Intellectual Property

IP Justice is an international civil liberties organization promoting balanced intellectual property laws in a digital world.

Total news: 380
Last news: April 15, 2009 19:24:06

Over 60 Non-Commercial Organizations from all corners of the globe signed in support of the petition from the Non-Commercial Users Constituency (NCUC) for a stakeholder group at ICANN including Article 19, Privacy International, EPIC, FreePress, Asociatia pentru Tehnologie si Internet, EDRi, Public Knowledge, CPSR, Electronic Frontier Foundation, ICT Consumer Association of Kenya, AGEA DENSI, Association for Progressive Communications, Knowledge Ecology International, University of West Indies At Large Structure, RITS, Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication, Alfa-Redi, Internet Society Mauritius, International Institute for Sustainable Development, FGV-CTS, Asociación por los Derechos Civiles, and many more NGOs -�[Read�more]

ICANN is accepting comments from the public on the proposed censorship constituency until 5 April 2009. SCO Group Chairman Ralph Yarro III, the ultra-conservative behind what Business Week dubbed "the most hated company in tech" (SCO) for stealing the computer code of thousands of Linux open source programmers is now behind efforts to flood ICANN with identical form letters encouraging the adoption of Yarros "Cybersafety" Constituency during the Public Comment Period. The proposed "Cybersafety" Constituency claims to be concerned with "safety", but in reality is just a couple of anti-porn extremists in Yarros flock who see ICANN as an opportunity for control of the flow of information on the Internet. The proposed constituency is run by CP80, Yarros anti-porn outfit that argues for using ICANN as a choke point to impose global censorship on the Internet. Naturally, Yarro and his anti-porn zealots at CP80 propose that they know what is best for you and to what information you should be permitted access. Send ICANN a comment today. -�[Read�more]

The essential elements of this proposal are: Noncommercial stakeholders join the NCSG directly, and the NCSG keeps track of membership and administers voting for Council seats by the membership as a whole. The NCSG is administered by an annually elected Chair and a Policy Committee. The Policy Committee is composed of the 6 elected GNSO Councilors and one representative from each Constituency. There are three classes of membership: 1) large organizations (which receive 4 votes), small organizations (which receive 2 votes) and individuals (who receive 1 vote). Constituencies are formed as sub-units within the NCSG. We have deliberately made it relatively easy to form and join constituencies; at the same time we have de-linked Constituency formation from Council seats so that NCSG participants do not have artificial incentives to fragment into competing groups. If the Board wishes to approve constituency formation under these terms we will embody this requirement in the charter. Constituencies are given special rights to propose Working Groups and assured that their positions are incorporated into any and all public comments submitted by the NCSG into the policy development process. To protect the voice of minorities in the policy process, we require all NCSG representatives on the GNSO Council to vote in favor of the formation of a Working Group if it has the support of 1/3 of the constituencies or 1/5 of the whole membership..... -�[Read�more]

"While the U.S. claims that ACTA documents are a matter of national security and the European Parliament demands greater transparency, it would appear that the Canadian delegation would favour an early release of the draft treaty. According to a confidential November 2008 memorandum that was prepared for Stockwell Day, the Minister of International Trade obtained under the Access to Information Act: At the upcoming meeting in December 2008, given its commitment to transparency in international trade negotiations, the Canadian delegation plans to argue for a transparent approach. . . This approach would result in an earlier release of the text, which would serve to alleviate domestic concerns about the scope of the agreement and the perceived secrecy surrounding the process. The draft text could then serve as the basis for broad-based public consultations. Should there be no consensus among the ACTA partners to make the ACTA text public, the Department will need to develop options to address Canadian stakeholders concerns about the lack of transparency in the ACTA process.... -�[Read�more]

"The negotiating text of ACTA and many other documents, including even the lists of participants in the negotiations, are secret. The US White House claims the secrecy is required as a matter of "national security". But that does not mean the documents are off limits to everyone outside of the government. Hundreds of advisors, many of them corporate lobbyists, are considered “cleared advisors.” They have access to the ACTA documents. Who are these cleared advisors? They are the members of these 27 USTR advisory boards:..." -�[Read�more]

The European Parliament has demanded more transparency in the EU, and it made a point of singling out the controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. Parliament has been considering a general transparency bill, but one amendment to the bill demanded access to ACTA documents—access that negotiators have so far been unwilling to provide. "In accordance with Article 255(1) of the EC Treaty, the Commission should immediately make all documents related to the ongoing international negotiations on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) publicly available," says the amendment. -�[Read�more]

