Draft
The secretly negotiated EU-Japan trade agreement’s intellectual property (IP) chapter limits possibilities for copyright and patent reform. With the agreement, the EU exports part of its IP system.
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Draft
The European Commission has published the final text of the EU-Singapore trade agreement. 1 Chapter eight contains implicit and explicit cross-border data flow commitments, with insufficient safeguards.
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On 31 January, the European Commission agreed on new plans for cross-border data flows and personal data protection in trade negotiations. Cross-border data flows are a difficult issue.
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Update April 2018
The EU and Japan have concluded the legal scrub of the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). The council may already decide on ratification on 22 May 2018.
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The EU Court of Justice declared that proactive filtering by internet access providers and internet hosting providers is illegal. 1 Yet, the EU copyright proposal includes such upload filtering.
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The European Commission has asked the EU council a mandate to open negotiations on a multilateral investment court. However, the accompanying impact assessment obscures environmental and social impacts.
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EU Court of Justice’s Advocate General (AG) Melchior Wathelet finds that investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS) agreements between EU countries are compatible with the EU treaties. (Opinion in the Achmea v. Slovak republic, the ruling of the Court will follow later.) ISDS gives private parties access to the supranational level to challenge government decisions.
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London, 9th March 2017 – Companies across UK have expressed their opposition to an attempt to ratify the Unitary Patent treaty which is neither desirable for British software companies nor compatible with Brexit. They call for an urgent debate in the House of Lords and in the Scottish Parliament.
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1 Introduction
This position paper is the attachment to the FFII submission to the public consultation on a multilateral reform of investment dispute resolution. (blog, pdf)
A multilateral investment court (MIC) would strengthen investments vis-à-vis democracy and fundamental rights.
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The European Commission has launched a consultation on an investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS) variant: a multilateral investment court. 1 The consultation is flawed; it is so narrow that social and environmental impacts may not show up in the consultation results.
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Update: The European Parliament gave consent to CETA. It failed to defend democracy.
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This FFII position paper provides feedback on the inception impact assessment “Convention to establish a multilateral court on investment” (IIA). See below or the pdf.
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The European Commission has launched a consultation on an investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS) variant: a multilateral investment court. 1 In an email the commission confirms the consultation has a narrow scope.
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The EU commission has launched a consultation on a multilateral investment court (MIC), an investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS) variant. 1 The commission does not expect a multilateral investment court to cause social or environmental impacts.
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The European Commission has launched a consultation on a multilateral investment court (MIC). The MIC would be a successor to investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS).
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ECORYS published a final draft human rights assessment of the trade agreement with the US (TTIP). The official name is a Trade Sustainability Impact Assessment (TSIA).
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Members of the European Parliament want the EU’s Court of Justice to check whether a parallel legal system in the trade agreement with Canada (CETA) is compatible with the EU treaties. The parallel legal system, known as ISDS / ICS, is only accessible to foreign investors.
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Member of the European Parliament Marietje Schaake used harsh words on Wallonia for (temporarily) blocking the signing of the EU-Canada trade agreement (CETA): unbelievable, shameful political opportunism, really incomprehensible. In the press release she also defended the inclusion in CETA of investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS), a parallel legal system for multinational investors.
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Update: new version of Declaration, see below
The European Commission and Canadian government work on a “Joint Interpretative Declaration” that should convince governments that have doubts about signing the EU-Canada trade agreement (CETA). The Declaration does not change CETA’s text.
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The study “Trade and Privacy: Complicated Bedfellows? How to achieve data protection-proof free trade agreements” is remarkable.
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The European Commission has published its Privacy Shield decision together with a Communication. The Privacy Shield will govern the transatlantic commercial flow of personal data from Europe.
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Investment lawyer Pratyush Nath Upreti argues that investors will be able to use investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS) to challenge decisions of the Unified Patent Court (UPC). [1] Investors could for instance use a Dutch bilateral investment treaty to challenge UPC decisions.
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ECORYS has published a draft human rights assessment (sustainability impact assessment) on the trade agreement being negotiated between the EU and the United States (TTIP). Today the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII) has sent an email to ECORYS noting issues regarding intellectual property rights, investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS / ICS), data protection, and openness.
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This is the fourth in a series of blogs on the EU-Canada trade agreement (CETA) and data protection. In earlier blogs we saw that under the CETA text Canada can give our personal data related to financial services, transfered to Canada, a lower protection than under the standard set by the Court of Justice of the EU in the Safe Harbour ruling.
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In February 2016 the European Commission and Canadian government published the final draft text of the EU – Canada trade agreement (CETA). This final draft includes an investment chapter with investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS).
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This is the third in a series of blogs on the EU-Canada trade agreement (CETA) and data protection. (Prior blogs: CETA and mass surveillance, CETA places itself above EU Charter of Fundamental Rights)
In this blog I will show CETA provides less data projection than the EU Charter of fundamental rights.
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This is the second in a series of blogs on CETA and privacy. (blog one: CETA and mass surveillance)
The draft EU-Canada trade agreement CETA contains a general exception that is supposed to be a safeguard for policy space.
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In February 2016 the European Commission and Canadian government published the final draft text of the EU – Canada trade agreement (CETA). Before that the Court of Justice of the EU in October 2015 invalidated the Safe Harbour framework that allowed the transfer of European citizens’ data to the United States.
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The European Commission has launched a consultation on the intellectual property rights enforcement directive (IPRED). The European Digital Rights initiative (EDRi) explains:
“Injunctions, internet blocking, blackmailing of individuals accused of unauthorised peer-to-peer filesharing — the so-called IPRED Directive has been very controversial.
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The European Commission published the text of the draft EU-Canada trade agreement (CETA), which includes an investor-to state dispute settlement (ISDS) section. According to an Inside U.S. Trade’s World Trade Online article Canada succeeded in “changing the language from the EU’s TTIP proposal in a way that sources on both sides of the debate agreed would provide less protection for governments against challenges by investors.”
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Companies could use investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS) in trade agreements to challenge refusals to grant software patents, FFII’s Benjamin Henrion argued during the 24 February 2016 TTIP stakeholder’s presentations. Successful challenges could undermine the European Patent Convention’s exclusion of software, the recent US Supreme Court’s limits on patentability, and Congressional patent reform.
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On occasion of the Safer Internet Day, we perform an event where they coach children how the internet works while playing it. For detailed information and registration please visit the following site.
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The European Commission today published the negotiated text of the EU – Vietnam FTA. The investment and investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS) chapter is not conform the European Parliament 8 July 2015 resolution.
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Junge Tüftler is a society that coaches children digital literacy by using a constructionist approach. To extend our work we are happy about the possibility to share the FFII office space so that we will be able to offer more courses and events for kids in future.
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Bernd Lange, chair of the European Parliament international trade committee, has sent a letter to EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmström regarding the EU commission’s investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS) reform proposal. His letter shows that he overlooks many deficiencies in the commission’s proposal, among them perverse incentives.
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New Zealand has published the text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Ongoing analysis, subject to updates:
ISDS
Investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS) places investment tribunals above states, above democracies.
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Citizen enjoy a right of access to documents enshrined in the EU treaties. However, when they ask about documents from the ongoing trade negotiations (TTIP, TISA,…) access had usually been refused by the institutions.
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Aus einer Anfrage an die Bundesregierung geht hervor, dass Deutschland zwar von der Kommission gegenüber Drittstaaten vertreten wird, aber nicht ausreichend über die Gespräche informiert. Das verdeutlicht Nachbesserungsbedarf in der Administration von EU Kommissarin Malmström hinsichtlich Transparenz, auch gegenüber den Regierungen der Mitgliedstaaten.
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The commission has tabled its investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS) reform proposal for discussion with the United States and published it on 12 November 2015. Summary
This analysis concludes that the commission’s proposal would undermine democracy, civil rights, and the rule of law.
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On 4 June 2015 the European Liberal Forum (ELF) organised a discussion on TTIP and the creative industries: Can TTIP Protect European Creativity? [1] TTIP is the trade agreement with the US under negotiation.
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Berlin, 15. September 2015 – Alles wird vernetzt, auch die Kleidung.
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By FFII | August 12, 2015
In recent years trade deals as TTIP, ACTA, TISA, TPP, SOPA etc. face a public call for greater transparency.
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By FFII | July 31, 2015
Some European consumers are concerned about the transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), others are not. The EU negotiates it on our behalf with the US.
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Today the European Parliament adopted a non-binding resolution on the trade agreement with the United States (TTIP). Based on this resolution we could have a discriminating and expansive investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS) system, rigged to the advantage of the United States.
