[A2k] (Korea-US FTA) Seeking signatures on COPYRIGHT comment

[IPLeft]

South Korea and United States are preparing for the FTA negotiation.
On the negotiation agenda, intellectual property issues are given a top pri=
ority. IPLeft and other NGOs prepared a written comment (download at http:/=
/www.ipleft.or.kr/fta/20060324-CoalitionLetterofNGOs-copyright.pdf) on copy=
right issues that will be submitted to the USTR. Written comments are due b=
y noon, March 24, 2006 via e-mail. IPLeft is seeking signature from many in=
dividuals and organizations in U.S on this comment. People and organization=
s that want to join this effort and put their names on the written comment,=
 please reply to ipleft@jinbo.net with their names and addresses (post addr=
ess, Web site address or/and e-mail address) BY MIDNIGHT, MARCH 23, 2006. I=
f you know people or organizations that might want to join as a signatory, =
please forward this e-mail message to them.

I ask you to keep up on with the future development of the South Korea-U.S.=
 FTA negotiation and to be a part of this fight against it.

The following paragraphs are excerpted from the written comment:

We strongly oppose the inclusion of the copyright clause in the current FTA=
 negotiation between Korea and the United States.

Considering the FTA that the United States negotiated with Singapore, Austr=
alia, and Chile, and what the United States has been demanding from the Kor=
ean government thus far, we assume that the United States will request copy=
right protection similar to or stronger than the United States copyright la=
ws such as the 1998 DMCA(Digital Millennium Copyright Act).

However, the DMCA and extending the copyright protection period in the Sonn=
y Bono Copyright Term Extension Act (CTEA) have been under much criticism b=
ecause it obstructs fair use, science research, technology advancement, and=
 publishing. Furthermore, there are strong concerns about how it impedes co=
mputer security research. Nonetheless, United States has been imposing thei=
r own copyright laws on other countries by adopting laws similar to the DMC=
A in the FTA. Among them, we cannot allow the extension of the copyright pr=
otection period to 70 years or setting the penalty for circumventing the te=
chnical measures for protection at the broad level of the laws in the Unite=
d States because these clauses violate the fundamental principles of the co=
pyright laws. The United States must stop such demands on the Korean govern=
ment immediately.

Nam Hee-seob, Chairperson of Intellectual Property Left
Jungbongwon Bd. 5F, 502, 1-13,
Chungpa-dong 1ga,Yongsan-gu,
Seoul, Korea (140-868)
Website) http://www.ipleft.or.kr