[Ecommerce] FYI: FT Story on WIPO Open Development Models

[Jeff Williams]

Manon and all,

  I wonder if the recent "lobbying" concerns being ask of late
of the USPTO chief James Rogan also have an effect
on this highly Politically charged concern?
See: October 1, 2003
        Patent Office chief questioned about alleged
        lobbying
        By Molly M. Peterson
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/1003/100103cd1.htm

Manon Ress wrote:

> http://search.ft.com/search/article.html?id=3D031001001065
>
> INTERNATIONAL ECONOMY: Hopes revive for talks on alternatives to patents
> By Frances Williams in Geneva
> Financial Times; Oct 01, 2003
>
> Officials of the World Intellectual Property Organisation still hope to
> promote international discussion on ways to promote innovation by
> sharing information rather than protecting it, even though the US killed
> off earlier plans for a Wipo conference after heavy lobbying by the
> proprietary software industry.
>
> "Quite a lot of people are interested in having a discussion of this
> issue," Francis Gurry, Wipo deputy director-general, said yesterday. "I
> think we will be able to revive it one way or another."
>
> However, Mr Gurry said Wipo was considering a broader focus for the
> discussion that would look at various options for protecting
> intellectual property and their impact on innovation.
>
> Wipo did not want to appear to be intervening in a current commercial
> battle over open-source software in the US, Mr Gurry said.
>
> Open-source advocates accuse Microsoft, the world's biggest proprietary
> software company, and the Business Software Alliance of which it is the
> most prominent member, of lobbying the US patent and trademark office
> (PTO) to stop Wipo going ahead with its original plans.
>
> Lois Boland, PTO international relations director, said last month that
> open-source software ran counter to the mission of Wipo, which was to
> promote intellectual property rights.
>
> "To have a meeting whose primary objective is to waive or remove those
> protections seems to go against the mission," she told National
> Journal's Technology Daily.
>
> The spat arose after more than 60 academics, researchers and consumer
> activists - among them Nobel prizewinners Joseph Stiglitz (economics)
> and Sir John Sulton (medicine) - wrote to Kamil Idris, Wipo
> director-general, in July, asking Wipo to convene a meeting next year on
> open and collaborative projects.
>
> Citing examples from the worldwide web to the human genome project and
> the global positioning system, as well as open-source software, the
> letter said they provided "evidence that one can achieve a high level of
> innovation in some areas of the modern economy without intellectual
> property protection, and indeed excessive, unbalanced, or poorly
> designed intellectual property protections may be counterproductive".
>
> In his response to that letter, Mr Gurry said: "The director-general of
> Wipo looks forward with enthusiasm to taking up the invitation to
> organise a conference to explore the scope and application of these
> models as vehicles for encouraging innovation." But Ms Boland complained
> Wipo was allowing activists, rather than member states, to dictate the
> agency's agenda.
>
> Many scientists and researchers have expressed concern that scientific
> advances and innovations are being hampered by a proliferation of
> patents, especially in the US.
>
> Mr Gurry said yesterday
>
> ******************************************************************
>
> More info here:
> Text of letter to WIPO on open development models (most important is anne=
x)
> http://www.cptech.org/ip/wipo/kamil-idris-7july2003.pdf
> http://www.cptech.org/ip/health/rndtf/
>
> Nature Article on WIPO meeting 10 July 2003
> important quote... WIPO agrees to convene meeting
> http://www.cptech.org/ip/wipo/Nature-WIPO-July.pdf
>
> August 19, 2003, Two articles by William New explaining Microsoft/US
> opposition to meeting
> http://lists.essential.org/pipermail/random-bits/2003-August/001090.html
>
> August 21, 2003, Krim's article in Washington Post on Microsoft/US
> opposition to meeting
> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23422-2003Aug20.html
>
> August 22, 2003, Larry Lessig blog on US opposition to meeting
> http://www.lessig.org/blog/archives/001436.shtml
>
> August 22, 2003 Slashdot article:
> http://yro.slashdot.org/yro/03/08/22/2014231.shtml?tid=3D103&tid=3D117&ti=
d=3D99
>
> August 22, 2003,
> Open Source Industry Alliance, OSAIA letter to USPTO et all on WIPO event
> http://www.osaia.org/documents/pto_letter_032108.pdf
>
> August 23, 2003, Paul Kedrosky slagging Jamie Love in the Canadian press:
> http://www.nationalpost.com/financialpost/story.html?id=3D238F46ED-4396-4=
CE9-AB21-4E05167D31D1
>
> 28 August 2003, NATURE|VOL 424 |28AUGUST 2003
> Lobbying by US business interests has shot down a proposed meeting, to
> be held by the Geneva-based World Intellectual Property Organization
> (WIPO) next year, to explore =91open=92 models of innovation.
> http://www.cptech.org/ip/wipo/20030828-Nature-WIPO.pdf
>
> --
> Manon Anne Ress
> Consumer Project on Technology
> www.cptech.org
> PO Box 19367, Washington, DC 20036
> manon.ress@cptech.org, voice: 1.202.387.8030, fax: 1.202.234.5176
>
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Regards,
--
Jeffrey A. Williams
Spokesman for INEGroup LLA. - (Over 131k members/stakeholders strong!)
"Be precise in the use of words and expect precision from others" -
    Pierre Abelard
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