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Martin Schulz, the president of the European Parliament proposed a compromise amendment on investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS). [1]
The amendment calls on the EU commission to replace ISDS with ISDS: “to replace the ISDS-system with a new system for resolving disputes between investors and states”.
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The French government published a proposal for investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS) reforms: Towards a new way to settle disputes between states and investors, May 2015. (pdf, French: Le Monde)
Summary
The French proposal would grant for-profit arbitrators, working in a system that creates perverse incentives, vast discretionary powers.
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Last week the European Parliament postponed the vote on a resolution on the EU-US trade agreement (TTIP). The vote was postponed because many social democratic members oppose investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS).
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Wednesday the European Parliament will vote on a resolution on TTIP, the agreement with the US under negotiation. The EU commission wants to add investor-to-state dispute settlement, or ISDS, to this agreement.
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The OpenTechSummit 2015 took place for the first time in Berlin on May 14, 2015 with the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure as a core partner and supporter. With more than 700 attendees – from policy makers, developers, start-ups, to contributors – and over 70 speakers the event was a huge success.
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The EU commission published a concept paper on investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS). In my opinion the plans are a diplomatic blunder which threatens our democracy and privacy.
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“Debating Europe” asked the Commissioner Malmström:
Can #TTIP negotiations proceed without the #ISDS mechanism? It is a very good question which the Commissioner did not answer.
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The OpenTechSummit will take place for the first time in Berlin on May 14, 2015 with the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure as a core partner and supporter. The Free and Open Source technology event brings together policy makers, developers, start-ups, and contributors.
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By FFII | April 4, 2015
Spiegel Online quotes an internal document of the German Ministry of Economics on the TTIP negotiations (round 8):
Im Bereich der öffentlichen Beschaffung hat die US-Seite weitere Zugeständnisse mit der Aufnahme von Diskussionen zu Investitionsschutz / ISDS verknüpft. (In the area of public procurement the US side made further concessions conditional on the start of deliberations on investor protection /ISDS).
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Social democratic ministers from six EU countries published reform proposals for the highly controversial investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism. ISDS gives foreign investors the right to bypass local courts and use international arbitration to fight out conflicts with states.
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By FFII | March 29, 2015
EU Trade Commissioner Malmström addressed a question from MEP Adam Gierek on TTIP effects on transatlantic patentability differences. The Commissioner did not actually answer the question of the Polish social democrat and responded with routine information: “Notwithstanding patent protection granted by US law to computer programs, our current international obligations ensure copyright protection in both parties.”
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By FFII | March 27, 2015
It does not feel good when you are exposed to risks. Exactly this happens, exposure to potential liabilities, when you share your Wifi connection in Germany with others.
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By FFII | March 27, 2015
A new Open Source Strategy applies a concept of equal treatment:
The Commission will ensure a level playing field to open source software when procuring new software solutions. This means that open source solutions and proprietary solutions will be assessed on an equal basis, being both evaluated on the basis of total cost of ownership, including exit costs.
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Update: final text is out, just as rigged. ————————————
Wikileaks has released the “Investment Chapter” from the secret negotiations of the TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) agreement.
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The European Commission investigates a permanent international investment court as a replacement of the controversial investor-to-state dispute settlement mechanism (ISDS). The plan for a court and the road map towards it are fundamentally flawed.
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Today EU commissioner Malmström gave a speech in the European Parliament trade committee on investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS). ISDS gives foreign investors the right to use arbitration against states, instead of using local courts.
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Today the EU declassified a two year old mandate of the member states to the European Commission to negotiate the services agreement TiSA. These mandates are drafted by the European Commission and approved by the member states in the European Council and authorise the European Commission to negotiate with third countries.
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A Vrijschrift letter to the Dutch Parliament highlights the dangers of investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS) in the trade agreements with Canada (CETA) and Singapore (EUSFTA). On 25 March EU trade ministers will meet (informally) to discuss trade agreements and ISDS.
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By FFII | March 1, 2015
The European Commission acknowledges that the unitary patent is not safeguarded against the granting of software patents by endorsing the EPO teaching:
21. Will the new unitary patent regime facilitate the patenting of computer programmes?
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The United States government defends its investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS) model. It gives the US unfair procedural advantages.
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Since 1 January 2015 online traders in the EU, selling items like “laser swords” in an app, have to apply the applicable value-added tax (VAT) rate to their purchases and submit the tax to the applicable tax authority of the responsible European member state. The new rules affect “laser swords”, document templates and SaaS but not traditional ecommerce trade of physical goods.
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By FFII | February 19, 2015
The German delegation to the Council puts the axe against the data protection regulation. The trick is a special new pseudonyme data proposal.
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By FFII | February 17, 2015
We publish a German paper from the DO-FOSS initiative that advocates for free and open source software for the public sector in the city of Dortmund, Germany. Disclaimer: The FFII was not involved in the drafting of the document and is not affiliated with the group.
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The European Commission published a textual proposal for the TTIP talks that includes the H-Word. Previously the European Commission had argued that (legal) harmonisation was not among the objective of the agreement: “Given the efficiency of their respective systems, the intention is not to strive towards harmonisation, but to identify a number of specific issues where divergences will be addressed.”
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The EU wants to create a Unified Patent Court (UPC). I will discuss some aspects of the UPC and make two more general remarks on (adjudicative) system design.
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Eva Kaili (S&D) from Greece asks the European Commission (under rule 130):
The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership and potential areas of conflict with the Lisbon Treaty
The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (hereinafter TTIP) is a comprehensive free trade and investment agreement, which is currently being negotiated — behind closed doors — between the European Union and the US. In particular, all TTIP negotiations are swathed in secrecy, since the Commission is imposing the most stringent restrictions on the more important documents.
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The European People’s Party (EPP), the biggest group in the European Parliament, is in favour of investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS). I will discuss their position and conclude it creates three risks.
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Welcome to our new WordPress design. Thanks for the support for setting it up to Andre Rebentisch and Alexander Klosch!
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In October 2014 the European Commission published the draft text of the EU-Singapore trade agreement (EUSFTA) investment chapter. It contains investment protection rules for foreign investors and the controversial investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS), which gives foreign investors special rights in conflicts with governments.
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Marietje Schaake, the European Parliament’s liberal group’s (ALDE) spokesperson on the trade agreement with the US (TTIP) published a blog on investor-state arbitration (ISDS). I will discuss her arguments below; to avoid cherry picking, I will quote her whole blog (for the links and images see her blog).
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Foundation for a Free information Infrastructure (FFII) submission to the European Ombudsman public consultation in relation to the transparency of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations. The submission has a focus on the EU’s human rights obligations.
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The first Meshcon FashionTec Week took place from October 10-15, 2014 in Berlin with the support of the FFII e.V. The event attracted 23 speakers from around the world and gathered hundreds of attendees from the technology and fashion community. The FFII invited software engineers, creative minds and fashion hackers to the MeshCon 14’ in Berlin.
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Last week the Dutch newspaper NRC revealed a fight between Juncker and Malmström over ISDS. The article (paywall) sketched the context: uninformed activists gaining influence.
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In 2011 the FFII discovered that some European Parliament decisions regarding the ratification of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) were not recorded in any known document. A hidden class of documents (“coordinators’ minutes”) seemed to exist, but the Parliament denied the existence.
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This Saturday 11 October 2014, in hundreds of European cities, civil society organisations, unions and farmers will organise manifestations against EU trade agreements under negotiation. The manifestations regard the Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) with the US, the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with Canada, and the Trade in Services Agreement (TISA) with many countries.
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By FFII | October 2, 2014
OpenDemocracy reports about the back and forth confusion during Commissioner hearings recently:
At 16:01 they [Tagesspiegel] publish an article on their website: Juncker will drop ISDS from TTIP, this is the policy of the incoming Commission. It becomes more an more likely that the controversial enforcement of TTIP and CETA with ISDS instruments would be resolved.
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By FFII | September 26, 2014
Peer Steinbrück, Member of the Bundestag, Chair of the German-U.S. Parliamentary Friendship Group, and former German Federal Minister of Finance
Moderator: Bruce Stokes, Director of Global Economic Attitudes, Global Attitudes Project, Pew Research Center, Non-Resident Fellow, German Marshall Fund of the United States
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Berlin, 26 September 2014 – The FFII invites software engineers, creative minds and fashion hackers to the MeshCon 14’ in Berlin. The technology week is organised in cooperation with the TU Berlin, BBW, Wikimedia and the Mozilla Community.
