Original news and analysis on international IP policy
The first edition of the renewed Internet Governance Forum (IGF) last week tried its all not to become just another internet governance conference, with new formats and the taking on of one big topic that so far had evaded the “multi-stakeholder” approach: trade negotiations. But it also angered some by making its big dinner an invitation-only event, for governments and friends.
The German constitutional court has rebuffed a second complaint seeking to allow oversight bodies to see the US National Security Administration (NSA) selector list.
European Union trade politicians in several meetings this week in Brussels reflected on the future of trade policy, also impacted by the US elections. “It is a changed world, period,” Iuliu Winkler, vice-chair of the parliamentary International Trade (INTA) Committee (European People's Party) said at the opening of the EU Trade Policy Day, expressing the general sentiment. While many members of INTA committee underlined the need of Europe to press ahead with their trade negotiations internationally, those critical of an aggressive trade agenda were eager to have their arguments not to be mixed with what was criticised as populist fear-mongering against globalisation.
With a delay of mere days, CETA, the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between the European Union and Canada, will be signed Sunday in Brussels by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker. This follows two weeks of uncertainty over the deal that includes not only tariff reduction, but also an attempt to harmonise regulation and set up a reformed investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism.
The 2016 Global Standards Symposium (GSS2016) organised by the UN International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Hammamet, Tunisia, this week in its conclusions heavily supported privacy by design and collaboration on privacy issues. The consensus of participants was a little shaky though, with some representatives like the United Kingdom and United States questioning the procedure to approve conclusions immediately after the one day event on 24 October.
MUNICH -- Will personal data become a property right licensed to those who give you the best deal for it? Researchers at a conference convened by the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition in Munich delved into a future “holistic approach” of intellectual property, data and consumer protection, with additional assistance from competition law.
With the vote on the European Union-Canada trade agreement (CETA) on the agenda once more at the upcoming EU Council meeting tomorrow the representatives of European and Canadian cities and regions gathered at Brussels today for a “CETA Citizens' Summit.” Gerardo Pisarello, vice mayor of the city of Barcelona, said that cities like his see CETA as a barrier to their plans to remunicipalize water and energy services and the attempts “to open up public procurement to small companies and cooperatives."
CETA, the Canada-Europe trade agreement, is still not at the finish line yet. The European Commission has all but one member state on board for the signature of the Comprehensive Economy and Trade Agreement (CETA), Slovak Economy Minister Peter Ziga said today after a meeting of the trade ministers of the EU member states.
The German Constitutional Court in a fast-track decision today rejected the granting of emergency injunctions against a German signature of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) of Europe with Canada.
“The federal court in Galveston, Texas denied the plaintiffs' application for declaratory and injunctive relief. As of 1 October 2016, the IANA functions contract has expired.” This two-sentence statement from Assistant US Commerce Secretary for Communications and Information and National Telecommunication and Information Administration Administrator Lawrence Strickling ended an era of direct United States oversight over changes to the authoritative root zone of the internet domain name system, and as a contractor for a set of core internet databases.