Author: James Love

At the COMMUNIA workshop at the London School of Economics, I mentioned a legislative proposal from 1991 that was designed to open up and improve the management of government databases, promote open standards and interoperability, limit prices, and to give the public regular opportunities to engage agencies on policies. Here is a copy of the bill, from the 102nd Congress. In reading the bill, remember it was introduced in 1991, the same year the first web site was built at CERN, and three years before the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) was created.

Continue Reading →

In London’s, at the 5th COMMUNIA workshop held at the London School of Economics, speakers here are asked to suggest recommendations on the topic of “Accessing, Using, Reusing Public Sector Content and Data.” Here are the 41* that have been proposed in advance, including 9 from KEI.

5th COMMUNIA Workshop:
Accessing, Using, Reusing Public Sector Content and Data

26-27th March 2009, London School of Economics

Policy Recommendations

Continue Reading →

At the WIPO SCP coffee break, one attendee explained to KEI that the EU has in two places, (1) the regulations on tiered pricing, and (2) the implementation of the WTO’s 30 August 2003 decision on compulsory licensing, created an exception for goods in transit to developing countries.

Continue Reading →

The European Commissioners for External Trade and for Taxation and Customs Union have replied to TACD in a letter available here:

Dear All,

Continue Reading →

WIPO’s five day 13th meeting of the Standing Committee on the Law of Patents (SCP) began on Monday, and will go through Friday. The agenda is quite full, as the SCP will consider four important reports written by the Secretariat.

SCP/13/2: Standards and Patents
SCP/13/3: Exclusions from Patentable Subject Matter and Exceptions and Limitations to the Rights
SCP/13/4: The Client-Attorney Privilege
SCP/13/5: Dissemination of Patent Information

Continue Reading →

On March 23, 2009, Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) organized a Briefing on Patents and Standards at WIPO’s 13th meeting of the Standing Committee on Patents (SCP). The meeting features presentations from Dr. Baisheng An, a Research Fellow at the South Centre, George Greve, President of Free Software Foundation Europoe (FSFE), Ahmed Abedel Latif, of the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD), and James Love, Knowledge Ecology International (KEI). Continue Reading →

Yesterday’s meeting at DOJ on the Ticketmaster Live Nation (TM/LN) merger lasted about 90 minutes. Several civil society NGOs groups showed up for the meeting. There were also several persons from age 17 to 65, who go to live events, play in bands, and preform in local venues. Continue Reading →

KEI doing work on the transparency of global trade and treaty negotiations, particularly but not exclusively as relates to IPR negotiations.

One area that has received attention recently (after a year of complaints), seems to be recent USTR denial of access to the negotiating texts of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), which is basically an IPR enforcement agreement only marginally related to the emotive title, “counterfeits.”

Continue Reading →

Michael Geist reports he has obtained under the Canada Access to Information Act” a confidential November 2008 memorandum written by Stockwell Day, the Canada Minister of International Trade, that says in part:

Continue Reading →