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By FFII | July 21, 2014
The US President Export Council discusses its proposed data flow provisions (June 19, 2014) as a means to counter the rush to privacy protection and denounces privacy measures of foreign governments as a trade barrier and digital protectionism. No further arguments are provided to back up these claims and allegations.
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Here is a quote from Harry van Dorenmalen of IBM Europe:
Data flows and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) will be high on the agenda at the Summit. TTIP offers a unique opportunity to set the example as a 21st Century trade agreement that supports cross border data flow provisions…
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A 100.000 citizens answered the EU consultation on ISDS, among them 121 academics. Some quotes from their submission:
“The Commission’s consultation document is an extraordinary text.
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By FFII | July 15, 2014
The European Commission General directorate for trade confirms that electronic encryption is among the discussed topics:
On ICT, the two sides have so far exchanged analysis on some specific topics, such as e-health, encryption, e-accessibility, enforcement and e-labelling.
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Today the Dutch government published “The Impact of Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) in the TTIP”. The Parliament had asked for this study.
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FFII submission to European Commission consultation on investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS):
This submission concludes that investor-to-state dispute settlement lacks conventional institutional safeguards for independence and has characteristics of a rigged system. The appointment of arbitrators is not neutral and gives the US an unfair advantage.
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Investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS), the most controversial element of the proposed trade agreement with the US, has characteristics of a rigged system. ISDS gives the US an unfair advantage, we can not expect EU companies to win ISDS cases against the US.
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On 3 December 2013, the Dutch Parliament requested the government to investigate the potential social and environmental risks and the consequences of investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS) and the consequences of ISDS for the Netherlands and the financial risks for the Dutch government. On 17 April 2014 companies and civil society organisations met at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to discuss the ongoing “ISDS – TTIP study”.
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Tomorrow the EU parliament will vote on investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS). The parliament will vote on a regulation regarding “International agreements: framework for managing financial responsibility linked to investor-state dispute settlement tribunals”.
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By FFII | March 26, 2014
Thanks to the tool Offenesparlament.de you can find what questions are asked by Members of the German Bundestag (MdB) concerning the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership to the German government. For instance the Government stipulates that sectoral exclusions are impossible because of WTO principles (Dr. Maria Flachsbarth, Parl.
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In my previous post I wrote that in the US – EU trade negotiations (TTIP / TAFTA) the US tabled a proposal that will undermine our privacy. I asked the EU chief negotiator a question about this.
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(Updated) In the EU – US trade negotiations (TTIP / TAFTA) the US tabled a proposal that would prohibit to require local data storage. If the EU accepts this proposal, the EU would give away an instrument essential to protect privacy.
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Update: Since the publication of this blog the European Commission has published two new versions. These do not change the analysis; the remarks are also valid for the consolidated CETA text and the CETA final text (Chapter 20), the version to be ratified or rejected.
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By FFII | February 28, 2014
These days the European Commissioner for Trade Karel De Gucht claims chlorinated chicken was not a valid concern of the TTIP negotiations. EU investment agreements will explicitly state that legitimate government public policy decisions – on issues such as the balance between public and private provision of healthcare or “the European ban on chicken carcasses washed with chlorine” – cannot be over-ridden.
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By FFII | February 26, 2014
The Commission announced:
Given the efficiency of their respective systems, the intention is not to strive towards harmonisation, but to identify a number of specific issues where divergences will be addressed. What does “harmonisation” mean within the European Union institutions?
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With other representatives of civil society organisations and business stakeholders, I spent an afternoon at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs talking about the ongoing talks on a proposed EU – US trade agreement (TTIP/TAFTA). Intellectual property (IP)
Of course, the ministry assured us that TTIP will not contain ACTA-like Internet provisions or provisions that will limit access to medicine.
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On 10 February the Information Society Project at Yale Law School organised a debate on Trade and Transparency in the Internet Age. Below my introduction:
I would first like to thank the university for the invitation to speak here.
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I just made a personal submission to the Public Consultation on the review of the EU copyright rules. I used the You can fix copyright website.
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Faced with massive critique, the European Commission announced a consultation on investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS). ISDS gives multinationals the right to sue states before special tribunals if changes in law may lead to lower profits than expected.
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I wrote a letter to the European Ombudsman to solve a misunderstanding regarding my complaint against the European Parliament (see below or pdf). ACTA is dead in Europe, but there are still issues with disclosure of documents.
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In an interview with Inside U.S. Trade, European Parliament International Trade committee chairman Vital Moreira, talking about the trade negotiations with the United States (TTIP / TAFTA), defended the investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism. Under ISDS companies can sue states if new laws threaten to make expected profits lower.
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In an interview with Inside U.S. Trade, European Parliament International Trade committee Chairman Vital Moreira said, regarding the trade negotiations with the United States (TTIP / TAFTA), that he is not now pressing the European Commission to provide parliament members with access to U.S. negotiating proposals, but that could change if the U.S. authorizes the commission to share these proposals with member states. According to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union article 218 (10), the European Parliament shall be immediately and fully informed at all stages of the procedure.
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Yesterday the Dutch Parliament (Tweede Kamer) adopted a resolution critical of investor – state dispute settlement (Dutch, pdf). Google translation.
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During a stakeholders meeting on the TTIP / TAFTA trade agreement, EU and US negotiators showed determination to transfer sovereignty to companies. On Friday 15 November, the last day of the second TTIP negotiating round, the EU commission organised a stakeholders meeting.
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This week the EU and US hold a second round of trade negotiations. The military and economic power of states depend on their key industries.
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A few weeks ago I filed a complaint with the Ombudsman against the European Parliament over the secrecy of legal advice regarding ACTA. The Ombudsman replied that she didn’t want to investigate the complaint as I already got access to the documents (unofficially released versions).
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Update April 2018 New: Final text April 2018 after legal scrub, the text to be ratified. IP chapter is now chapter 10 in stead of 11.
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By FFII | September 24, 2013
Brussels, 24 September 2013 — Ten years after the historical vote of the European Parliament to ban software patents, the EPO, the patent community and large companies continue to push for their validation through the Unitary Patent Court. Benjamin Henrion, president of the FFII, says: “Freedom of programming has won that day, but it did not take long for the enemies of freedom to fight back.
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The European Parliament decided to keep the opinions of its legal service on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) secret. I just filed a complaint with the ombudsman against the parliament over this.
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At the Dutch international camping festival for hackers and makers OHM 2013 I gave a lightning talk about Investor-to-state dispute settlement. Below the text.
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This summer there will a another international camping festival for hackers and makers, and those with an inquisitive mind, OHM 2013. I will give a short talk about investor-to-state dispute settlement.
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Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) writes:
“Appeal filed over business lobbies’ privileged access in EU-India trade talks
Lobby watchdog Corporate Europe Observatory today appealed to the European Court of Justice a ruling from the EU’s General Court over information related to the EU-India free trade talks, which the European Commission shared with corporate lobby groups but later withheld from the public.” The FFII criticised the earlier ruling in its comment on the EU – US trade agreement, “Openness and the right to participate”.
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Monday the EU and US will start negotiations on a trade agreement. Today the FFII sent a comment to the EU Commission and the EU Parliament rapporteurs on this agreement, with a focus on openness and the right to participate.
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Brussels, 14 June 2013 — The Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII) condemns the inclusion of investor-to-state dispute settlement in the mandate for trade talks with the United States. Investor-to-state dispute settlement gives multinationals the possibility to sue states for special tribunals if changes in law may lead to lower profits than expected.
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Corporate Europe Observatory writes (CEO):
“Court ruling fails to stop business lobbies’ privileged access in EU-India trade talks
In a ruling delivered today following a lawsuit by lobby watchdog Corporate Europe Observatory, the EU’s General Court in Luxembourg concludes that the European Commission did not violate EU rules when withholding information about the EU-India free trade talks from the public, even though it had already shared the information with corporate lobby groups. Corporate Europe Observatory warns that this decision risks deepening the secrecy around EU trade negotiations and legitimises the Commission’s practice of granting corporate lobby groups privileged access to its policy-making, at the expense of the wider public interest.”
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Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant today opens with an article on investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS), stating that ISDS can have far-reaching effects on EU environmental laws. De Volkskrant writes it has a leaked draft of the EU – Canada trade agreement.
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The EU draft mandate for trade negotiations with the United States contains serious flaws and should rejected, according to the Vrijschrift Foundation. Vrijschrift writes this in a letter to the Chairman of the Dutch House Committee for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, Mr de Roon.
