CETA To Be Signed (Again) During EU-Canada Summit In Mid-October 23/09/2016 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment European Union trade ministers at an informal meeting in Bratislava, Slovakia today agreed on the final steps to enact CETA, the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between Canada and the EU. There will be no other reopening of the text, assured EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem after the meeting. But ministers have agreed, according to Slovak Minister of Economy Peter Ziga, that some sensitive issues have to be straightened out in an additional annex to the CETA text.
Leaks Show TISA No Easy Trade Deal; Civil Rights Groups, Unions Alarmed 20/09/2016 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Greenpeace, European Digital Rights, Public Services International and the International Transport Worker’s Federation today presented a collection of leaked papers on the Trade in Services Agreement (TISA). As negotiators from a dozen countries currently gathered in Geneva for officially the 20th round to close the deal on better trans-border service trading, the civil rights activists and trade union representatives warned that TISA partners would commit to give up their options to regulate in the public interest through a secret deal.
Mass Protests Against TTIP, CETA In Germany 17/09/2016 by Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments In Berlin, Hamburg and five other cities in Germany, some 320,000 citizens today protested against the adoption of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).
‘High Noon’ Showdown Hearing In US Over Internet Control 14/09/2016 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Former US Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz today used a 3.5 hour hearing of a Senate subcommittee he chairs to attempt to scare the US Commerce Department National Telecommunications and Information Administration away at the last minute from its plans to transition out of its stewardship role for the internet root zone system.
The Expert On IP For Internet Protocol: Interview With Scott Bradner 19/08/2016 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Fluent in both types of IP: Scott Bradner has been an architect of intellectual property (IP) policy for internet protocol (IP) standards. He played a core role in the development of internet protocol, leading to the very digital revolution we know today, as well as the next generation IPv6, all the while designing intellectual property policy to go along with it. Here is an interview with Bradner.
US Government Announces Go-Ahead For IANA Transition By October 17/08/2016 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The United States Commerce Department National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) this week confirmed it will hand over oversight of the internet domain name system root zone and other core internet infrastructure registries to the semi-private Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).
TTIP Negotiators Need Many More Nights To Negotiate – And Are Planning Just That 15/07/2016 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Top negotiators of the European Union and United States today underlined after the 14th round of negotiations for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) that they are still on track for finalising the deal during the outgoing Obama administration. At the same time, they acknowledged that after three years of negotiations some chapters have never been discussed.
Privacy Shield May Not Be “Schrems-Proof”, But Passage Approved 11/07/2016 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The European Commission is expected to pass a controversial declaration on the “adequacy of US data protection standards” on 12 July, making transfers of personal data from the European Union to the United States legal once more. [Update: Privacy Shield was announced today by the US and EU.]
CETA: Ripe For Provisional Implementation In January 2018? 10/07/2016 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The European Commission on 8 July published the finalized Comprehensive Economic Canada-EU Trade Agreement (CETA) and formally proposed to Council to sign the agreement, pushing for provisional implementation amidst ongoing discussions over competency issues with EU member states. After finalising CETA in August 2014, the controversial investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) system was renegotiated last year.
National Parliaments Not Needed For CETA Approval, European Commission President Juncker Says 29/06/2016 by Intellectual Property Watch 5 Comments European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said today that the European Union would not include national parliaments of EU member states in the final decision on the Canada-EU Trade Agreement (CETA). Juncker’s CETA statement was made during the post-Brexit meeting of EU heads of state in Brussels today (28 June), several German newspapers reported quoting the German News Agency (DPA).