The Year Ahead In Internet Governance: Of Competing Institutions, IANA Transition, And A New Crypto War 25/01/2015 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment For many years Electronic Frontier Foundation Policy Analyst Jeremy Malcolm has been predicting the next year would be the pivotal year for the UN-led Internet Governance Forum (IGF). With the NetMundial Initiative being constructed these coming months and governments having not yet agreed to prolong the IGF mandate, the decade-old forum might be challenged to either move or become just one of many internet governance conference venues. And while some hope the future oversight over the internet’s underlying IANA function could become an experiment in shared global governance, others point out that more and more of the interesting questions of internet politics are decided elsewhere: national governments, trade negotiators, big data giants and cyberdominance strategists.
Most-Read IP-Watch Stories In 2014: A Tale Of Staff Issues, India, Hot-Button Topics 07/01/2015 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment All year long, Intellectual Property Watch expends great energy and resources to bring hundreds of carefully written, detailed stories on policymaking – technical committee meetings, legislation, negotiations, legal cases, and latest reports and papers. But in what is perhaps typical of readers everywhere, many of the best-read IP-Watch stories of 2014 were those few that involved elections and personnel issues and India, followed by a range of hot button issues such as high-priced medicines, copyright and knowledge access, patent valuation, or internet surveillance.
Threats To IP Call For A Risk-Based Approach 24/11/2014 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Pamela Passman Economic globalization and digitization of information have revolutionized business and allowed for efficiency that was unimaginable a few decades ago. The ability to share information remotely means companies can coordinate with partners remotely, integrate suppliers, track shipments and communicate in real time with customers in distant markets. These trends represent a seismic […]
Geneva Conference Looks At Internet Governance ‘At A Crossroads’ 20/11/2014 by Elena Bourtchouladze for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment “Internet Governance at a Crossroads” was the title of the Geneva Internet Conference, which took place in Geneva this week for the first time.
ITU Looks Into Issues Of Counterfeit, Substandard ICT Products 18/11/2014 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment This week, the International Telecommunication Union is holding an event highlighting the UN agency’s entry into what it describes as the growing problem of counterfeit and fake information and communication technology (ICT) products. Officials from the neighbouring World Intellectual Property Organization and World Trade Organization remarked during the meeting that counterfeit relates to an intellectual property right infringement, which is a different issue from substandard products.
The Caravan Has Set Out For Neo-Liberal Capture Of Global Governance 17/11/2014 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The Net Mundial initiative of the World Economic Forum represents the first time that such a corporate-led venue – although sold as multistakeholder, open, and voluntary, among others – is positioned as being ‘the’ mechanism for global governance in a specific sector, the Just Net Coalition writes.
ITU Plenipotentiary Outcome Limiting UN Agency Role In Internet Governance Deemed “Success” 10/11/2014 by Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments US Ambassador Daniel Sepulveda on the eve of the final celebration of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Plenipotentiary Conference last week said he was “happy” about the results. Asked what he thought was the most important resolution of the three week conference, he told Intellectual Property Watch he would not name one resolution, but rather considered the achievement of overall consensus by the ITU member states on the final documents “a success.”
ITU Plenipotentiary Conference: Internet Governance Diplomacy On Display 05/11/2014 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments The much belaboured takeover of the internet by the United Nations International Telecommunication Union again has not taken place. Instead, ITU member states gathered at the Plenipotentiary Conference in Busan, South Korea, this week rather smoothly passed a set of internet-related resolutions that will, once the closing plenary adopts them, preserve the limited status quo of involvement of the UN organisation responsible for telecommunication and radio frequencies in internet-related public policy issues.
What Is Happening At The ITU Plenipotentiary Conference? 05/11/2014 by Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments Consultant Richard Hill writes: There is lots going on at the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference, in particular a typical North/South clash regarding who should do what. The global South would like to see a greater role for the International Telecommunication Union in some areas, or a least a smaller role for institutions based in or dominated by the global North, whereas the global North favors the status quo. But there are many nuances, some very significant, within this overall picture.
Review of “Digital Depression: Information Technology And Economic Crisis” 21/10/2014 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Information and communication technologies (ICTs), and in particular the internet, have revolutionized and disrupted all aspects of human activity, and even behaviour. This has resulted in many academic publications and much discussion, including in intergovernmental bodies, regarding various issues, including how best to govern the internet. Dan Schiller’s book helps us to understand the background of these events, which have affected economic and political power relations, and how US policies have consistently favoured capital over labour, and have resulted in transfers of vast sums from developing countries to developed countries, writes Richard Hill.