Category Copyright Policy

Standards ouverts et accès à la connaissance au menu des discussions du Forum sur la gouvernance de l’Internet

Par Monika Ermert pour Intellectual Property Watch RIO DE JANEIRO – Les questions liées à la propriété intellectuelle ont été parmi les sujets que les gouvernements avaient évité d’aborder pendant le sommet sur la société de l’information en 2003-2005, qui…

Normas abiertas y acceso al conocimiento, temas abordados en el FGI

Por Monika Ermert para Intellectual Property Watch RÍO DE JANEIRO- El de las cuestiones relacionadas con la propiedad intelectual fue un tema que los gobiernos evitaron tocar durante la Cumbre Mundial sobre la Sociedad de la Información en 2003 y…

Open Standards, Access To Knowledge Discussed At IGF

By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch RIO DE JANEIRO – Intellectual property-related issues were a topic avoided by governments during the 2003-2005 World Summit on the Information Society, which gave way to the Internet Governance Forum (IGF). But at…

French Industry Attacks Private Copy Fees As Levy Debate Grows

By Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch
Makers and distributors of digital storage products and audiovisual media last week urged France's highest administrative court to kill private copy levies on technologies for transferring data such as USB keys, external hard disks and memory cards.

The challenges, filed 9 November in the Conseil d'Etat by e-merchant Rue du Commerce and the Syndicat des Industries de Mat�riels Audiovisuels Electroniques (SIMAVELEC), contend that the lack of harmonised levies among European Union countries violates EU law and hurts online sellers.

The legal action came one day after the European Grouping of Societies of Authors and Composers (GESAC) argued that non-payment of levies should be made a criminal offence.

WIPO Committees Casting About For Future Work

By William New The World Intellectual Property Organization enforcement committee last week heard from a series of intellectual property rights enforcers and others before attempting unsuccessfully to agree on the future work and moving to consultations till February. Meanwhile, separate…

Change Of Leadership At ICANN As Cerf Makes Way For IP Expert

By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Intellectual property and computer law barrister Peter Dengate-Thrush has been elected as new Chairman of the Board of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). The former chairman of InternetNZ, the…

Internet Governance Forum To Return To Critical Internet Resources Issue

By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch The upcoming second Internet Governance Forum in Rio de Janeiro will have a very broad agenda with over thirty workshops, 22 best practice forums and 10 meetings of dynamic coalitions specialising in key…

IP Community Critical Of Proposals On ICANN Agenda

By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Even the “father of the Internet” could not find a solution to the ongoing fight over the so-called Whois database, which allow checks on who has registered Internet domain names. When Vinton Cerf…

New Models Emerge For European Copyright Licensing System

By Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch
The European system for licensing copyrighted music is in "huge confusion" following the rejection by content users and smaller collecting societies of a proposed model contract for collective management of music on cable, satellite and the Internet, Thierry Desurmont, vice president of the board of France's Societe des Auteurs, Compositeurs et Editeurs de Musique, said this week.

Desurmont spoke along with others at a 22 October Chatham House/International Institute of Communications conference on trends in global communications in London.

Battle Rages Over WIPO DG As Staff Dissents, Africa Cries Racism

By William New Hundreds of employees at the World Intellectual Property Organization, a prominent United Nations agency, have signed a petition calling on WIPO Director General Kamil Idris to put the organisation’s interests before his own in addressing allegations that…