[governance] Call for Support of International Civil
jefsey
jefsey at jefsey.com
Wed Jun 23 13:14:20 EDT 2010
At 15:49 22/06/2010, Eric Dierker wrote:
>When, lo so many years ago, I signed on to be an attorney, these
>types of problems were a major reason. I just wrongfully assumed
>that fighting these travesties was what it was all about. My lessons
>were strong and brutal. The "bar" involved in this type of
>overbearing draconian movements such as ACTA have the power to
>ostracize and destroy those in the "profession" that would rally and
>fight against such bastardization of centuries of jurisprudence. So
>I signed off of being an "attorney". Damned if I want any part of a
>profession that can proudly take away so many rights from the
>underrepresented people.
Eric,
this is a very interesting mail of yours. There are professions like
attorneys, engineers, politicians, militaries, sales, managers, etc.
that can laminate people in being jointly idiotic, I mean making a
specialization of being idiot in group. However, if signing and
participating to objections and standing against their crap is
ethical, it is not efficient for the oppressed people.
I think that what is efficient is in being an intelligent attorney,
engineer, military, sales, manager, etc. i.e. someone who can really
help people outsmating the idiotically dominating cast in tying
reality together. I mean getting real is not enough: one as to get
real innovation in tying facilitation, simplicity, innovation, etc.
together and give it to people. Exemples:
- adapted forms of governance (as I suggested the other day),
- adapted technologies now we "broke" the tyrannic "end to end"ness
of the network architecture, while respecting and protecting its end
to end layer necessity down to the smalled iota.
- naming projects: why as not the civil society not yet set up a
".top" project to provide a free domain name to people round the world?
There is a decentralised idiotic culture that has inflitrated our
civilizations and enslaves us, the people. WSIS said that we, the
people, are the centers of the Information Society. We need an
intelligent (at least in the way a distributed network is
"inte-ligent" interlinking) culture to develop and disseminate in
every sphere of Internet usage. If the civil society wants to be any
use, it is in giving people round the world the education (and
motivation) on how to empower themselves and engage in their own
Internet governance best practice.
Signing objections is OK, but publishing a best practice RFC to
technically explain the ACTA system and how for us to keep it
networkneutral would probably have a more influent and direct impact
(whatever a netneutral ACTA may mean: up to us to provide the
thinking, business wants to dry)
jfc
>Signing and participation in these objections and stands against
>this crap is vital. It allows lawmakers to adopt laws countering
>such malfeasance and it gives the young and spirited advocates that
>rage against bar associations some leverage and most importantly
>some encouragement. We as concerned global netizens must stand
>united and resolute in order to counterbalance wrongful detractions
>from self evident and confirmed human rights of speech and freedom
>from financial legal oppression.
>
>Eric
>
>--- On Sun, 6/20/10, SAMUELS,Carlton A <carlton.samuels at uwimona.edu.jm> wrote:
>
>From: SAMUELS,Carlton A <carlton.samuels at uwimona.edu.jm>
>Subject: RE: [governance] Call for Support of International Civil Society
>To: "governance at lists.cpsr.org" <governance at lists.cpsr.org>, "Robin
>Gross" <robin at ipjustice.org>
>Date: Sunday, June 20, 2010, 1:14 PM
>
>Dear Robin:
>
>Thanks for this. Knowing that this and related matters are
>concerns in these groups, I have onward circulation to the Library
>Association of Jamaica (LIAJA) and the ICT4D Jamaica Group.
