A Growing Number of Individual Legal Rights Issues Intersect with the Internet, including Freedom of Expression, Access to Knowledge (A2K), Copyrights, Trademarks, Patents, Privacy, Anonymity, Surveillance, Cyber-Security, Anti-Circumvention Measures, File-Sharing, Contributory Liability, Fair Use, Fair Dealing, Intermediary Protections, Notice and Take-Down, Public Domain, Trade Secrets, Due Process, Hyperlinking, Database Rights, Enforcement of Intellectual Property, Internet Censorship
Vol. 2 Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) Public Comments (USTR)
Comments of the Generic Pharmaceutical Association on the Anti- Counterfeiting Trade Agreement March 21, 2008 The Generic Pharmaceutical Association (GPhA) supports efforts to secure the U.S. drug supply from counterfeit medicines. Currently, due in great part to the vigilance of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the quality of [...]
Vol. 3 Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) Public Comments (USTR)
International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) - ACTA Public Comments Via email ACTA@ustr.eop.gov Ms. Rachel Bae Director for Intellectual Property & Innovation Office of the U.S. Trade Representative 600 17th Street NW Washington, DC 20508 Dear Ms. Bae: Re: Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA): Request for Public Comments 73 Fed. Reg. 8910 [...]
Vol. 4 Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) Public Comments (USTR)
National Electronics Manufacturers Association (NEMA) - ACTA Public Comments Original Source Document as PDF.
ICANN Go-Ahead on GTLDs with “String Criteria” of “Morality and Public Order”
"There has been wide coverage of ICANN’s decision this week to adopt a new process for creating new global Top Level Domains (gTLDs).... Civil libertarians supporting Susan Crawford’s line argue that if governments are able to pressure ICANN into prohibiting .jihad (which has perfectly non-violent meanings in Islam as well as the terrorist connotations it has recently acquired in the West), then can a prohibition on .falun-gong be far behind? ..."
Work Remains For ICANN’s New Top Level Internet Domains (IP-Watch)
Internet Technical Body an Authority on Morality? ICANN announced the "biggest extension of the DNS [domain name system] in 40 years" after its decision last week to finish implementation of a new policy for introducing new top-level domains (TLDs). According to the timeline presented at the ICANN meeting in Paris, new TLDs to compete against the existing .com, .biz or .museum TLDs will be open for application in the second quarter of 2009. ... But the most discussed and criticised reason for an objection clearly is “morality and public order.†This objection criterion would allow any government to veto strings (domains), ICANN director and US law professor Susan Crawford warned before the vote on the new TLD policy. This could undermine ICANN’s mission to act as a private self-regulatory body, she said, by giving such influence to governments. “It’s allowing governments to censor,†Crawford said, adding that the idea of having a private internet governance model was also “to avoid having the domain name system used as a choke-point for content.†Together with her colleague Wendy Seltzer, who acts as liaison of the ICANN At-Large User Community to the board, Crawford asked for clear-cut and narrow rules for the morality objection....
ICANN Board Approves Censorship Policy for Domain Names Based on Morality: 2 Board Members Speak Against It
Today in Paris the ICANN Board passed the GNSO's controversial recommendations to censor top level domains based on notions of "morality and public order", and broadly defined "community" wishes. However, 2 ICANN board members, law professors Wendy Seltzer (on behalf of the At-Large Internet Users) and Susan Crawford, made very powerful and compelling statements to protect free expression on the top level of the Internet. Hopefully Professor Crawford is right and this harm can be mitigated through narrowly tailored implementation.
2008 USTR Special 301 Report Summary from IP Justice
United States Trade Representative (USTR) Section 301 Annual Reports (2001-2007) Section 301 of 1984 Trade & Tariff Act (which amended 1974 Trade Act) gave the US President authority to deal with states that failed to provide “adequate and effective” protection for US intellectual property rights. Under Section 301, punishment for [...]
USTR Press Release on ACTA Negotiations
Sean Spicer of USTR on ACTA: "The main focus of the discussion was border measures, particularly how to deal with large-scale intellectual property infringements, which can frequently involve criminal elements and pose a threat to public health and safety. ..."