"President Obamas White House has tightened the cloak of government secrecy still further, saying in a letter this week that a discussion draft of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement and related materials are "classified in the interest of national security pursuant to Executive Order 12958." The 1995 Executive Order 12958 allows material to be classified only if disclosure would do "damage to the national security and the original classification authority is able to identify or describe the damage." Jamie Love, director of the nonprofit group Knowledge Ecology International, filed the Freedom of Information Act request that resulted in this weeks denial from the White House. The denial letter was sent to Love by the chief FOIA officer in the White Houses Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Love had written in his original request on January 31--submitted soon after Obamas inauguration--that the documents "are being widely circulated to corporate lobbyists in Europe, Japan, and the U.S. There is no reason for them to be secret from the American public.".... -�[Read�more]

"The World Trade Organization on 26 January issued a panel report in a case brought by the US challenging Chinas enforcement of intellectual property rights. While the case has been commonly reported as a victory for the US, careful and detailed analysis of the panel ruling indicates that Chinas intellectual property laws have been vindicated in the most important areas that were disputed. Experts have actually characterized it as a loss for the US. University of Ottawa law professor Dr. Michael Geist said that "the headlines get it wrong. The US did not win this case, but rather lost badly"... -�[Read�more]

"The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement has sparked an outcry from public interest groups. “The speed with which it has been rushed through - and the secrecy of the meetings and the provisions is alarming,” said IP Justice Executive Director Robin Gross. ACTA will make routine surveillance of laptops, iPods and other devices in the hope of finding questionable music, videos and other information “a de facto standard for every airport in the world,” she said. The proposal also shifts the costs of enforcing private rights to the public, she said. So far civil society and developing countries have been barred from talks, she added..." -�[Read�more]

Il suo poster, con i colori della bandiera americana e la scritta "Hope", speranza, ha fatto il giro del mondo, è stato riprodotto in migliaia di riviste e siti Internet, diventando il simbolo della campagna per le presidenziali di Barack Obama. Ma ora Shepard Fairey, il 38enne illustratore di Los Angeles che con quella locandina ha acquisito fama mondiale, si trova improvvisamente al centro di un presunto caso di violazione di copyright: lagenzia Associated Press ha accusato lartista di aver copiato il ritratto del 44esimo Presidente degli Stati Uniti da una foto di sua proprietà. -�[Read�more]

Poster-Child Case for Fair Use or Illegal Art? The Associated Press is claiming that it is the copyright owner of a photograph of President Obama that was used by an Obama supporter to create to poster for the political campaign and the now-famous poster is a copyright infringement of its photo. However this case could be considered the "poster-child" case for fair use. It is unfortunate that the AP is trying to turn political expression into illegal art. But these facts would be a good opportunity to set some positive legal precedent protecting fair use of political expression should the AP pursue this matter in the courts. ..." -�[Read�more]

"Robin Gross, an intellectual property attorney who heads IP Justice, an international civil liberties organization, believes that Fairey had the right to use the photo, saying that he intended it for a political cause, not commercial use. "Faireys purpose of the use for the photo was political or civic, and this will certainly count in favor of the poster being a fair use," said Gross, based in San Francisco. "Nor will the poster diminish the value of the photo, if anything, it has increased the original photos value beyond measure, another factor counting heavily in favor of fair use."... -�[Read�more]

"There are plans for the next ACTA negotiation to take place in Rabat, Morocco. However, since none of the Obama trade people have been placed at USTR, this might be delayed. The USTR is still maintaining secrecy over details of the negotiation, including the names of participants and all of the proposed texts for negotiations. Despite this, KEI has obtained some documents related to the negotiations. We can report the following: The U.S. and Japan have proposed that willful trademark and copyright infringement on a commercial scale be subject to criminal sanctions, including infringement that has “no direct or indirect motivation of financial gain.” This will further: include sentences of imprisonment as well as monetary fines sufficiently high to provide a deterrent to future acts of infringement, consistent with a policy of removing the monetary incentive of the infringer...." -�[Read�more]

China has been found in violation of two of its responsibilities under international rules on trade and intellectual property, and in partial violation of one more, said a World Trade Organization panel report on the US-China dispute over copyright and customs matters released Monday. But the panel did not make a decision on some of the US claims. The panel has recommended that China alter its copyright law and customs measures to be consistent with its obligations under the WTO Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement. The final report finds China’s copyright law inconsistent with Article 9 of the TRIPS agreement, which incorporates the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Work. The panel stated that China is inconsistent with Berne Convention Rule 5(1), which requires that foreign owners of creative works receive the same protection as domestic owners of similar material.... -�[Read�more]

The World Trade Organization yesterday released its much-anticipated decision involving a U.S. complaint against China over its protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights. The U.S. quickly proclaimed victory, with newspaper headlines trumpeting the WTO panels requirement that China reform elements of its intellectual property laws. For its part, China was conciliatory and offered to work with the international community to resolve the concerns raised by the decision. Reuters notes that the Chinese reaction is far less combative than it has been other issues.... -�[Read�more]