Mixed Reactions Among Participants In WIPO Talks On Treaty For The Blind 22/04/2013 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 4 Comments At the close of this week’s negotiating session for an international treaty on copyright exceptions for blind and visually impaired persons, some governments, including upcoming host Morocco, expressed disappointment in the outcome of a three-day drafting session, as it left so much for the diplomatic conference. But most said they are optimistic that solutions can be found.
German Parliament Sends Message: Stop Granting Software Patents 22/04/2013 by Intellectual Property Watch 5 Comments The German Parliament has passed a joint motion against the growing trend of patent offices to grant patents on software programs. The resolution on “Secure Competition and Innovation in the software development,” obliges the German government to take steps to ensure that software is protected by copyright only and no additional patent protection is granted.
In UN Talks On Treaty For The Blind, Concern About Heavy Focus On Rightholders’ Interests 20/04/2013 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The treaty currently being discussed at the World Intellectual Property Organization is of prime importance for blind and visually impaired people who are expecting that negotiators will engineer a treaty that is workable in the real world, they say. But too much focus on the right holders concerns might endanger the utility of such a treaty, according to the representative of a blind persons’ organisation.
Time Ticking For WIPO Delegates On Copyright Exceptions Treaty 19/04/2013 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment A new text has been the subject of negotiation today by a committee seeking to finalise a draft treaty providing exceptions and limitations to copyrights so that blind and visually impaired people have facilitated access to special format books. Delegates are seeking to find language through agreed statements as a way out of prickly issues.
ISOC, IETF Promote Open Standardisation, Consider What’s “Open”? 19/04/2013 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments Berlin – Open standardisation processes, their problems and their value for economy and society were the subject of discussion at a conference on 17 April at the German Ministry of Economy and Technology in Berlin.
US Digital Public Library Launches Free Online Access 18/04/2013 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) has launched a beta version of its website today, which aims to offer free public access to content of all libraries, universities, and museums in the United States.
Last Drafting Effort On WIPO Treaty For The Blind Before Diplomatic Conference 17/04/2013 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments In an effort to clean up a draft treaty text providing limitations and exceptions to copyright for blind and visually impaired persons, World Intellectual Property Organization members will meet this week for intense drafting sessions. The text, once cleaned, is expected to be sent to a top-level treaty negotiation in June.
WIPO Delegates Progressing On Once-Moribund Broadcasting Treaty 16/04/2013 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment A meeting meant to advance discussions on a treaty to protect the rights of broadcasting organisations held last week at the World Intellectual Property Organization yielded substantive results, according to the meeting chair. However, civil society remains cautious about potential side effects of such an instrument, while countries appear to have divergent views on the practicalities of the treaty.
Is ICANN Policymaking Around Its Bottom-Up Multistakeholder Process? 12/04/2013 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment This week, registry, registrar and user constituencies at the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) complained about what they saw as deviations from the bottom-up multistakeholder process by late additions made to policies or by processes never being laid out to the community for review.
Debate In Beijing: ICANN As Online Content Regulator? 12/04/2013 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The publication by governments of additional safeguards for new top-level domains at this week‘s 46th meeting of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) sparked warnings that the private net management body should avoid becoming a content regulator.