>
>
>
>Carlton Samuels
>
>
>
>From: Robin Gross [mailto:robin at ipjustice.org]
>Sent: Saturday, June 19, 2010 5:21 PM
>To: governance at lists.cpsr.org
>Subject: [governance] Call for Support of International Civil
>Society Declaration Against ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement)
>
>
>
>Dear Friends,
>
>
>
>As you are probably aware, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement
>(<http://www.wcl.american.edu/pijip/go/acta04212010>ACTA) is a
>dangerous proposal to radically expand intellectual property rights
>at the global level. The draft agreement has been negotiated in
>secret, without inclusion of developing nation perspectives, and
>without any participation from civil society or regard for the
>global public interest. ACTA specifically targets the Internet and
>regulates the flow of information in a digital environment. ACTA
>would create significant negative consequences for fundamental
>freedoms, access to medicines, innovation, the balance of
>public/private interests, access to knowledge and culture, to name a
>few of its problems. ACTA represents a "wish list" from Hollywood
>and Big Pharma which will be imposed unilaterally on developing
>countries through trade pressure from the US, Europe and other wealthy states.
>
>
>
>Please consider signing on to the below (draft)
><http://wcl.american.edu/pijip/go/acta-communique>International
>Civil Society Declaration, which was the result of a
><http://www.wcl.american.edu/pijip/go/blog-post/meeting-to-bring-together-academics-and-advocates-to-discuss-public-interest-impacts-of-controversial-intellectual-property-treaty>meeting
>in Washington, DC this week of over 90 academics from 5 continents,
>public interest organizations and other legal experts concerned with
>the public interest aspects of ACTA. The meeting of international
>experts was hosted by American University Washington College of Law
>Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property
>(<http://www.wcl.american.edu/pijip/>PIJIP).
>
>
>
>Both organizations and individuals are welcome to sign-on to the
>statement until 23 June 9am (US East Coast time) by email to <
>acta.declaration at gmail.com >.
>
>
>
>Further details for sign-on and proposing edits to the draft
>declaration are below. Please take a moment and read the
>declaration and consider signing-on and adding your support to raise
>awareness on ACTA. And also please help to spread the word and
>gather additional civil society support from your own networks and
>contacts by forwarding this email on to others or reference to the
>website:
><http://www.wcl.american.edu/pijip/go/blog-post/urgent-acta-communique>http://www.wcl.american.edu/pijip/go/blog-post/urgent-acta-communique
>for details.
>
>
>
>The next closed-door ACTA negotiations are scheduled for 28 June - 2
>July 2010 in Lucerne, Switzerland, and the US promises a final
>agreement will be concluded shortly thereafter. Time is of the
>essence to act on ACTA.
>
>
>
>Thank you for any support and assistance you can provide to raise
>awareness on the public interest concerns with ACTA. It is only
>through global grass-roots efforts and small individual actions made
>by many people that we can fight to overcome this flawed treaty.
>
>
>
>All best,
>
>Robin Gross
>
>
>
>Begin forwarded message:
>
>
>
>From: "Sean Flynn" <sflynn at wcl.american.edu>
>
>Date: June 19, 2010 10:30:38 AM PDT
>
>To: "Robin Gross" <robin at ipjustice.org>
>
>Subject: acta communique
>
>The DRAFT statement below reflects the conclusions reached at a
>meeting of over 90 academics, practitioners and public interest
>organizations from five continents gathered at American University
>Washington College of Law, June 16-18, 2010. The statement is now
>open to endorsements.
>
>
>The latest version of the draft communiqué is now posted to a
>public blog post at:
>
>
>
><http://wcl.american.edu/pijip/go/acta-communique>http://wcl.american.edu/pijip/go/acta-communique
>
>
>
>Please share the draft with others, circulate on your blogs, etc.
>
>
>
>THIS DRAFT STATEMENT IS NOW OPEN FOR INDIVIDUAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL
>ENDORSEMENTS AS WELL AS EDITING COMMENTS.
>
> Please send signatures to: acta.declaration at gmail.com
>
> Please send edits to: pijip at wcl.american.edu
>
>
>
>EDITING SUGGESTIONS
>
>WILL BE ACCEPTED UNTIL NOON MONDAY JUNE 21. THE FINAL TEXT WITH
>EDITS INCLUDED WILL BE RELEASED BY 5PM MONDAY JUNE 21.
