EFF: WIPO Lockout Inspires Global Protest

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

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From: EFF Press <press () eff org>
Organization: Electronic Frontier Foundation
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Date: Fri, 25 Mar 2005 07:26:41 -0800
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Subject: [E-B] EFF: WIPO Lockout Inspires Global Protest

Electronic Frontier Foundation Media Release

For Immediate Release: Friday, March 25, 2005

Contact:

Cory Doctorow
   European Affairs Coordinator
   Electronic Frontier Foundation
   cory () eff org
   +44 798 607-2869

Gwen Hinze
   International Affairs Director
   Electronic Frontier Foundation
   gwen () eff org
   +1 415 436-9333 x110 (office)

WIPO Lockout Inspires Global Protest

Residents of 56 Nations and Members of Hundreds of NGOs
Sign Petition to Open Meetings on Intellectual Property and
the Developing World

Geneva - When the World Intellectual Property Organization
(WIPO) earlier this month shut out many public interest
groups from two April meetings about the impact of patent,
copyright and related regimes on the developing world, many
civil society groups greeted the news with concern.

Most of the groups barred from the meetings, which are to
focus on whether WIPO should adopt a  "Development Agenda,"
are public interest organizations with special expertise on
issues of economic development. Without the input of these
groups, the meetings can do little to further WIPO's
understanding of how patents, copyright, and related rights
affect developing nations.

Seeking a more balanced discussion of the Development
Agenda, two Brazilian activists, Pedro de Paranagua Moniz
and Pedro AD Rezende, as well as the Electronic Frontier
Foundation's European Affairs Coordinator, Cory Doctorow,
took action: they produced an open letter to WIPO on this
issue and solicited comments on the Internet.

As a result, this week over 800 individuals and groups,
including EFF, signed an open letter to WIPO urging it to
allow more groups to participate in these historic
meetings. Residents of 56 different nations signed on,
along with members of non-government organizations (NGOs)
ranging from a Brazilian AIDS health group to Yale
University. The letter, called the "WIPO Manifesto for
Transparency, Participation, Balance and Access," asks that
public interest NGOs be allowed to participate in the
Development Agenda meetings as ad hoc observers and calls
on WIPO to provide assistance in creating a global regime
that facilitates open access to knowledge.

"WIPO is undertaking a long-overdue and halting journey
from a place where industrial interests meet to safeguard
their marketplace advantages, to a place where the UN's
humanitarian values hold center stage," said Doctorow.
"This  letter is the latest step in the important campaign
to refocus WIPO on providing effective technical assistance
that meets the real needs of its developing country
members."

The open letter was delivered to Dr. Kamil Idris, Director
General of WIPO, on March 23, 2005, with more than 800
signatories, and it is still open for signature.

More about the WIPO Open Letter:
http://www.cic.unb.br/docentes/pedro/trabs/wipo-stats.html

More about WIPO and the Development Agenda:
http://www.eff.org/IP/WIPO/dev_agenda/

For this release:
http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2005_03.php#003467

About EFF

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading civil
liberties organization working to protect rights in the
digital world. Founded in 1990, EFF actively encourages and
challenges industry and government to support free
expression and privacy online. EFF is a member-supported
organization and maintains one of the most linked-to
websites in the world at http://www.eff.org/


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