[DMCA-Activists] EFF: WIPO Lockout Inspires Global Protest

[Seth Johnson]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: EFF: WIPO Lockout Inspires Global Protest
Date: Fri, 25 Mar 2005 07:26:41 -0800
From: EFF Press <address@hidden>
Reply-To: address@hidden
Organization: Electronic Frontier Foundation
To: address@hidden

Electronic Frontier Foundation Media Release

For Immediate Release: Friday, March 25, 2005

Contact:

Cory Doctorow
   European Affairs Coordinator
   Electronic Frontier Foundation
   address@hidden
   +44 798 607-2869

Gwen Hinze
   International Affairs Director
   Electronic Frontier Foundation
   address@hidden
   +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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