IP Justice Publications
Free Expression Threatened by Policy to Ban Controversial Ideas in Domain Names
ICANN’s current proposal for evaluating new top-level domains will result in massive censorship on the Internet, since controversial or offensive ideas will not be allowed in a top-level domain. And the proposal vastly expands the rights of large trademark holders to control the use of language on the Internet, well beyond what US or international trademark law grants to trademark owners. ICANN’s historical practice of deferring to the intellectual property lobby in setting global domain name policy has consistently provided ammunition to those who would question ICANN’s legitimacy and its ability to govern in the global public interest. ICANN will continue to grapple with a perception of illegitimacy, particularly from the developing world, as long as it operates for the benefit of narrow special interests, while disregarding fundamental freedoms in its policy development process. For ICANN to remain the appropriate international forum to be entrusted with managing the Internet’s root server, ICANN must stick to its narrow technical mission and keep the core neutral on national policy issues.
Landmark Ruling: DVD-Unlocking Code Ruled Lawful in Europe
A Finnish Court has ruled that the Content Scrabling System (CSS) computer code, which unlocks DVD movies, is lawful in Europe. The decision was a first to interpret the legality of DVD decoding software under the 2001 European Copyright Directive. .... This ruling is good news for consumers and innovators who want to build interoperable tools that will permit consumers to engage in a full range of lawful activities with their digital media collections, like making digital movie archives and video "mash-ups". Besides applying across the EU, European experts believe this ruling will apply across media platforms and not restricted only to DVDs.
Report on WIPO in 2007 Global Information Society Watch
By Robin Gross. New leadership is needed at WIPO in key positions, like the chairmanship of WIPO’s copyright committee. The WIPO delegates themselves must hold WIPO accountable for its actions, by refusing to re-elect leaders who consistently ignore the explicit instructions of the WIPO General Assembly to pursue their own agenda. The proposed Broadcasting Treaty could not be a better example - where the WIPO General Assembly has told the WIPO Copyright Committee Chair Jukka Liedes that the proposed Broadcasting Treaty should be a “signal-based†approach, which still protects broadcasts from theft without creating a new set of exclusive rights. Yet Liedes continues to draft the proposals for the treaty with his preferred approach of creating new intellectual property rights for broadcasting companies. ....
2007 Report: IP Justice on WIPO in Global Information Society Watch
I've written a chapter about the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in a new report entitled "Global Information Society Watch" published by the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) and (iTeM). Besides WIPO, the report includes a number of other articles about global policy-making institutions such as ICANN, ITU, UNESCO, and UNDP. The report officially launches next Tuesday in Geneva as part of the WSIS-IGF-related activities over the next two weeks. In the article, I argue that new leadership is needed at WIPO in key positions, like the chairmanship of WIPO's copyright committee. The WIPO delegates themselves must hold WIPO accountable for its actions, by refusing to re-elect leaders who consistently ignore the explicit instructions of the WIPO General Assembly to pursue their own agenda. The proposed Broadcasting Treaty could not be a better example - where the WIPO General Assembly has told the WIPO Copyright Committee Chair Jukka Liedes that the proposed Broadcasting Treaty should be a "signal-based" approach, which still protects broadcasts from theft without creating a new set of exclusive rights. Yet Liedes continues to draft the proposals for the treaty with his preferred approach of creating new intellectual property rights for broadcasting companies. My final recommendation and conclusion about what WIPO needs to better protect the global public interest: "5.2.5 Greater oversight and accountability from the UN [...]
Global Information Society Watch – Launch of the 2007 Report
Click on above title for more info on book launch on 22 May 2007 in Geneva, Switzerland. The meeting is open to the public and is part of the WSIS cluster of events in Switzerland in late May 2007.