A Growing Number of Individual Legal Rights Issues Intersect with the Internet, including Freedom of Expression, Access to Knowledge (A2K), Copyrights, Trademarks, Patents, Privacy, Anonymity, Surveillance, Cyber-Security, Anti-Circumvention Measures, File-Sharing, Contributory Liability, Fair Use, Fair Dealing, Intermediary Protections, Notice and Take-Down, Public Domain, Trade Secrets, Due Process, Hyperlinking, Database Rights, Enforcement of Intellectual Property, Internet Censorship
DVD-Jon Liberates the iPod – Digital Music Wars Take New Direction – Unlocking the Devices
Jon Johansen has done it again! He has has figured out how to improve existing technology by reverse engineering it and building innovative new software that expands consumer choice -- this time for digital music. You may remember in 1999, when 15-year-old Jon Johansen posted DeCSS, a tool created to build a DVD player for the Linux operating system, and started a fire-storm of movie studio lawsuits under the brand new 1998 US Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and California trade secrets law. (Jon was also acquitted twice in Norway by the Norwegian Supreme Court). The DeCSS case was my first case as an attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), and we were all treading on unchartered territory in those days. Since then, the DMCA and other anti-circumvention laws have created a legal quagmire for reverse engineers that has kept us all too busy. ....
2 Privacy Workshops at IGF to Explore Security, Privacy & Globalization
Take a look at these two privacy workshops to be held at the Internet Governance Forum in Athens on 31 October 2006. i) "Privacy and Identity Matters" Chaired by Gus Hosein of the London School of Economics and Political Science, and, ii) "Privacy, Development, and Globalisation" Chaired by Ralf Bendrath of the University of Bremen and WSIS Privacy & Security Working Group. Read more.
IP Justice Comments on 2006 London School of Economics Report to Improve the GNSO
"Many of the proposals in the 2006 LSE Report to reform the GNSO are good - for example, standardized term limits for GNSO Council Members, reducing the number of constituencies from 6 to 3 -- and consolidating the business, intellectual property rights lobby, and internet service providers all in a single "commercial" constituency. This would be an improvement because currently many of the same companies dominate more than one constituency, so are given much greater power within ICANN than other constituencies. For example, companies like Disney, News Corp, and the International Chamber of Commerce dominate both the IPR and business constutiences - giving their interests double weight on ICANN's GNSO Policy Council. ..."
IP Justice’s Top 10 Reasons to Reject the WIPO Broadcast Treaty
1. Eliminates the public domain. 2. Creates obligations that drastically exceed international standards. 3. Chills freedom of expression similarly to U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). 4. Threatens to regulate Internet transmissions of media. Read more .....
IP Justice Statement at WIPO 42nd General Assembly
"IP Justice strongly recommends, that Member States decide against convening a Diplomatic Conference to draft a Broadcast Treaty. At the 15th Session of the SCCR several Member States made clear their objection against moving forward based on the draft proposal. The SCCR Chairman’s decision to convene a diplomatic conference is premature and lacks the consensus necessary for legitimate democratic law-making. ..."
IP Justice at 2006 WIPO General Assembly, Gilberto Gil Recalls Jefferson
Broadcast Treaty Not Ready for Primetime - Development Agenda Stalled for 2nd Time - Brazil's Minister of Culture & Musician Warns Assembly Against Broadcast Treaty
Public Interest Groups Request to US Govt. to Oppose WIPO Broadcast Treaty DipConf
IP Justice signed on to a letter to the US Delegation at WIPO. Other signatories to the letter are the American Association of Law Libraries, American Library Association Association of Research Libraries, CDT, CPTech, Consumers Union, EFF, Free Press, Media Access Project, Medical Library Association, Public Knowledge, Special Libraries Association, and U.S. PIRG
Un Steamrolls Member States, Insists on Controversial Broadcast Treaty: WIPO to Outlaw Internet Transmissions of Cable and TV Programs
IP Justice Report: Outcome of WIPO Broadcast Treaty Meeting Leaves Member States Unhappy
NCUC Summary: Comments to ICANN from Commissioners & Organizations on WHOIS & Privacy
BACKGROUNDER BY NONCOMMERCIAL USERS CONSTITUENCY International Data Protection Laws: Comments to ICANN from Commissioners and Organizations Regarding WHOIS and the Protection of Privacy (Original .PDF) The Noncommercial Users Constituency (NCUC) feels that ICANN and the WHOIS TF must pay close attention to the authoritative formal written comments made by Data [...]
NCUC Contribution to IGF on ICANN Whois Privacy Issue
Contribution Memorandum: Privacy Implications of WHOIS Database Policy Submitted to the Secretariat of the Internet Governance Forum by the ICANN Non-Commercial Users Constituency (NCUC) For IGF Greece 2006, Athens, 30 October – 2 November, 2006 The Non-Commercial Users Constituency (NCUC) is the part of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names [...]
IP Justice Submission to the IGF: Realizing the Internet’s Promise for Universal Access to Knowledge and Development
- Internet’s open and free nature are key to accessing knowledge and development - Internet Governance Policies and Intellectual Property Rights - IP Justice Recommendations for an Internet Governance Forum Discussion to Promote the Internet as a Tool for Access to Knowledge and Development: 1. Preserve Openness of Internet and Free Flow of Information: - Build Freedom of Expression Values into Laws & Architectures - Critical Online Speech Censored by Copyright and Trademark -“Digital Locks†Control Flow of Information and Threaten Interoperability - Preserve Interoperability with Open and Free Technical Standards - Governments Adopt Open Document Formats - Encourage Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) Development 2. Grow the Online Information Commons: - Recognize Internet as Valuable Tool for Access to Knowledge - Protect and Value Public Domain - Database Rights Restrict Free Flow of Information on Internet - Provide Online Access to Publicly Funded Research - Recognize Social Value of Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Software 3. Build Respect for Civil Liberties into IPR Laws and Procedures Addressing Online Behavior - ICANN’s Whois Policy Must Conform with Privacy Laws - US DMCA “Notice and Take-Down†Provisions Should Comply with Due Process Conclusion: IGF Should Address Relationship Between Intellectual Property Rights, Free Expression, and Access to Knowledge
IP Justice Supports Tax-Payer Access to Online Research
Consumer Groups Support Public Access Act Consumers Union, CPT, IPJ and others support bill requiring key federal funders to post research on the Iinternet WASHINGTON, DC – Eight consumer groups have announced their support for the Federal Research Public Access Act of 2006 (S.2695). The Act was introduced on May [...]
Tragedy of the Commons: IPR in the Info Age
"Tragedy of the Commons": Intellectual Property Rights in the Information Age The Threat to Civil Liberties and Innovation Posed by Expanding Copyrights By Robin D. Gross, Esq. IP Justice Executive Director www.ipjustice.org Published by MIT Press, 2006 0. Introduction As we enter an information age, the rules governing the use [...]