ACTA: Negotiations Advance ‘Behind The Curtain’; Many Concerns 02/08/2008 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Representatives of industry and the public as well as intellectual property law experts are puzzled by the ongoing secrecy under which negotiations on the proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) are being held. The ACTA negotiations, which could result in widely applicable escalated rules on piracy and counterfeiting, appeared […]
US: We Will Not Give Up Oversight Of Internet Domain Name Root Zone 31/07/2008 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch The Bush administration has no intention of giving up United States oversight role of the management of the central root zone of the internet domain name system (DNS), the essential database storing information on how to reach domain names on the global internet. In a letter to the […]
IP Experts Sign Declaration Seeking Balanced Copyright Three-Step Test 24/07/2008 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 4 Comments By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Harmonisation of copyright regulation in recent years has overly “focussed on securing rightsholders’ ability to benefit from new modes of exploitation and business models” and has primarily served “the interests of copyright exporting countries.” This statement does not come from copyright critics, but from a group of well-known […]
Europe May Put ACTA Back On Faster Track 16/07/2008 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Despite earlier statements by European negotiators that the planned Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) would need time for fine-tuning, nations seem to accept a fast track movement now. ACTA has been mentioned as an agenda item of the French presidency of the European Union (from July to January), the […]
G8 Governments Want ACTA Finalised This Year, SPLT Talks Accelerated 09/07/2008 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Despite issues like the current food, energy and climate crises having taken centre stage at this week’s Group of 8 summit in Japan, governments did not lose sight of earlier plans to promote and more strictly protect intellectual property rights. The eight leaders in their document on the […]
Work Remains For ICANN’s New Top Level Internet Domains 01/07/2008 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch PARIS – The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) announced the “biggest extension of the DNS [domain name system] in 40 years” after its decision last week to finish implementation of a new policy for introducing new top-level domains (TLDs). According to the timeline presented at […]
OECD Talks Convergence, Creativity, Confidence – Answers Welcome! 01/07/2008 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Regulating convergence, finding solutions to foster creativity and answering consumer fears about identity theft, fraud and the invasion of their privacy were central questions at the recent Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) ministerial meeting in Seoul, Korea. The “Future of the Internet Economy” meeting, a follow-up […]
Brandowners Warn Against Cybersquatting, User Confusion From New Internet Domains 24/06/2008 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch PARIS – Some think the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers should have moved much faster to introduce new names in the internet to join the likes of .com and .org. Others moan about the widespread trademark infringement they expect to occur when the private internet governance […]
Speculation Persists On ACTA As First Official Meeting Concludes 05/06/2008 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Government representatives from developed nations and strategic developing nation partners met at the US mission in Geneva on 3-4 June to discuss proposals for an Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). Parties at the negotiation included: Australia, Canada, the European Union, Japan, Jordan, Korea, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland, […]
Embattled ACTA Negotiations Next Week In Geneva; US Sees Signing This Year 30/05/2008 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 13 Comments By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Formal negotiations on an Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) are expected to commence next week in Geneva, according to a European Commission official, even as a leaked United States trade office paper is drawing criticism of the proposed pact. The publication of a US Trade Representative’s office discussion paper […]