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(Updated) The European Parliament adopted a resolution on EU trade and investment negotiations with the United States of America. All amendments to the resolution were rejected, and with this all amendments were rejected that asked for real openness, or asked for leaving investor to state dispute settlement out, or would have made an improvement on the paragraph on intellectual property rights.
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If countries do not want to defend themselves in investor to state dispute settlement (ISDR) cases, they better think twice before signing them, Mr H. Lee-Makiyama said yesterday. In that case, they better also think twice before giving the Commission a mandate to negotiate a trade agreement with the US, as they may not have a veto on the outcome.
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Mr Daniel Caspary, European People’s Party (EPP) coordinator International Trade Committee, said this morning that looking at draft negotiation texts does not make any sense. This morning the EPP group in the European Parliament organised a breakfast debate on the proposed trade agreement with the US (TTIP / TAFTA).
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In this blog post I will argue that investor – state dispute settlement (ISDS) is not compatible with the EU Treaties. Summary: EU laws have to be compatible with the EU Treaties (including human rights).
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After the negotiations, the EU member states may not have a veto on the proposed trade agreement with the US (TTIP / TAFTA). I wrote earlier about some issues with the EU draft mandate for the EU – US trade agreement.
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Today the European Parliament International Trade committee voted on a draft resolution on the EU – US trade agreement (TTIP / TAFTA). La Quadrature du Net summarizes it: EU Parliament Opens The Door to Copyright Repression in TAFTA.
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Today the FFII sent a letter to the European Parliament committee on International Trade. Thursday 25 April 2013 the committee will vote on 198 amendments to a draft resolution on the EU – US trade agreement (TTIP / TAFTA)
Text as pdf, or below:
22 April 2013
Dear Members of the International Trade committee,
We are writing to express our concerns with the proposed trade agreement with the US (TTIP).
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25 April at 10 am, the European Parliament International Trade committee will vote on a draft resolution on the proposed EU – US trade agreement (TAFTA / TTIP). There are 198 amendments, on many subjects, like intellectual property out (especially from amendment 114), others aim at stronger IP, investor – state dispute resolution out (amendments 163, 164), more transparency.
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Berlin, 18 April 2013 — A cross-partisan Deutsche Bundestag resolution on software patenting received its plenary first reading. The resolution asks for changes to the controversial granting of software patents by patent institutions.
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Last week I wrote that the trade agreement with Singapore will be secret until it enters into force. The statement was based on an email from EU Trade Spokesperson John Clancy.
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Update: Text of trade agreement with Singapore will be published before the summer
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(FFII press release) Text also below:
Brussels, 12 April 2013 — The EU Commission decided to keep the trade agreement with Singapore secret until it enters into force. With this decision the Commission betrays European citizens and democracy, according to the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII).
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Inside U.S. Trade obtained the draft EU mandate for the EU – US trade agreement (TTIP / TAFTA) (pdf), this is the proposal the Commission sent to the Council for a mandate to start the negotiations. I note 6 issues here.
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Berlin, 27 March 2013 — The German newspaper taz.die tageszeitung (TAZ) receives this year’s Document Freedom Day award. With this award, the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) and the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII) honour organisations that make exemplary use of Open Standards.
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Seven members of the European Parliament (Greens/EFA) asked the Commission a question on the proposed EU-US trade agreement. The EU is obliged to respect, protect and fulfil the human rights enshrined in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).
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The General Court of the European Court of Justice gave a judgment in Case T‑301/10, In ‘t Veld against European Commission about transparency of ACTA documents, 19 March 2013. The Court upholds the secrecy in general, and only finds regarding a few documents that the secrecy was wrong.
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Today, more than 35 European and United States civil society organisations released this declaration:
IP OUT OF TAFTA
Last year, millions of Americans told their government not to undermine the open internet. We sent the SOPA and PIPA bills down to defeat.
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Brussels, 18 March 2013 — More than 35 European and United States civil society organisations insist that a proposed trade agreement between the EU and the US exclude any provisions related to patents, copyright, trademarks, or other forms of so-called “intellectual property”. Such provisions could impede citizens’ rights to health, culture, and free expression and otherwise affect their daily lives.
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By FFII | March 13, 2013
March 12, 2013. US President Barack Obama discusses foreign trade including TTIP with the members of its export council.
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Yesterday the European Parliament voted on a non-binding report on eliminating gender stereotypes in the EU. EDRi wrote the draft resolution supported “a ban on ‘all forms of pornography’ (paragraph 17), with online policing being done by private companies (paragraph 14)”.
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(-> Version Française)
Brussels, 20 February 2013 – After almost 40 years of deliberations the Irish Presidency managed to get most European member states to formally sign an agreement on a Unitary Patent Court without European substantive patent law. The Court would be seated in three member states.
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Statement by more than 70 organizations: “We urge the EU and Canadian governments to follow the lead of the Australian government by stopping the practice of including investor-state dispute settlement in their trade and investment agreements, and to open the door to a broad re-writing of trade and investment policy to balance out corporate interests against the greater public interest.”
See the full statement: Transatlantic Statement Opposing Excessive Corporate Rights (Investor-State Dispute Settlement) in the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA)
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Today EU trade commissioner Karel de Gucht travels to Washington to discuss the possibilities to start negotiations on an EU – US trade agreement. Some companies already dream of setting a gold standard in areas such as intellectual property rights (IPR) protection.
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Tomorrow EU trade commissioner Karel de Gucht will travel to Washington to discuss the possibilities to start negotiations on an EU – US trade agreement. The industry already dreams of setting a gold standard in areas such as intellectual property protection – just like they tried with ACTA.
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Tuesday EU trade commissioner Karel de Gucht will travel to Washington to discuss the possibilities to start negotiations on an EU – US trade agreement. The industry already dreams of setting a gold standard in areas such as intellectual property protection.
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Brussels, 31 January 2013 — A draft trade agreement between the European Union and Canada (CETA) threatens the Internet, health and democracy, according to the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII). The agreement contains an investor-state arbitration clause, which gives multinational companies the right to directly sue states in international tribunals.
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[ Francais ] — [ Deutsch ]
Munich, 15 January 2013 – The king of trivial software and business methods patents, Amazon’s “one-click gift order”, is still not dead in Europe. After 15 years of existence, the European Patent Office (EPO) today revoked it on precarious grounds which warrant another appeal.
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Munich, 14 January 2013 — For Tuesday the European Patent Office (EPO) scheduled a hearing on the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure’s (FFII) opposition to the legendary “one-click gift order” patent from online retailer Amazon.com Inc.
In 2004 the FFII e.V. filed an opposition to Amazon.com’s “one-click gift order” patent grant. FFII board member Stephan Uhlmann: “Software patents hinder innovation and our digital economy as whole.
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Much has been written about the tragic death of Aaron Swartz. As I didn’t know him personally, I would like to limit myself to three words: rest in peace (and my deepest sympathy for his family, loved ones and friends).
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The European Commission has withdrawn its referral of ACTA to the European Court of Justice. This spring, the commission had asked the court: “Is the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) compatible with the European Treaties, in particular with the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union?”
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I just sent a letter to Member of the European Parliament Luigi Berlinguer on the EU patent. Dear Mr Berlinguer,
About a year ago, we exchanged some emails on ACTA, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement.
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A letter allegedly written by European Parliament rapporteur Rapkay defends the unitary patent. I do not know whether the letter is real, or fake.
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Member of the European Parliament Eva Lichtenberger has sent an open letter to her colleagues about the European Patent Package. She notes the patent package is set to be debated and voted in first reading in the December despite the fact that the European Council amended the first reading agreement reached with the Legal Affairs Committee, and no subsequent negotiations have being held to discuss this.
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Today the FFII sent an open letter to the President of the Court of Justice of the European Union, Mr Vassilios Skouris. In the letter the FFII asks the Court to reconsider the Court’s rules on amicus curiae briefs in opinion procedures and accept amicus curiae briefs in the ACTA referral.
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Brussels, 21 November 2012 — This monday, the Cypriot Presidency stated in parliament that they are “aware of concerns that the legislator can be deprived of their legislative competence”. In fact the new patent compromise is similar to the “a death certificate in patent law” for the European Parliament, says Benjamin Henrion, president of the FFII.
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On 13 November 2012 the FFII sent an amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief about the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) to the Court of Justice of the European Union. A few hours later the registry of the court informed the FFII that only the Member States, the European Parliament, the Council and the European Commission may participate in the Opinion procedure and submit written statements.
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Today the FFII sent an amicus curiae brief about ACTA to the Court of Justice of the European Union. The FFII concludes that ACTA is not compatible with international human rights instruments, the European Convention on Human Rights, the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, or the European Treaties.