IGF 2008 Hyderabad: Program, Agenda and Format of Hyderabad Meeting
Internet Governance Forum (IGF) Program, Agenda and Format of the Hyderabad Meeting I. Introduction This paper aims to provide an update to the planning on programme, agenda and format of the third IGF meeting, which is to take place in Hyderabad on 3 – 6 December 2008. The paper is [...]
US Supreme Court Hands Big Win to Free Speech Advocates in the IP World
[Major League Baseball v. CBC Distribution] By Allonn E. Levy, Esq. "An obvious “win†for Free Speech advocates and “netizens†concerned with ensuring open access to information on the Internet, the case also helps the burgeoning field of Internet information consolidators who help consumers collect information and process it. Expect to see the case cited frequently in the near future as more and more courts will be facing cases where Internet based information companies battle these issues out with content holders..."
US Congress Cites Free Expression as Reason ICANN Must Remain Controlled by US Govt.
US Congressmen are up to their old tricks of pretending to care about free expression publicly, while undermining it's practice with their policy decisions -- especially when it comes to free speech on the Internet. Congressman Edward Markey, the Chairman of the Congressional Sub-committee on Telecommunications and the Internet sent a letter urging the US Government to refuse to relinquish unilateral oversight of ICANN, the US Commerce Department created organization set up to manage the Internet's root server. Although the reason given by the politicians for needing the US to dominate Internet policy is to protect freedom of expression on the Internet, it is worth noting that ICANN and the US Congress have consistently refused to respect freedom of expression principles in its Internet policy-making choices. (Remember the new ICANN plan to prohibit top-level domain names that are offensive, immoral, disorderly, and desired by 'established institutions'?) The Internet Governance Project Blog discusses in more detail the irony of using freedom of expression arguments in order to continue to engage in censorship at ICANN. The post is worth a read to anyone who cares about freedom of expression on the Internet....
IP Justice Statement at IGF Open Consultation of IGF Dynamic Coalition for Access to Knowledge and Free Expression (A2K@IGF)
"IPR protection has always been given to creators and inventors in exchange for some benefit to the public. These are usually included in IP law as exceptions and limitations that can provide a benefit to the public. For example, when copyright owners permit the copying of their materials for private and educational use, they contribute to the general pool of knowledge available on the Internet. The practice of remixing, re-using, editing, and combining of audio-video and text to comment on culture and create transformative works depends upon a system of robust exceptions and limitations to exclusive rights. This coalition supports innovation and the creation of wealth through IPR incentivization, but we also seek to support alternative models for creating knowledge goods, including free and open source software, or open scholarly and scientific journals, and on-line access to scholarly research, publicly funded research, and essential documents such as legal information. The A2K@IGF coalition welcomes a discussion in Hyderabd that explores best practices for promoting sharing of knowledge and access to information and that explores a variety of business models designed to encourage creativity and innovation. We welcome participation from all stakeholders in this ongoing discussion to build an open and inclusive Internet to promote human development and individual empowerment...."
A2K@IGF Statement at IGF Open Consultation (Audio)
Statement at the IGF Open Consultation from the IGF Dynamic Coalition for Access to Knowledge and Free Expression (A2K@IGF) (Audio file - .mp3)
Draft Program Outline for the Third Meeting of the IGF in Hyderabad in Dec. 2008
Draft Program Outline for the Third Meeting of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) Hyderabad, 3-6 December 2008 Introduction This paper aims to provide an input into the open round of consultations on 13 May 2008 to discuss programme and agenda for the third meeting of the IGF in Hyderabad. It [...]
IP Justice White Paper on the Proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA)
In 2007 a select handful of the wealthiest countries began a treaty-making process to create a new global standard for intellectual property rights enforcement, the proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). ACTA is spearheaded by the United States, the European Commission, Japan, and Switzerland -- those countries with the largest intellectual property industries. Other countries invited to participate in ACTA’s negotiation process are Canada, Australia, Korea, Mexico and New Zealand. Noticeably absent from ACTA’s negotiations are leaders from developing countries who hold national policy priorities that differ from the international intellectual property industry....