until 17 July 2008)

Posted on July 09, 2008
ICANN is Accepting Public Comment on Its Plan to Introduce New GTLDs. Members of the public are encouraged to tell ICANN to protect free expression and individual rights at the top-level of the Internet. ICANN: "At its 25 June 2008 meeting in Paris, France the GNSO Council voted to invite public comments on the 21 June 2008 version of the GNSO Improvements - Top Level Plan prepared by the GNSO Improvements Planning Team...

ACTA Turning ISPs Into Enforcers (LA Times)

Posted on July 09, 2008
ACTA, which aims to establish a multinational standard for anti-piracy enforcement, has generated a fair amount of concern in the blogosphere because a) it's being negotiated in secret, as are all trade pacts, and b) some media outlets have suggested that it could lead to people's laptops and iPods being searched at the border...

G8 Governments Want ACTA Finalised This Year, SPLT Talks Accelerated (IP-Watch)

Posted on July 09, 2008
Despite issues like the current food, energy and climate crises having taken centre stage at this week?s Group of 8 summit in Japan, governments did not lose sight of earlier plans to promote and more strictly protect intellectual property rights. ...

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