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This is my submission to the “Call for a progressive agenda on creation and innovation”, launched by the Greens / EFA in the European Parliament. It is partly inspired by Peter K. Yu, Intellectual Property and Human Rights in the Nonmultilateral Era.
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The pharmaceutical industry abuses patents to ask exorbitant prices, says Dr. Huub Schellekens, professor at Utrecht University, in an interview with Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant (11 August, paywall). In the Netherlands, one of the richest countries in the world, the “College van Zorgverzekeringen”, the government organization responsible for reimbursing medical costs, started a discussion on whether it is still possible to reimburse the high costs for treating the Fabry and Pompe diseases.
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On February 1, 2012, I filed a maladministration complaint against the European Parliament for systematically lying about the existence of documents. The complaint attracted attention from Members of the Parliament.
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Brussels, 23 July 2012 — The European Commission blocks TOR users’ access to its web site. TOR is an internet anonymisation technology and became widely popular for its facilitating role in the Arab spring movement.
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The EU – Canada trade agreement (CETA) contains the same draconian civil and criminal measures as ACTA, see Michael Geist. He recommends: “With anti-ACTA sentiment spreading across Europe, Canada should push to remove the intellectual property chapter from CETA altogether.”
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Today, the European Parliament rejected the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) in a 478 to 39 vote with 165 abstentions. Before the vote the European People’s Party requested a vote on postponement of the vote.
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On Tuesday 3 July the European Parliament had a long debate on ACTA. No surprises, the group positions were expressed an other time.
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The European Peoples Party wants to wash its hands in innocence. Yesterday, Monday 2 July, the EPP tweeded:
“EPP Group @EPPGroup
#EPP will ask during tomorrow’s debate on #ACTA for a postponement of the vote until we have ECJ’s ruling.”
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Update: no one made a request to postpone the vote on ACTA. The debate will be on Tuesday 15.00, the roll call vote (a bit after) Wednesday 12.30
Watch it live:
EP video streams:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/ep-live/en/
plenary session:
http://live.europarl.europa.eu/asx/ext/plenary.asx
alternative stream, original language:
mms://livewms.europarl.europa.eu/reflector:56235
alternative stream, English:
mms://livewms.europarl.europa.eu/reflector:56235 – aid 3
Try other “aid” numbers for other languages.
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The Greens in the European Parliament tabled important amendments to the draft unitary patent regulation. They aim to bring the unitary patent under democratic control.
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Today the FFII sent an open letter to The President of the European Parliament. See below or the pdf.
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The European Parliament plenary session will discuss ACTA on the 3rd of July, followed by a plenary vote the next day. The biggest group in Parliament, the EPP, is still in favour of ACTA, and most committee votes were close.
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Update: Thanks to everyone who has called MEPs. The amendments have been tabled by the Greens.
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The International Trade committee adopted David Martin’s draft opinion which proposes to reject ACTA, with 19 to 12 votes. Two amendments proposing to give consent to ACTA were withdrawn.
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On March 1, EU Commissioner De Gucht used overstated counterfeiting numbers, and called them the “most conservative estimates”. Will he do this again today at 6 pm?
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According to Marietje Schaake, member of the European Parliament’s International Trade committee (INTA), there is a rumor that there will be a request for a secret vote on ACTA. See her tweet.
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According to sources in the Parliament, Trade Commissioner De Gucht invited himself to the Parliament’s International Trade committee (INTA). He will address the committee just before the vote on ACTA.
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On 21 June, at 10 am, the European Parliament International Trade committee will vote on David Martin’s draft opinion on ACTA. The draft opinion recommends to Parliament to reject ACTA (“Declines to consent to conclusion of the agreement”).
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According to the “ACTA facts” website, ACTA will give the EU an enormous boost: “Economic stimulus: €50 billion in growth and 960,000 new jobs”. That’s unexpected.
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With Joe getting poetical, the Commission into myth making, and a church available, why wouldn’t I try to write a little prayer on ACTA? A little prayer on ACTA
What is legal will stay legal
As long as you disconnect your computer from the Internet
You do not have to fear ACTA’s criminal measures
As long as you disconnect your computer from the Internet
ACTA is not a threat to your privacy
As long as you disconnect your computer from the Internet
You do not have to fear United States law in Europe
As long as you disconnect your computer from the Internet
The ACTA process was transparent enough
You were never supposed to have an opinion at all
ACTA is not a threat to your access to medicine
As long as you do not pick up a terrible disease
ACTA will not harm small and medium sized enterprises
As long as they do not try to innovate and compete
You do not have to fear disconnection
As long as you disconnect your computer from the Internet
You do not have to fear monitoring
As long as you disconnect your computer from the Internet
ACTA is not a threat to your right to information
As long as you disconnect your computer from the Internet
ACTA is not a threat to your freedom of speech
As long as you disconnect your computer from the Internet
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Tomorrow, Saturday 9 June, there will be more than 120 demonstrations against the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). Most of them take place in Europe, but there will also be demonstrations in Sendai (Japan), Montreal (QC, Canada), Kansas and New York (US).
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Update: the Development committee advises to reject ACTA. The committee adopted the amendments to the draft report and then adopted the amended opinion with 19 in favour, 1 against, 3 abstentions.
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Picture above: For the first time ever, those who oppose draconian IP enforcement won a vote in the EP Legal Affairs committee
Today, three European Parliament committees voted against ACTA. Both in the Industry and Legal Affairs committee the votes were very close.
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This week three European Parliament committees will vote on ACTA: Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE), Legal Affairs (JURI), and Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE). Today the FFII sent letters to the three committees that will vote this week.
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On April 30th, the United States published its 2012 Special 301 Report (pdf). Among other things, the report targets poor countries for not spending enough on the enforcement of intellectual property rights – including EU member states Romania and Greece.
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By FFII | May 9, 2012
The ACTA draft opinion of Dimitrios DROUTSAS was presented to the Civil Liberties Committee of the European Parliament. You could view a video recording of the meeting on the European Parliament website (start 11.15).
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On May 14th 2012, the European Parliament Development committee will vote on its draft opinion on ACTA. The deadline for amendments (consent or rejection) is set for tomorrow at noon.
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May 14th, the European Parliament Development committee (DEVE) will vote on ACTA. (Agenda, point 13) The committee’s ACTA rapporteur, Mr Zahradil, wrote a new version of his draft opinion.
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All FFII work on ACTA is volunteer work. But we do need money for our visits to the EU Parliament in Brussels and Strasbourg, especially now during this crucial voting period.
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Strasbourg, 27 april 2012 — British Telecom patent lawyer Simon Roberts warned that current plans for an EU patent court are a fuel for patent trolls. The current plans for an EU patent court will allow countries such as Germany to keep their bifucarted court system, which acts like a magnet for companies that want to enforce patents.
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The European Parliament Legal Affairs committee will consider its rapporteur’s draft opinion on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) on Wednesday 25 April 2012, at 16.50. The next day, 26 April 2012, at 10.00, the committee will vote on the adoption of the draft opinion (Agenda points 8 and 31).
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The European Digital Rights initiative published Marielle Gallo MEP’s (EPP, France) draft European Parliament Legal Affairs committee opinion on ACTA yesterday. She proposes the committee to support ACTA.
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Today the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats, the European Parliament’s second biggest group, held a meeting on ACTA. At the end of the meeting David Martin, the Parliament’s rapporteur on ACTA said his job as rapporteur is to balance hopes and fears and to make his recommendation on voting for or against ACTA.
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Marietje Schaake (ALDE) and Ivailo Kalfin (S&D) will host an ACTA stakeholder hearing in the European Parliament tomorrow, Wednesday 11 April, 13.00h – 15.00h. Live webstream on http://www.tinyurl.com/ACTAhearing
According to the announcement there will be speakers from Amnesty International, ACCESS, Oxfam, Article19, Health Action International, Reporters Without Borders, Consumer Rights groups, Knowledge Ecology Online, an SME organization, International Federation of Library Associations, Academics and Researchers, High level advisors and the Council of Europe.
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The European Parliament Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) rapporteur on ACTA Amelia Andersdotter published the draft ITRE opinion. In the draft, the committee calls on the Committee on International Trade, as the committee responsible, to propose that Parliament withholds its consent to ACTA.
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Brussels, 1st April 2012 — The Council of European ministers agreed today on the location of the future European Patent Court, which is going to be located in Sealand, 10 kilometers off the English coast. The European patent community has finally achieved independence from elected parliaments.
