9 Jul, 2008: G8 Declaration on the World Economy
Read Text of GB Declaration on a World Economy and G8's Pledge to Increase Intellectual Property Rights and International Enforcement and to Deputize Customs Agents to Search and Seize Laptops, iPods, and PDA's of Unsuspected Citizens in Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA)

8 Jul, 2008: Comment on ICANN’s Proposed Plan to Censor Top-Level Domains (Until 17 July 2008)
ICANN is Accepting Public Comment on Its Plan to Introduce New GTLDs. Members of the public are encouraged to tell ICANN to protect free expression and individual rights at the top-level of the Internet. ICANN: "At its 25 June 2008 meeting in Paris, France the GNSO Council voted to invite public comments on the 21 June 2008 version of the GNSO Improvements - Top Level Plan prepared by the GNSO Improvements Planning Team. The document contains some initial documentation on methods that can be followed in beginning the work required to transition from the current GNSO organization to the type of organization ultimately recommended by the ICANN Board - including the areas of process, operations and collaboration ...

26 Jun, 2008: ICANN Board Approves Censorship Policy for Domain Names Based on Morality: 2 Board Members Speak Against It
Today in Paris the ICANN Board passed the GNSO's controversial recommendations to censor top level domains based on notions of "morality and public order", and broadly defined "community" wishes. However, 2 ICANN board members, law professors Wendy Seltzer (on behalf of the At-Large Internet Users) and Susan Crawford, made very powerful and compelling statements to protect free expression on the top level of the Internet. Hopefully Professor Crawford is right and this harm can be mitigated through narrowly tailored implementation.

2 Jun, 2008: US Supreme Court Hands Big Win to Free Speech Advocates in the IP World
[Major League Baseball v. CBC Distribution] By Allonn E. Levy, Esq. "An obvious “win” for Free Speech advocates and “netizens” concerned with ensuring open access to information on the Internet, the case also helps the burgeoning field of Internet information consolidators who help consumers collect information and process it. Expect to see the case cited frequently in the near future as more and more courts will be facing cases where Internet based information companies battle these issues out with content holders..."

22 May, 2008: Leaked US Govt. Discussion Paper on Proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) from Wikileaks
Wikileaks today posted a leaked document from the US Government discussing the proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). ACTA is a new multi-lateral trade agreement spearheaded by the US, European Union, Switzerland, Australia, and a select handful of other wealthy nations to create new international legal rules for the regulation of intellectual property rights. IP Justice submitted comments to the USG and wrote a White Paper on ACTA in March and today's leaked document confirms our fears about what ACTA's proponents have in store for us. Here are .pdf versions of the leaked USG discussion paper about ACTA...

13 May, 2008: Statement at IGF Open Consultation of IGF Dynamic Coalition for Access to Knowledge and Free Expression (A2K@IGF)
"IPR protection has always been given to creators and inventors in exchange for some benefit to the public. These are usually included in IP law as exceptions and limitations that can provide a benefit to the public. For example, when copyright owners permit the copying of their materials for private and educational use, they contribute to the general pool of knowledge available on the Internet. The practice of remixing, re-using, editing, and combining of audio-video and text to comment on culture and create transformative works depends upon a system of robust exceptions and limitations to exclusive rights. This coalition supports innovation and the creation of wealth through IPR incentivization, but we also seek to support alternative ...

25 Mar, 2008: IP Justice White Paper on the Proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA)
In 2007 a select handful of the wealthiest countries began a treaty-making process to create a new global standard for intellectual property rights enforcement, the proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). ACTA is spearheaded by the United States, the European Commission, Japan, and Switzerland -- those countries with the largest intellectual property industries. Other countries invited to participate in ACTA’s negotiation process are Canada, Australia, Korea, Mexico and New Zealand. Noticeably absent from ACTA’s negotiations are leaders from developing countries who hold national policy priorities that differ from the international intellectual property industry....

21 Mar, 2008: ACTA’s Misguided Effort to Increase Govt Spying and Ratchet-Up IPR Enforcement at Public Expense
IP Justice Comments to the U.S.T.R. on the proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). IP Justice firmly believes that ACTA’s costs to the public far outweigh any public benefit it might provide. The financial expense to tax-payers to fund ACTA would be enormous and steal scarce resources away from programs that deal with genuine public needs like providing education and eliminating hunger. ACTA would burden the judicial system and divert badly needed law enforcement and customs resources away from public security and towards private profit. Unfortunately the zeal to “beef-up” enforcement measures on which ACTA rides often leads to the violation of privacy rights, bypassing due process protections, and cutting-off the free flow of information. ACTA ...