IP Justice Blog on EU IP Rights Enforcement Directive 2
16 Aug, 2007: EU IPRED2 : To Import Or Not To Import ?
By Antonis Broumas An unexpected implication in the legislating procedure of the proposed EU Directive on criminal measures aimed at ensuring the enforcement of intellectual property rights (IPRED2) puts legitimate businesses under clear threat of criminal sanctions. A “mistake” that quietly emerged during the drafting of the consolidated text of the proposed Directive threatens to outlaw parallel imports in the EU, ...
IP Justice Blog on WIPO Broadcast Treaty
15 Mar, 2008: WIPO Copyright Committee Considers Many Proposals for 2008 Work Program
WIPO Copyright Committee: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back 'Broadcast Treaty Chair' Remains, Limitations and Exceptions to Copyright Considered (15 March 2008) The WIPO Copyright Committee (SCCR) met from 10-12 March 2008 in Geneva to debate the future work program for the committee after the Member States ...21 Feb, 2008: Council of Europe Lurches Forward to Create Broadcasters Rights
Council of Europe takes step to create the Broadcast Treaty that WIPO Member States rejected in 2007. Interestingly, CoE calls the rejection of the treaty at WIPO as "deadlock" rather than admitting that the only ones who wanted the treaty were a handful of European broadcasters and the treaty was REJECTED, not deadlocked.22 Jun, 2007: Broadcast Treaty will be dead for a long time
"Today member states of WIPO decided that there will be neither a diplomatic conference on the proposed Broadcast Treaty, nor any more Special Sessions of the Standing Committee on Copyrights and Related Rights (SCCR). Till the end the Chair Yukka Liedes and the WIPO Secretariat intensely tried to keep the process on a way, at last by proposing that ...21 Jun, 2007: Rejection of a DipCon on a WIPO Casting Treaty very much likely now
After two days of informal sessions the Special Session of the SCCR is still running. In these two days no progress was made. Today two new non-papers were published by the Chair reflecting the discussions and showing clearly that delegates are no way near a consensus. One produced after the morning session has now at least two alternatives for each ...18 Jun, 2007: Of course it’s not against the piracy of broadcasts but to give brodcasters more rights
"Comments on Day One of the 2nd Special Session of the WIPO SCCR on a Draft Broadcasting Treaty. So far the negotiations on a draft for a WIPO Broadcast Treaty seem to be stuck making it more and more unlikely that a consensus will be reached till the session will end tomorrow morning. But according to the WIPO General ...
IP Justice Blog to Keep the Core Neutral at ICANN
12 Nov, 2007: Internet Domain Name Censorship Vote Delayed (Toward Freedom)
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which makes policy governing the Internet's Domain Name System, recently held its 30th International Public Meeting in Los Angeles. ICANN has stumbled into serious controversy as it threatens to establish policies for systematic censorship of generic top-level domains ("gTLDs" such as '.com' or '.org'), and it left these issues unresolved as ...
Robin's Cyberlaw Remix
18 Mar, 2008: Public-Interest Principles for the Networked Communications Environment
Why is Free Expression Important in an Information Society? The UK-based "Freedom of Expression Project" posted "Public Interest Principles for the Networked Communications Environment". The draft document provides useful analysis on the importance of freedom of expression, open standards, interoperability, respect for privacy, and balanced copyright law as key policy goals for a healthy and robust information society. ...15 Mar, 2008: WIPO Copyright Committee Considers Many Proposals for 2008 Work Program
WIPO Copyright Committee: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back 'Broadcast Treaty Chair' Remains, Limitations and Exceptions to Copyright Considered (15 March 2008) The WIPO Copyright Committee (SCCR) met from 10-12 March 2008 in Geneva to debate the future work program for the committee after the Member States ...14 Mar, 2008: CFP 2008 Call for Proposals on “US Technology Policy for the Next Administration”
This year, the 18th annual Computers, Freedom, and Privacy conference will focus on what constitutes technology policy. CFP: Technology Policy '08 is an opportunity to help shape public debate on those issues being made into laws and regulations and those technological infrastructures being developed. The direction of our technology policy impacts the choices we make about our national defense, our ...13 Mar, 2008: Sign the Petition to EU Parliament to Use Open Standards and Promote Interoperability
If you are a European citizen, sign the petition to "Open Parliament" and encourage the use of open standards and interoperable systems in the European ICT sector. The Open Parliament Petition states that citizens should not have to use the software of a single company in order to communicate with their elected officials or participate in the legislate ...12 Mar, 2008: “Privacy-Invasive” Domain Name Trademark Bill Before US Congress
Sign the Petition. A new bill (S. 2661) is currently before the US Congress that would once again expand trademark rights to domain names and threaten free expression on the Internet. The bill, introduced by US Senator Snowe (R-Maine), also contains a privacy-invasive provision over the revelation of "whois" data (ICANN's online database about website owners). The ...11 Mar, 2008: US Govt Seizes Blacklisted Domain Names of European Company for Selling Cuba Trips
"An interesting story broke recently in the NY Times about a Spanish travel company that had its domain names taken away by the US Government for selling Europeans vacations to Cuba. Even though the company's business was not targeted at the US and was lawful in its national jurisdiction, the company's websites were put on a domain name ...6 Mar, 2008: Freedom of Expression at Risk by Council of Europe
The Council of Europe needs something useful to do. Although the inter-governmental organization of European states frequently makes beautiful statements about the importance of freedom of expression and other human rights, unfortunately, the actions of the CoE too frequently take another direction: censorship...5 Mar, 2008: Trent Reznor Puts Fans in Charge with Successful Experimental Business Model
Trent Reznor has rocked the music world once again. The long-time front man for Nine-Inch-Nails is convinced the current music business infrastructure is broken since it requires artists to rely on labels. Reznor is looking for a new model. Last year NIN broke free from its major label and decided to go independent, look to its fans for support, and ...15 Feb, 2008: ICANN Not Yet Ready to Sever Ties to US Government
ICANN argues that it should be cut-lose from the only oversight it currently knows in the ongoing debate over who governs Cyberspace. I submitted my statement from the 31st public ICANN Meeting at the Taj Palace Hotel in New Delhi, India. I said that ICANN has not provided for sufficient representation of Internet users in its policy making ...5 Feb, 2008: Public Comments Open on USTR Special 301 List
"The United States Trade Representative (USTR) has requested written submissions from the public "concerning foreign countries' acts, policies, and practices that are relevant to the decision as to whether particular trading partners should be identified" in its Special 301 List. The USTR's Special 301 Lists are used to impose trade sanction on foreign countries that do not adhere to ...- View all entries under Robin's Cyberlaw Remix