On June 7, 2010 medicine access advocacy groups joined together in asking that George Washington University (GWU) put a stop to its industry-sponsored intellectual property (IP) summits and to take an academic, evidenced-based approach to conferences it conducts in India. Continue Reading
USTR has released its 2010 Special 301 list. Closely following the IIPI and the PhRMA asks, the Special 301 Priority Watch List countries are: Algeria, Argentina, Canada, Chile, China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Russia, Thailand, and Venezuela. Among high income countries, Finland, Norway and Spain made the Watch list this year. Sweden was off.
The January 2010 Guadalajara, Mexico, meeting on ACTA included an agenda item on transparency. I asked USTR if they could provide TACD with a briefing on transparency and other issues in the negotiation. The one hour briefing was held today. I can report nothing of what the USTR said at the meeting, other than they insisted it be off the record. TACD has asked for an on the record meeting, but that apparently will have to wait until after the New Zealand meetings are held the week of April 12. Continue Reading
On January 6, 2010, Senator Ron Wyden sent a letter to the USTR asking a number of questions about the U.S. negotiating objectives in ACTA. On February 28, 2010, USTR responded. The USTR response focused mostly on the official U.S. “asks,” rather than the state of the negotiating text, which also reflects also the views of other parties. For this reason, the USTR letter to Wyden only tells part of the story about what ACTA may do.
Ambassador Ron Kirk has issued a response to Senator Wyden’s letter dated January 6, 2010. The official press release from Senator Wyden’s office follows:
U.S. Senator Ron WydenFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Jennifer Hoelzer (Wyden): (202) 224-3789
March 2, 2010Wyden Gets Some Answers on ACTA Negotiations
USTR Responds on Range of Issues, including Internet Access and Drug Sales
Copyright lobby (IIPA) demands that USTR punish governments who ‘consider’ mandating open source software
On February 18, 2010, the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA), a trade association whose members include the Business Software Alliance (BSA), the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) prepared a 498 page submission to the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) detailing their concerns with 39 countries or territories which the IIPA believed were not providing adequate and effective protection of their Continue Reading
Global Health Organizations Submission to USTR Special 301
On February 18, 2010, 12 NGOs working on Access to Medicines submitted joint comments to the 2010 Special 301 Process
The submission is available here.
And a summary below:
SUBMISSION OF GLOBAL HEALTH ORGANIZATIONS:
USTR’s new hearings on 301 list
USTR has issued an announcement for new procedures including public hearings on the 2010 Special 301 list. This is an effort to make the 301 process somewhat more open, and to provide more formal opportunities to both supporters and critics of USTR’s bilateral trade pressures to make their case. USTR’s actions are welcomed by several NGOs that have been critical of the unilateral trade pressures initiative, as it seems to provide the beginning of a more mature discussion about the objectives of trade policy, and the evidence to support different positions. Continue Reading
Senator Wyden’s letter to the USTR on ACTA
Senator Wyden has written to the USTR posing 11 questions aiming to clarify the specific objectives of the Anti Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). The next round of negotiations are scheduled to take place in Mexico during the week of January 25. The letter is available here. Continue Reading