Original news and analysis on international IP policy
By Catherine Saez Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are important players in intellectual property policy debates but should be aware of limitations and potential improvements to their influence with developing countries, according to a new report from the United Kingdom. NGOs working…
By John T. Aquino for Intellectual Property Watch WASHINGTON, DC – At the 3 January roundtable discussion concerning the work at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) on a broadcasters’ rights treaty, many of the more than 50 participants were…
By William New As the year end draws near, United States government officials are marking the ground for international intellectual property debates to come in 2007. On 13 December, Senator Patrick Leahy, incoming chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee released…
By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch A series of five recent hearings in the Justice Committee of the German Parliament have revealed deep rifts over the second part of Germany’s copyright law reform. This so-called “second basket” deals with…
By Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch LONDON – Increasing consumer demand for accessing online content anytime, anywhere is politicizing copyright, speakers said last week at the Digital Hollywood Europe conference here. Frustration over restrictive and incompatible digital rights management…
By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen While the music industry said it is a “big disappointment” that the United Kingdom will not extend copyright protection to sound recordings beyond its current 50 years as stated in a leaked section of a…
By Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch Australia is poised to become the first country to make copyright infringement a “no-fault” offence, a move aimed at broadening criminal penalties for infringement. The change is part of sweeping revisions intended to…
By William New ATHENS – The World Summit on the Information Society told the world to build “dynamic” coalitions to address problems related to the Internet, and this week, the world responded. At the four-day Internet Governance Forum here ending…
By William New ATHENS – Whether intellectual property rights protection is inhibiting the free flow of information was hotly debated at the Internet Governance Forum on 31 October. “Just about every aspect of the free flow of information is now…
By William New ATHENS – Participants in this week’s Internet Governance Forum here saw strong support for ensuring public access to knowledge as tough questions were put to technology corporations for their apparent support of restrictive government practices. But representatives…
By William New ATHENS – As hundreds of Internet practitioners and visionaries gathered here for a forum on governance of the Internet, two long-time stakeholders have issued an updated proposal aimed at defusing the biggest policy tensions by moving governance…
By William New ATHENS – The four-day Internet Governance Forum opened on 30 October by addressing many topics, among them the availability of content online. Content on the Internet will be addressed in a variety of ways this week, including…