[free-sklyarov] Information About WIPO Wanted

[Jon O .]

Chew on this:
http://www.anti-dmca.org/faq.html

And then (off indymedia.org):
http://www.zmag.org/ZMag/articles/jan2000albert.htm

Also, remember Bush just snubbed the Germ Warfare treaty and the
Koyoto treaty... Any ideas?





On 29-Jul-2001, Erik Moeller wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> apparently the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), a UN 
> agency with a ~250 million $ budget, is responsible, among other 
> despicable things, for the DMCA, the EU copyright directive, the 
> Canadian equivalent to the DMCA and all other laws concerning the 
> circumvention of copy-protection. See the "WIPO Copyright Treaty 
> adopted by the Diplomatic Conference on December 20, 1996":
> 
> http://www.eff.org/Intellectual_property/WIPO/final_WIPO_treaty.html
> 
> Particularly Article 11:
> 
> Obligations concerning Technological Measures
> 
> "Contracting Parties shall provide adequate legal protection and 
> effective legal remedies against the circumvention of effective 
> technological measures that are used by authors in connection
> with the exercise of their rights under this Treaty or the Berne 
> Convention and that restrict acts, in respect of their works, which 
> are not authorized by the authors concerned or permitted
> by law."
> 
> Does anyone know more about how WIPO works? In particular:
> 
> 1.) What happens if a member country doesn't satisfy the demands of a 
> WIPO treaty? 
> 
> It seems to me that the policy-making process is a hidden one, and 
> once the treaty has been signed, member nations have little choice 
> but to turn it into law, particularly since WIPO cooperates with the 
> WTO through the TRIPS agreement on intellectual property rights.
> 
> 2.) How does the WIPO policy-making-process work? 
> 
> >From their organigram (http://www.wipo.int/about-wipo/en/pdf/org-
> en.pdf) I only see that they have a "copyright office". In their 
> listing of principal officers, there appears to be nobody responsible 
> for the protection of consumer / fair use rights.
> 
> 3.) How is the WIPO protected against lobbying?
> 
> 4.) How is it democratically controlled?
> 
> If anyone has more information on WIPO and related treaties, in 
> particular detailed criticisms and descriptions of its organization 
> and structure, please e-mail me or reply to the list if appropriate. 
> 
> Perhaps it's time for "DENOUNCE WIPO TREATIES" flyers and posters. 
> I'll try to compile as much information as I can.
> 
> Regards,
> Erik
> 
> -- 
> Scientific Reviewer, Freelancer, Humanist -- Berlin/Germany
> Phone: +49-30-45491008 - Web: <http://www.humanist.de/erik>
> The Origins of Peace and Violence: <http://www.violence.de>
> 
> "History is full of people who, out of fear or ignorance or the lust 
> for power, have destroyed treasures of immeasurable value which truly
> belong to all of us. We must not let it happen again." -- Carl Sagan
> 
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