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Karlsruhe, 28 March 2012 — 1&1, GMX and WEB.DE receive the German Document Freedom Award for the use of Open Standards. The prize is awarded by the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) and the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure e.V. (FFII).
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Rainer Wieland, Vice President of the European Parliament, has decided not to release the legal service’s opinion on ACTA (letter 14 March 2012, pdf). With this decision he confirms the decision taken earlier by the Secretary General, the FFII then received a blacked out version (picture above).
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The FFII just sent a letter to the ACTA rapporteur for the European Parliament Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee. The Committee will exchange views on ACTA in its meeting on Monday 26 March 2012, 15.00 — 18.30.
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The European Commission decided to ask the EU Court of Justice an opinion on ACTA. Commissioner Karel De Gucht stated: “We are planning to ask Europe’s highest court to assess whether ACTA is incompatible – in any way – with the EU’s fundamental rights and freedoms, such as freedom of expression and information or data protection and the right to property in case of intellectual property.”
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By FFII | February 21, 2012
As a treatment provider for LDC, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is deeply concerned about the impact of ACTA as part of a larger enforcement agenda on the production and supply of affordable, legitimate medicines. They urge contracting States not to sign or ratify ACTA unless all concerns related to access to medicines are fully addressed.
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By FFII | February 19, 2012
The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is adopted under the so called “Global Europe” strategy of the European Commission. In its resolution of 22 May 2007 on Global Europe – external aspects of competitiveness the European Parliament demanded with regard to intellectual property rights:
60.
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(Updated) The Commission will ask the Court of Justice an opinion on ACTA. It would have been better if the Commission would have withdrawn ACTA.
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Brussels, 17 Feb 2012 — The European Parliament Consumer Committee is on the verge to reform the standardisation process in Europe. The reform recognises patented interface specifications which discriminate Free Software implementations.
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Yesterday, the Dutch Parliament adopted a resolution asking the minister not to sign ACTA as long as it is not conclusively established that ACTA does not conflict with fundamental rights. The resolution mentions the possibility to ask the Court of Justice an opinion on ACTA.
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According to the not corrected minutes, the Dutch Parliament adopted this motion:
The Chamber,
heard the discussion,
whereas the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is or will be submitted for adoption to the European Parliament and national parliaments of the Member States of the European Union;
whereas five Member States of the European Union, including the Netherlands, did not sign the treaty;
whereas according to Article 218, paragraph 11 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, each Member State may obtain the opinion of the Court of Justice as to whether an agreement envisaged is compatible with the Treaties;
whereas several scientific studies conclude that ACTA is possibly at odds with the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and the European Convention on Human Rights;
whereas the possible effects of this Treaty for the in the Dutch Constitution recognized freedoms such as the freedom of expression and information and the right to privacy have not been explored,
asks the Government not to sign the ACTA treaty as long as it is not conclusively established that the treaty does not conflict with fundamental rights,
and proceeds to the order of the day. SP, PvdD, PvdA, GroenLinks, D66, ChristenUnie and PVV voted for the resolution, it was adopted.
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By FFII | February 12, 2012
The Green/EFA Group in the European Parliament officially envoked 36 of the Rules of Procedure concerning ACTA. In a letter to the Parliament President Jerzy Buzek from October 2011 group leaders Rebecca Harms and Daniel Cohn-Bendit officially envoked RoP 36(2).
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Today there will be over 200 demonstrations against ACTA in Europe. I made a one page handout that lists studies and opinions on ACTA: http://people.ffii.org/~ante/acta/Studies-on-ACTA.pdf
Below a version with more quotes:
Opinion of European Academics on ACTA: “Contrary to the European Commission’s repeated statements and the European Parliament’s resolution of 24 November 2010, certain ACTA provisions are not entirely compatible with EU law and will directly or indirectly require additional action on the EU level.”
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By FFII | February 10, 2012
Your nation has already signed the agreement and ratification is pending. You don’t get anything from unprofessional apologies from diplomates who signed ACTA.
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Brussels, 10 February 2012 — The Consumer Committee (IMCO) within the European Parliament is considering an overhaul of the current standardisation system in Europe. The FFII presents a paper on the proposed recognition of ICT specifications from consortia.
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By FFII | February 8, 2012
Members of the European Parliament could submit as many written parliament questions to the Council and the Commission as they like and force these institutions to make official statements. If you have a technical question about specific ACTA provisions or procedural oddities feel free to suggest your Member of Parliament to table them.
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Picture: Transparency arrived at its final resting place
The European Parliament has sent me the legal service’s opinion on ACTA. It is almost completely blacked out.
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Update: I rewrote the text on Monday 6 February. The EU Council and Commission have opposing opinions on whether Poland can stop ACTA.
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With accusations of propaganda going both ways, we may like to first try to find the right questions regarding the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. Some suggestions.
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By FFII | February 2, 2012
We discovered a smoking gun on the criminal sanctions aspect of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). A declassified document reveals that the Commission made proposals and fundamentally steered the negotiations on criminal sanctions in ACTA for which no corresponding EU harmonisation exists.
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I just filed a maladministration complaint with the Ombudsman against the European Parliament for systematically lying about the existence of documents:
The European Parliament cultivates secrecy. On 21 June 2011, the coordinators of the International Trade committee (INTA) decided to ask the Parliament’s legal service an opinion on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).
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The European Commission published a document in defense of ACTA, “10 Myths about ACTA”. It is pure propaganda.
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Brussels, 26 January 2012 — Today the European Union and member states signed the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) in Tokyo, Japan. Signing is a first step to enable later ratification of the controversial agreement.
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As we reported earlier, tomorrow, Tuesday 24 January 2012, around 16.30 Paris time, the European Parliament Committee on Development will hold an exchange of views on ACTA. Today, the FFII sent the committee a letter.
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Today the FFII sent a letter to the European Parliament about the EP legal service’s opinion on ACTA. (pfd version)
Brussels, 23 January 2012 — The European Parliament’s legal service consistently overlooks known issues with the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), according to the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII).
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Tuesday 24 January 2012, around 16.30 CET, the European Parliament Committee on Development will hold an exchange of views on ACTA. The Committee’s draft opinion is available here.
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By FFII | January 3, 2012
Pedro Velasco-Martins (EU-Commission DG Trade) explains the preconceptions and activism around the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA):
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On 20 December 2011, the European Parliament Legal Affairs committee discussed ACTA. Video, debate starts at 11.31
According to MEP Marielle Gallo, rapporteur for ACTA, ACTA is compatible with the acquis, the current EU laws.
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We welcome the decision to release the European Parliament legal service’s opinion on ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement). We have compared the legal service’s opinion with multiple academic opinions on ACTA and some civil society analyses.
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Tomorrow, 20 December 2011, the European Parliament Legal Affairs Committee will discuss ACTA. Today, the FFII sent a letter to the committee.
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At a Dutch House of Representatives’ committee meeting, 13 December 2011, minister of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation, Maxime Verhagen, said the refusal to provide access to the European Parliament’s legal service’s opinion on ACTA is “gek”: odd/crazy/silly. The European Parliament’s International Trade Committee asked the legal service for an opinion on ACTA.
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The JURI Report, the newsletter of the European Parliament Legal Affairs Committee, is a very positive about ACTA. “Thus, it will provide benefits for EU exporting right holders operating in the global market who currently suffer systematic and widespread infringements of their copyrights, trademarks, patents, designs and geographical indications abroad.”
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As things stand now, the European Parliament committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety will not formulate an opinion on ACTA. Despite all the analysis work done on the effects ACTA will have on access to medicine, and despite health groups informed the Parliament, no Member of Parliament has asked the committee to formulate one.
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On the same day that the European Parliament had its first secret meeting on ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement), the Dutch parliament decided it will not take ACTA into consideration unless all ACTA negotiation texts are published. A few weeks ago, the Dutch House of Representatives’ committee of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation requested the ACTA negotiation texts (the earlier versions of ACTA).
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By FFII | November 21, 2011
ACTA would be considered by the European Parliament. Now a simple fact gets openly admitted:
“IMPACT ASSESSMENT: no impact assessment was carried out.”
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Today I refiled a confirmatory application for the European Parliament legal service’s opinion on ACTA. See also: http://acta.ffii.org/?p=904
Dear Mr Welle,
On 17 November, I filed a confirmatory application for A12541 – legal service’s opinion on ACTA.
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The European Parliament partly released the legal service’s opinion on ACTA, but left out the analysis on ACTA. Why?
