Category IP Policies

France’s Online Anti-Piracy Plan Comes Under Scrutiny

By Bruce Gain for Intellectual Property Watch
Legal experts and consumer rights groups are questioning the feasibility of measures described in an anti-piracy pact that French media groups, government officials, and Internet service providers (ISPs) announced on 23 November.

ISPs also dispute the veracity of media reports that have since claimed that access providers will begin to actively monitor and block peer-to-peer file exchanges in France.

The anti-piracy agreement describes a number of possible measures that could prevent illegal distribution of copyright-protected digital media in France.

Members Seek To Raise TRIPs Amendments In WTO Negotiations

By William New World Trade Organization members seeking changes to international rules on trade and intellectual property rights moved this week to include the debate on their proposals in an upcoming deadline for the broader trade negotiations at the WTO.…

Film Industry Touts ISP Partners In Filtering Online Content

By Liza Porteus Viana for Intellectual Property Watch
NEW YORK - Internet service providers are going to lead the monitoring of networks to ensure they are not being used for infringing purposes in the entertainment industry's seemingly endless battle to maintain control over where their content is distributed, and to whom, Motion Picture Association of America Chairman Dan Glickman said Tuesday.

Glickman, speaking at the 35th Annual UBS Global Media & Communications Conference on 5 December, said his organisation - which represents the motion picture, home video and television industries - is working with telephone, cable and Internet companies, most notably AT&T, to ensure their networks are not being used to illegally share or download content. The relationship is somewhat ironic given the entertainment industry's rocky history with the ISP community and its previous efforts to force telecommunications companies like Verizon to reveal the identities of customers who infringe copyrights on peer-to-peer filing systems.

Accord CAFTA : un Comité des Nations Unies questionne les dispositions de propriété intellectuelle relatives aux droits de l’homme

par Kaitlin Mara pour Intellectual Property Watch Lors d’une récente réunion, le Comité des droits économiques, sociaux et culturels (CESCR) de l’organisation des Nations Unies a fait écho aux préoccupations exprimées par les opposants costaricains à l’Accord de libre-échange entre…

The Proposed Reform Of Venezuelan Constitution: Cultural And Intellectual Property Issues

[Re: 2 December referendum on constitutional changes in Venezuela] By Rafael Carreño, SAPI External Advisor During the last few months across Venezuela at dozens of open forums -both on the streets and within institutions and in the media, there have…

Comite de Naciones Unidas cuestiona las disposiciones sobre propiedad intelectual del CAFTA por motivos de derechos humanos

Por Kaitlin Mara para Intellectual Property Watch En una reunión reciente, el Comité de Derechos Económicos, Sociales y Culturales de las Naciones Unidas (CESCR) se hizo eco de las preocupaciones planteadas por los opositores costarricenses del tratado de libre comercio…

EU To Publish Online Content Rule As Industry Launches IP Standard

By Liza Porteus Viana for Intellectual Property Watch The European Commission’s is expected to publish by year’s end a communication on creative content online that will address how to improve the competitiveness of European online content production and distribution industry,…

EU Parliament Urges Change In IP Rules For Environmental Technology

By David Cronin for Intellectual Property Watch BRUSSELS – Intellectual property rules should be reshaped to ensure that they do not hinder developing countries from gaining access to technology considered vital for addressing climate change, the European Parliament has declared.…

UN Committee Questions CAFTA’s IP Provisions On Human Rights Grounds

By Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (CESCR) in a recent meeting echoed concerns raised by Costa Rican opponents of the Central American free trade agreement with the United States,…