[Commons-Law] WIPO Lockout Inspires Global Protest

[Pedro de Paranagua Moniz]

    March 25, 2005


      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," 
<http://www.eff.org/IP/WIPO/dev_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 
<http://www.cic.unb.br/docentes/pedro/trabs/wipo-stats.html> 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.

Contacts:

Cory Doctorow
European Affairs Coordinator
Electronic Frontier Foundation
cory at eff.org

Gwen Hinze
International Affairs Director
Electronic Frontier Foundation
gwen at eff.org

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