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From: Raegan MacDonald
Sent: 17 November 2011 10:43
Subject: Need for INTA Transparency on ACTA
Dear INTA Committee Member,
Please find attached and below a letter from civil society — including digital rights, access to medicines, free software and human rights organisations — regarding the INTA meeting on 23 November, at which an unpublished Opinion of the European Parliament Legal Service on ACTA will be discussed in-camera. I am happy to discuss this particular meeting and the ACTA process more generally, so please do not hesitate to contact me directly at [TELEPHONE NUMBER] or by email at [EMAIL ADDRESS].
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Berlin / Paris, April 14th 2011 — FFII and AFUL ask consumers affected by operating system bundling or businesses involved in bundling to provide their evidence to the European Competition authority. “My choice is Debian GNU/Linux”, explains FFII Vice president Rene Mages.
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On 9 November we sent the Chairman of the European Parliament Committee on International Trade (INTA), Mr Moreira, an open letter in which we protested against an INTA meeting behind closed doors on ACTA. On 10 November Mr Moreira replied.
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Brussels, 9 November 2011 — On 23 November the European Parliament Committee on International Trade will discuss ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement) behind closed doors. In a letter to the Chairman of the committee, Mr Moreira, the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure objects to the meeting being held behind closed doors.
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The European Parliament’s register released the International Trade (INTA) committee’s coordinators’ minutes on ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement). Prior to the release, the Parliament’s services denied the existence of these minutes four times.
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By FFII | October 26, 2011
When the European Parliament adopted its position on the proposed EU draft directive on criminal sanctions they also included the following safeguards, a fair use provision. Member States shall ensure that the fair use of a protected work, including such use by reproduction in copies or audio or by any other means, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship or research, does not constitute a criminal offence.
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The European Commission released the (final) negotiator’s Notes on ACTA on 6 October 2011. Request for access to documents – Gestdem 2011-4206
Dear Mr Wessels,
I refer to your request of 1 August, 2011 in which, you ask to receive the Commission’s Negotiator’s Notes on ACTA.
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The European Parliament’s Legal Services’ opinion on ACTA is ready. And it is secret!
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The European Parliament services denied the existence of INTA coordinators’ minutes (regarding ACTA) four times. Under EU law, Institutions can refuse access to documents in some cases.
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Brussels, 14 October 2011 — In an open letter to the members of the European Parliament Civil Liberties Committee, the FFII (Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure) urges them to formulate an opinion on ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement). ACTA is a multilateral agreement which proposes international standards for enforcement of intellectual property rights.
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Professor Douwe Korff, London Metropolitan University, and Ian Brown, Senior Research Fellow, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, prominent fundamental rights experts, wrote an elaborate study on ACTA, they conclude ACTA violates fundamental rights. Their conclusions are rather devastating:
ACTA was negotiated in unwarranted secrecy, without adequate input from civil society or parliamentarians, but in close cooperation with major IP right holders.
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By FFII | September 30, 2011
EU level Criminal law is a very delicate issue. In the European Parliament a new document from the Commission would be examined: “Towards an EU Criminal Policy: Ensuring the effective implementation of EU policies through criminal law”.
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On Saturday, October 1, 2011, parties that have completed relevant domestic processes will sign ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement). For background information on who will sign, see: Who is Signing ACTA: State of Play Cont’d (EU will not sign)
FFII (Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure) statement:
The world faces major challenges: access to medicine, diffusion of green technology needed to fight climate change, and a balanced Internet governance.
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A few years ago, an amendment making sure that parallel importation was not criminalised in the EU disappeared after it was adopted in the European Parliament. This summer, the Chairman of the International Trade committee (INTA), Mr Vital Moreira, rewrote a question the INTA committee asked the Parliament’s Legal Services regarding ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement).
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Letter to the European Parliament Legal Affairs Committee
2 September 2011
Dear Members of the Legal Affairs Committee,
A new study on ACTA, commissioned by the Greens/EFA, concludes that ACTA is incompatible with fundamental European human rights instruments and -standards. [1] We believe the Parliament should ask the European Court of Justice an opinion on this delicate issue.
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The European Parliament Register released three documents on the European Parliament INTA Committee commissioned study on ACTA. The “Terms of Reference” document (pdf), dated 15 November 2010, is the most interesting.
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The European Parliament Register informed us the Parliament does not possess the EU Commission’s negotiators’ notes on ACTA. This is remarkable.
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The basic problem: low volume – high profit strategies
A few years after the ratification of the 1994 WTO TRIPS agreement (Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights), the AIDS epidemic took millions of lives in Africa. Protected by TRIPS, pharmaceutical companies sold AIDS medicine in Africa for prices higher than in the US.
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The European Parliament Trade Committee operates as secretive as Navy Seals. In the last year, the Committee commissioned a study and requested a Legal Service opinion on ACTA.
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The European Parliament Committee on International Trade requested the Parliament’s Legal Service an opinion on ACTA (pdf). Compared with the request US Senator Wyden made, and seen the European academics Opinion on ACTA, the questions are very narrow.
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The FFII requested European Parliament documents on ACTA. The Parliament’s Register answered.
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Act on ACTA refers to a European Parliament Trade Committee commissioned study on ACTA (pdf). The study highlights problematic aspects of ACTA and makes recommendations (see below).
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This afternoon the FFII has requested minutes of European Parliament Committee meetings on ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement). ACTA was concluded in December 2010 after three years of confidential negotiations.
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Sources say that the European Parliament’s Trade Committee (INTA) will tomorrow consider asking the Parliament’s Legal service to answer questions about ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement). Here are some questions the FFII would like to suggest.
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By FFII | June 6, 2011
The recent European Commission IPR strategy paper also mentions ACTA. It is quite odd how they highlight an unsubstantiated claim that the ACTA text was in line with the acquis despite evidence of the contrary.
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The EU Commission published a new version of the ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement) text (pdf). A Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan announcement mentions an April 15 round of negotiations: “The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) was opened for signature on May 1, following its adoption by participants in its negotiations on April 15.”
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Brussels, 24 May 2011 — The European Parliament should decisively resolve uncertainties regarding ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement), according to an open letter to the Members of the European Parliament by the FFII (Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure). The FFII urges the Parliament to seek an opinion of the European Court of Justice on the compatibility of ACTA with the EU Treaties, and to commission independent assessments of the effects ACTA will have on access to medicine, diffusion of green technologies needed to fight climate change, fundamental rights, innovation, small and medium sized companies and a fair balance of interests.
Related
By FFII | May 22, 2011
The Spanish anger movement against the effects of the financial crisis also includes opposition to the ACTA Treaty among its demands. No al control de internet.
Related
By FFII | May 5, 2011
Some US rightsholder associations and industry players do not want the European Parliament to ask the European Court of Justice (ECJ) about the inconsistencies of the ACTA treaty with the European treaties. The letter is directed to Polish MEP Jerzy Buzek who is the President of our European Parliament and a member of the European Peoples Party (EPP) group.
Related
In January 2011, prominent European academics issued an “Opinion of European Academics on Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement” (ACTA). The academics invite the European institutions, in particular the European Parliament, and the national legislators and governments to withhold consent of ACTA, “…as long as significant deviations from the EU acquis or serious concerns on fundamental rights, data protection, and a fair balance of interests are not properly addressed”.
Related
Brussels, April 18th – Today the European Commission adopted an evaluation report of the data retention directive. EU Commissioner Cecilia Malmström presented the report at a Brussels press conference.
Related
On the 30th of March, 2011, the FFII and FSFE awarded tagesschau.de the DFD Award for its use of Open Standards in broadcasting content. Berlin and Hamburg Fellows joined the event to celebrate the important role of tagesschau.de in spreading Document Freedom, eat a piece of pie, and have a chat about Freedom and Open Source Software and Open Document formats.
Related
Berlin, March 31st 2011 — The FFII answered a consultation call from the European Commission General Directorate Internal Market on the enforcement of intellectual property rights. For the EU to help startup companies, the FFII advises to reduce market entrance risks for innovative companies.
Related
Berlin, 30. March 2011 – Today the ARD internet platform Tagesschau.de will receive an award for the use of Open Standards at the “Document Freedom Day”.
Related
FFII response to the Consultation on the Commission Report on the enforcement of intellectual property rights
(Also available as pdf)
March 2011
Summary
We would like to thank the European Commission for this opportunity to provide feedback on the Report. To stimulate startup companies, the EU legal situation should minimize market entrance risks for innovators.
Related
Berlin, March 25th 2011 — This week Microsoft sued the retailers Barnes&Noble, Foxconn and Inventec for distributing devices using the Android platform. The Android is a Linux derivate from Google.
