158 lines
6.9 KiB
HTML
158 lines
6.9 KiB
HTML
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<author id="greve"/>
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<date>
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<original content="2005-07-21"/>
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<head>
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<title>FSF Europe - Observing WIPO - Statement at the IIM on a Development Agenda, 21 July 2005</title>
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</head>
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<body>
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<p align="center">
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[ <a href="statement-20050721.en.pdf">PDF Version (62k)</a> ]
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</p>
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<p id="category">
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<a href="/activities/policy.html">WIPO</a>
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</p>
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<h1>STATEMENT BY THE UNITED NATIONS WORLD SUMMIT ON THE INFORMATION SOCIETY (WSIS)
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PATENTS, COPYRIGHTS AND TRADEMARKS (PCT) WORKING GROUP OF CIVIL SOCIETY</h1>
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<h4>
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INTER-SESSIONAL, INTER-GOVERNMENTAL
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MEETING ON A
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DEVELOPMENT AGENDA FOR WIPO (Geneva, 20-22 July 2005)</h4>
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<!--<p id="introduction"> Summary: </p>-->
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<p>The WSIS Patents, Copyrights and Trademarks Working Group of Civil
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Society participated in the World Summit on the Information Society
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in its first and second phase, addressing many issues of knowledge
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control, software and the internet.</p>
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<p>During the first summit in Geneva, we witnessed how the member
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states
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of the United Nations formally agreed that knowledge dissemination and
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sharing are fundamental building blocks of a knowledge society. Quoting
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article 42 of the Declaration of Principles:</p>
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<p div="indent"><em>``Intellectual Property protection is important to encourage
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innovation and creativity in the Information Society; similarly,
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the wide dissemination, diffusion, and sharing of knowledge is
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important to encourage innovation and creativity. Facilitating
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meaningful participation by all in intellectual property issues
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and knowledge sharing through full awareness and capacity building
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is a fundamental part of an inclusive Information Society.''</em></p>
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<p>It is in this spirit that we see the Development Agenda proposed by the
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Friends of Development: patents, copyrights and trademarks are designed
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to limit access and knowledge sharing. If applied wisely and with
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measure, they can foster creativity and innovation. If applied
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carelessly, they can kill both along with their potential benefit for
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society: progress. This holds true for any nation in this world, rich
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or poor, north or south.</p>
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<p>The Friends of Development propose within their Development Agenda to
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apply benchmarks to WIPO's policies and treaties in order to maximise
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their benefit for all of humankind, including, but not limited to,
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the developing nations.</p>
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<p>The PCT Working Group strongly supports the proposal made by the
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Friends of Development for a Development Agenda, from which we expect
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positive consequences for the implementation of the WSIS plan of
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action.</p>
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<p>Furthermore, we wish to share some of the points that were important
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for the debate during the World Summit on the Information Society and
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that we feel will add substance to the Development Agenda proposal.</p>
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<p>As the global civil society represented at the WSIS stated in its
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essential principles of 14. November 2003: <em>``Human knowledge,
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including the knowledge of all peoples and communities, also those
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who are remote and excluded, is the heritage of all humankind and the
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reservoir from which new knowledge is created.''</em></p>
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<p>In the past years, we have witnessed an ongoing expansion of the
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duration of copyright, and thus the timespan during which that
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reservoir remains subject to limited access. At the same time, the
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barriers to access have been raised by means of anti-circumvention
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policies and approaches to put violations under criminal law.</p>
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<p>In the information society, knowledge is circulating and outdated
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faster, not slower: to adapt to that fact, the duration of copyright
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should be shortened considerably. For this we would also like to focus
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your attention on the WSIS Declaration of Principles, article 26:</p>
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<p div="indent"><em> ``A rich public domain is an essential element
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for the growth of the Information Society, creating multiple benefits
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such as an educated public, new jobs, innovation, business
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opportunities, and the advancement of sciences.''</em>
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</p>
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<p>The internet has not only paved the way for the knowledge age, it
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also represents the latest seminal innovative step of humankind. It
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was made at a time when the barriers to access were much lower. A
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comparable breakthrough might be made impossible by these increased
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barriers: we should reconsider these barriers to make sure we do not
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disable the next breakthrough; this in particular refers to the
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anti-circumvention provisions and approaches at criminalising
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copyright violations, but is not limited to them.</p>
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<p>Patents are another area in need of review that we identified
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throughout the WSIS: they can be an excellent tool to promote
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innovation, but their effects differ between areas.</p>
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<p>Scientific studies for instance show that software is an area in
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which patents are harmful: they stifle innovation and pose a
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significant threat to competition; evidence for this has been
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collected by several renowned institutions, including the
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<a href="http://www.researchoninnovation.org/patent.pdf">Massachussetts Institute of Technology (MIT)</a>, the <a href="http://www.researchoninnovation.org/swpat.pdf">Boston University
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School of Law</a>, <a href="http://www.pwc.com/Extweb/pwcpublications.nsf/docid/EC6DE73A846581CE80256EFD002E41FB">Price Waterhouse Coopers</a>, <a href="http://www.ftc.gov/os/2003/10/innovationrpt.pdf">US Federal Trade Commission</a>
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and <a href="http://www.dbresearch.com/PROD/DBR_INTERNET_EN-PROD/PROD0000000000175949.pdf">Deutsche Bank Research</a>.</p>
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<p>Similar effects may exist in other areas and can serve to undermine
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the patent system overall. We therefore encourage the Member States
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to start a dialog with the goal of establishing clear and binding
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ruleset to limit the scope of the patent system. These should take
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into account the full diversity of areas and ensure the stability and
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functioning of the patent system as a tool for innovation.</p>
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<p>Given the scope and significance of these issues, only few of them
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can be adequately dealt with on committee level. Mainstreaming the
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development dimension into all of WIPO's activities requires the
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continuation of the overarching IIM process.</p>
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<p> We sincerely hope that progress, wisdom, courage and global vision
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shall prevail in this necessary debate.</p>
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<p>
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UN World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)
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<ul>
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<li>Civil Society Patents, Copyrights, Trademarks (PCT) Working Group, Co-Coordinator</li>
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<li>First phase Civil Society representative, German Governmental Delegation</li>
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<li>European Caucus, Coordinator</li>
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</ul>
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</p>
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<h3>More information</h3>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="http://www.wsis-pct.org">WSIS PCT Working Group</a></li>
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<li><a href="/activities/wsis/">World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)</a></li>
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<li><a href="/activities/swpat/">Software Patents in Europe</a></li>
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</ul>
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</body>
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