Massive victory for "copyfighters" at WIPO!

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Robert J. Berger" <rberger () ibd com>
Date: October 4, 2004 3:25:13 PM EDT
To: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>, Dave Farber 
<dave () farber net>
Subject: Massive victory for "copyfighters" at WIPO!

Massive victory at WIPO!
posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:26:39 AM
http://www.boingboing.net/2004/10/04/massive_victory_at_w.html

For years now, progressive elements and copyfighters have been
trying to get the UN's World Intellectual Property Organization to
start thinking about ways of promoting creativity and development
instead of just IP -- to get the organization to see that its
raison d'etre is a better world, and that stronger IP laws is just
one way of accomplishing that -- and that IP only works sometimes.

We've been foiled at every turn by the maximalists, the movies
studios and the trademark offices, the patent-cops and the
recording industry lobbyists and the IP lawyers' associations.

Which is why this is such good news: at the general session of the
WIPO in Geneva this weekend, the Assembly as adoped a decision to
put development and the promotion of creativity front-and-center in
its goals. That means that from now on, WIPO isn't an organization
that blindly supports more IP no matter what, but rather one that
seeeks to improve the world by whatever tool is best suited to the
job.

Jamie Love and the Consumer Project on Technology
http://cptech.org/  gets the credit
for this: they were the ones who started this fight, and they've
been the ones who led it all along.

This is the day the tide turns.  Bearing in mind the
internationally agreed development goals, including those in the
United Nations Millennium Declaration, the Programme of Action for
the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2001-2010, the
Monterey Consensus, the Johannesburg Declaration on Sustainable
Development, the Declaration of Principles and the Plan of Action
of the first phase of the World Summit on the Information Society
and the Sao Paulo Consensus adopted at UNCTAD XI;

(1) The General Assembly welcomes the initiative for a development
    agenda and notes the proposals contained in document
    WO/GA/31/11.

(2) The General Assembly decides to convene inter-sessional
    intergovernmental meetings to examine the proposals contained
    in document WO/GA/31/11, as well as additional proposals of
    Members States. To the extent possible, the meetings will be
    convened in conjunction with the 2005 session of the Permanent
    Committee on Cooperation for Development Related to
    Intellectual Property. The meetings, open to all Member States,
    will prepare a report by July 30, 2005, for the consideration
    of the next General Assembly. WIPO-accredited IGOs and NGOs are
    invited to participate as observers in the meetings.

(3) The International Bureau shall undertake immediate arrangements
    in order to organize with other relevant multilateral
    organizations including UNCTAD, WHO, UNIDO and WTO, a joint
    international seminar on Intellectual Property and Development,
    open to the participation of all stakeholders, including NGOs,
    civil society and academia.

More info:
http://lists.essential.org/pipermail/ip-health/2004-October/006997.html

--
Robert J. Berger - Internet Bandwidth Development, LLC.
Voice: 408-882-4755 eFax: +1-408-490-2868
http://www.ibd.com


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