>
>
>
>THE FINAL STATEMENT WILL BE RELEASED TO THE PUBLIC WITH ENDORSEMENTS
>ON WEDNESDAY JUNE 23 AT 10AM. ENDORSEMENTS WILL BE ACCEPTED UNTIL
>JUNE 23 AT 9AM.
>
>
>
>ENDORSEMENTS:
>
>WE WILL ACCEPT PROVISIONAL ENDORSEMENTS NOW. ENDORSERS WILL BE GIVEN
>THE OPTION TO OPT-OUT WHEN THE FINAL TEXT IS CIRCULATED BY 5PM MONDAY JUNE 21.
>
>
>
>FOR INDIVIDUAL ENDORSEMENTS, SEND YOUR NAME, TITLE AND ORGANIZATION
>AND PLACE (CITY, COUNTRY) OF OCCUPATION to acta.declaration at gmail.com
>
>
>
>FOR ORGANIZATIONAL ENDORSEMENTS, ENTER THE NAME OF THE ORGANIZATION
>AND PLACE(S) (CITY(IES), COUNTRY(IES)) IN WHICH THE ORGANIZATION
>HAS OFFICES to acta.declaration at gmail.com.
>
>
>
>INDIVIDUALS WITHIN SIGNATORY ORGANIZATIONS MAY ENDORSE AS
>INDIVIDUALS AS WELL AS BEING PART OF THE ORGANIZATIONAL ENDORSEMENT.
>
>
>
>PLEASE CIRCULATE WIDELY.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>DRAFT Urgent Communique: Consultation of International Experts on
>ACTA and the Public Interest
>
>
>
>Release Date: June 23, 2010
>
>American University Washington College of Law
>
>Washington, D.C.
>
><http://wcl.american.edu/pijip/go/acta-communique>http://wcl.american.edu/pijip/go/acta-communique
>
>
>International Experts Find that Pending Anti-Counterfeiting Trade
>Agreement Threatens Public Interests
>
>
>
>We find that the terms of the agreement threaten numerous public
>interests, including nearly every concern specifically disclaimed by
>the negotiators in their announcement.
>
>The proposed agreement is a deeply flawed product of a deeply flawed process.
>
>What started as a proposal to coordinate customs enforcement offices
>has morphed into a massive new international intellectual property
>(IP) and internet regulation with grave consequences for the global
>economy and governments' ability to promote and protect public interests.
>
>Any agreement of this scope and consequence must be based on a broad
>and consultative process and reflect a full range of public interest
>concerns. As detailed below, this text fails to meet these standards.
>
>Recognizing that the terms of the agreement are under negotiation, a
>fair reading of the proposed text as a whole leads to our
>conclusions that ACTA:
>
>THE INTERNET
>-Encourages internet service providers to police users of the
>internet without adequate court oversight or due process;
>
>-Globalizes 'anti-circumvention' provisions which threaten
>innovation, competition, open source business models,
>interoperability, copyright exceptions, and user choice;
>
>FREE TRADE AND ACCESS TO MEDICINES
>-Disrupts the free trade in legitimate generic medicines and other
>goods, and sacrifices the foundational principle that IP rights are
>territorial, by requiring customs authorities to seize goods in
>transit countries even when they do not violate any law of the
>producing and importing countries;
>
>-Does little or nothing to address the problem of medicines with
>insufficient or wrong ingredients as the majority of these are not
>IP but regulatory system problems.
