Original news and analysis on international IP policy
Marrakesh, Morocco - The 28 June signing of the new international treaty to improve access to published materials for the visually impaired brought relief to the beneficiaries and satisfaction to delegations. But some underlined the need to sign and ratify the new treaty.
As World Intellectual Property Organization delegates were giving their closing statements after today’s adoption of the Marrakesh treaty for the blind that some called a miracle, just outside the door of the Palais des Congrès, a large group of blind people was demonstrating to bring attention to their need for employment.
Governments can impose copyright levies on sales of printers and computers, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) said in a 27 June ruling.
Prof. Sean Flynn writes that the transparency in the breakthrough agreement on an international treaty for the visually impaired in Morocco is a lesson for trade negotiators who encounter difficulties after keeping trade agreement texts secret until negotiations are over, such as in the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP).
The Internet Society (ISOC) today announced the names of 32 individuals who have made significant contributions to the web for induction into the 2013 Internet Hall of Fame.
Hundreds of European publishers have issued a call for the European Commission to reject draft remedies put forward by Google to settle concerns about market dominance in web searching and search advertising.
Since 2009, seven countries in sub-Saharan Africa have reduced new HIV infections among children by 50 percent, and others have made significant progress, according to a new report by UNAIDS. But efforts in some countries have stalled, it said.
Lisbon, Portugal - The surveillance affair around the US Prism programme left its mark on the 2013 European Dialogue on Internet Governance (EuroDIG) in Lisbon last week. Legal experts at the sixth edition of the European version of the Internet Governance Forum pondered possible legal reactions, companies revealed as targets or (unwilling) partners of the programme tried to limit the damage, while Swedish ambassador Olaf Ehrenkrona admitted that state surveillance programs need to be reconsidered given the ease of mass surveillance in the era of a public internet space.
The Obama administration and academic and industry partners today announced their commitment to support the Materials Genome Initiative (MGI), a public-private endeavor whose aim is to reduce the time required to develop novel materials that can “fuel advanced manufacturing and bolster the 21st century American economy.”
Leader of the newly formed Renewables Club and rated as a world leader in the green energy race, South Africa has done little to secure this advantage with intellectual property rights of its own.
A Harvard University professor known for advancing global development issues hails the merits of agricultural innovation, including biotechnologies, as the unique solution to food security.
A large portion of the United States Congress this week signed on to a letter to President Obama criticising India for its treatment of intellectual property rights.