>
>-Extends the powers of custom officials to search and seize a wide
>range of goods, including computers and other electronic devices,
>without adequate safeguards against unwarranted confiscations and
>privacy invasions;
>
>-Extends 'ex officio' border search and seizures from willful,
>commercial scale trademark counterfeiting to a broad range of
>intellectual property infringements, including âconfusingly
>similarâ trademark violations, copyright infringement standards
>that require interpretation of "fair use" or similar user rights,
>and even to patent cases which frequently involve complex questions
>of law and fact that are difficult to adjudicate even by specialist
>courts after full adjudicative processes;
>
>FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS
>-Will curtail full enjoyment of fundamental rights and liberties,
>including rights to privacy and the protection of personal data,
>health, access to information, free expression, due process and
>presumptions of innocence, cultural participation, and other
>internationally protected human rights;
>
>SCOPE AND NATURE OF IP LAW
>Distorts the balance fundamental to IP law between the rights and
>interests of proprietors and users, including by
>introducing very specific rights and remedies for rights holders
>without correlative requirements to provide exceptions, limitations,
>and due process safeguards for users;
>shifting enforcement from private civil mechanisms to public
>authorities and third parties, including to customs officials,
>criminal prosecutors and internet service providers -- in ways that
>are likely to be more sensitive to proprietary concerns and less
>sensitive to user concerns;
>omitting liability and disincentives for abuses of enforcement
>processes by right holders; and
>requiring the adoption of automatic damages assessments unrelated to
>any proven harm;
>-Alters the traditional and constitutionally mandated law making
>processes for IP by:
>locking in and exporting controversial aspects of US and EU
>enforcement practices whcih have already proven problematic,
>foreclosing future legislative improvements in response to changes
>in technology or policy;
>requiring substantive changes to intellectual property laws of a
>large number of negotiating countries.
>INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT
>-Will disproportionately harm development and social welfare of the
>poor, particularly in developing countries, including through
>raising unjustifiable trade barriers to imports and exports of
>needed medicines and other knowledge embedded goods;
>
>-Contains provisions inconsistent with the WTO Agreement on Trade
>Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement);
>
>-Conflicts with the World Trade Organization Doha Declaration on
>TRIPS and Public Health and World Health Assembly Resolution 61.21
>by limiting the ability of countries to exercise to the full
>flexibilities in the TRIPS agreement that can promote access to
>needed medicines;
>
>-Circumvents and undermines the commitments agreed to under the
>World Intellectual Property Organization development agenda,
>particularly recommendation 45 committing to âapproach
>intellectual property enforcement in the context of broader societal
>interests and especially development-oriented concerns," and "in
>accordance with Article 7 of the TRIPS Agreement";
>
>INSTITUTIONAL ISSUES
>-Creates a new and redundant international administration for IP
>issues outside of WIPO or the WTO with broad powers but limited
>transparency, threatening multilateralism in international IP norm setting;
>
>-Encourages technical assistance, public awareness campaigns, and
>partnerships with the private sector that appear designed to promote
>only the interests of IP owners;
>
>CONCLUSIONS ABOUT THE DEMOCRATIC PROCESS
>
>The current process for considering public input into ACTA is
>fundamentally flawed in numerous respects. In many countries, the
>only consultations taking place are with select members of the
>public, off-the-record and without benefit of sharing the latest
>version of the rapidly changing text. There is little possibility
>that a fair and balanced agreement that protects and promotes public
>interests can evolve from such a distorted policy making process.
>
>Governments, right holders and civil society should have an open and
>evidence-based discussion on the right strategy to confront willful
>commercial scale trademark counterfeiting and commercial scale
>copyright piracy. This discussion should take place in multilateral
>and national open and on-the-record forums with access to current
>negotiating text so that all interested stakeholders can participate.
>
>ENDORSEMENTS
>Please send signatures (individual or Organization, City, Country)
>to: acta.declaration at gmail.com
>Please send edits to: pijip at wcl.american.edu
>
>
>
>
>Sean Flynn
>
>Associate Director
>
>Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property
>
>American University Washington College of Law
>
>202 274 4157
>
>www.pijip.org
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>IP JUSTICE
>
>Robin Gross, Executive Director
>
>1192 Haight Street, San Francisco, CA 94117 USA
>
>p: +1-415-553-6261 f: +1-415-462-6451
>
>w: <http://www.ipjustice.org>http://www.ipjustice.org e:
>robin at ipjustice.org
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>-----Inline Attachment Follows-----
>
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