Related
Brussels, March 21st 2011 — The European Parliament wants to make software producers liable for defects. Ahead of the vote on the Consumer Rights Directive on Thursday 24 March, a political agreement amongst the groups in the European Parliament would put software and webservices providers liable for damages under the goal of providing consumer protection.
Related
Pedro Velasco Martins, EU ACTA negotiator, today answered FFII’s 30 December 2010 questions on the initialling of ACTA. ACTA was initialed on 25 November 2010, through an electronic procedure.
Related
Brussels, 11 March 2011 — The Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII) supports asking the European Court of Justice an opinion on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). On Monday 21 March 2011 the European Parliament Legal Affairs Committee may vote on a proposal for such a request.
Related
On Monday 21 March 2011, the Legal Affairs Committee may vote on a proposal to ask the European Court of Justice (ECJ) an opinion on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). The FFII strongly supports asking the ECJ an opinion.
Related
Will ACTA be binding on the US, EU, France, Romania, the Netherlands and Singapore? Confusion over whether the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is binding is mounting.
Related
Greens/EFA MEPs Engström, Sargentini, Beliér, Albrecht ask question on ACTA and Vienna Convention. KEI has the story.
Related
By FFII | February 8, 2011
A Whitehouse Intellectual Property annual report Feb 2011 unsurprisingly mentions ACTA
In the Strategy, we committed to promote enforcement of U.S. intellectual property rights through trade policy. On November 15, USTR concluded negotiations on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) and the text of the agreement was finalized on December 3.
Related
Brussels, 7 February 2011 — A study commissioned by the European Commission advocates the abolition of the national prosecutor’s discretion whether to prosecute and how to charge the defendant. It also argues in favor of a European criminal court and for the criminalisation of patent infringements.
Related
Already on 24 or 25 November 2010, the Commission and Council Presidency initialled ACTA. This became clear at the Ad hoc meeting – Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), a DG Trade meeting to inform and consult civil society about ACTA.
Related
By FFII | January 25, 2011
Here it is, the missing answer to Dutch MEP M. Schaake, which as the document shows was indeed published far too late although referenced in earlier statements to other parties. The Commission arrogant as ever simply disputes the substance.
Related
The resolution on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) adopted by the European Parliament on November 24th 2010, contains fundamental flaws. The resolution expresses a belief that ACTA can not change present EU laws.
Related
“Contrary to the European Commission’s repeated statements and the European Parliament’s resolution of 24 November 2010, certain ACTA provisions are not entirely compatible with EU law and will directly or indirectly require additional action on the EU level. The following is a non-exhaustive list of illustrations that indicate the general tendency of ACTA: (…/…)
Taking above into account,
the Signatories of the Opinion invite the European institutions, in particular the European Parliament, and the national legislators and governments,
to carefully consider the above mentioned points and, as long as significant deviations from the EU acquis or serious concerns on fundamental rights, data protection, and a fair balance of interests are not properly addressed, to withhold consent.”
Related
Member of Parliament Jan Philipp Albrecht (Greens) wants to ask the “legal service of the Parliament if the final Version of ACTA and its foreseen legislative procedure is in line with the Treaties of the European Union and which legal possibilities there are for the European Parliament to challenge this in front of the European Court of Justice”. It seems Chairman Klaus-Heiner Lehne (EPP) is rather hesitant to do this.
Related
We blogged earlier that ACTA Parliamentary question E-8847 from MEP Marietje Schaake is still not answered, even though the Commission refers to it. The FFII yesterday filed a request for documents.
Related
Brussels, 19 January 2011 — The European Union advances on a super-fast track on the “enhanced cooperation” for unitary patent protection among a coalition of the willing after an envisaged Community Patent has once again failed to reach consensus in the Council, attributed to the linguistic divide. The fast move puts aside democratic scrutiny, questions on legality and European unity.
Related
By FFII | January 12, 2011
ACTA Parliament question E-8847 from MEP Marietje Schaakes is still not answered, even if Commission refers to it. E-8294 De Gucht answer to MEP Keller, excerpt:
As the Commission has explained in its detailed response to Question E-8847/10 the Commission has carefully ensured, at every step of the negotiations, respect for Article 15 TFEU in particular by providing regular information to civil society and access to documents on the basis of the relevant legislation.
Related
By FFII | January 7, 2011
The European Commission quickly mentions ACTA in the Christmas review paper on the EU enforcement directive, the 2004 directive which roughly correspondonds to the civil enforcement chapter of ACTA:
Infringements of intellectual property rights taking place outside of the EU also constitute a major source of concern. The Commission is addressing them in different ways, for instance by including ambitious chapters on intellectual property rights in bilateral trade agreements and through participation in international initiatives, such as the on-going negotiation of the ACTA agreement.
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Brussels, 5 January 2011 — The Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII) requests proof that the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement’s criminal measures are essential. The EU can only harmonise criminal measures if approximation of criminal laws and regulations of its Member States proves essential to ensure the effective implementation of a Union policy.
Related
The New York Times writes about China’s policy to promote issuing more patents. “In a recent interview, David J. Kappos, director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, pointed to the Chinese targets for 2015 and called them ‘mind-blowing numbers.’
Related
According to European Parliament sources, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) has already been initialed. That would be amazing: normally the initialling of a trade agreement is a PR moment.
Related
By FFII | December 26, 2010
Transparency of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement was widely criticized. This month leaked US diplomatic cables demonstrated that the EU Council rotating presidencies were highly aware of the lack of transparency and due process.
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By FFII | December 26, 2010
P-8950/10EN Answer given by De Gucht on behalf of the Commission (29.11.2010)
The relevant provisions of ACTA were negotiated by the rotating EU Presidency on behalf of the EU Member States. Therefore, the Presidency is best placed to respond to this question.
Related
By FFII | December 25, 2010
Question for written answer to the Commission, Françoise Castex (S&D): ACTA
Article 1.2 of the proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) states the following: ‘Each Party shall be free to determine the appropriate method of implementing the provisions of this Agreement within its own legal system and practice.’
At recent meetings in Washington the US Trade Representative has told other US agencies, NGOs and legislators that ACTA is not binding and that its Article 1.2 allows for complete flexibility in respect of any US legal provision that might contradict ACTA. Indeed, Articles 2.2 and 2.X of ACTA, which deal with damages and injunctions respectively, are at odds with the ‘US Affordable Care Act’, which places clear limits on remedies for infringements of patents on medicines.
Related
By FFII | December 22, 2010
For the past past months Commissioner Karel De Gucht cheated the Members of the European Parliament about the lack of competence of the European Union to negotiate ACTA criminal measures, and overplayed the known fact in Plenary that there is no related Acquis existing. Many Members of Parliament trust De Gucht’s promises made that ACTA fully complies with the Acquis.
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Brussels, 16 December 2010 – The European Commission adopted a communication “Towards interoperability for European public services”, introducing the second incarnation of the European Interoperability Framework (EIF) and the European Interoperability Strategy (EIS) [1]. This week the Commission also published fresh Horizontal Guidelines [2] which bloc-exempt patent cartels from competition enforcement.
Related
By FFII | December 9, 2010
Intellectual Property Watch quotes Axel Metzger, University Hannover:
“All criminal sanctions that go beyond ‘may’ clearly are outside of the EU acquis,” Metzger said.
Related
By FFII | December 5, 2010
In a Guardian interview this week Wikileaks founder Julian Assange stressed the importance of their disclosure of the secret Anti-Counterfeiting Agreement (ACTA). European observers do not have to rely on leaks because public transparency is a right of citizens under the Lisbon treaty.
Related
By FFII | November 29, 2010
Europe’s e-communications providers call on the European Commission to reflect EP demand for ACTA not to modify the EU acquis – Europe’s leading e-communications service providers welcome the efforts of both the
European Parliament and the Commission to address concerns regarding the potentially negative impact of
the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement on the EU citizens’ rights and on the existing balance between
IPR enforcement and user’s privacy. Press release of CableEurope, ETNO, EuroISPA,GSMA
Related
By FFII | November 22, 2010
Letter by Ante Wessels, FFII, to members of the European Parliament:
Dear Members of the European Parliament,
We are writing to express our concerns with the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement
(ACTA). Contrary to Commission statements, ACTA is inconsistent with the EU acquis.
Related
By FFII | November 18, 2010
Parliamentary questions 17 August 2010 E-6483/2010
Question for written answer to the Commission Rule 117
Sidonia Elżbieta Jędrzejewska (PPE)
ACTA
The views expressed on the negotiations being conducted by the Commission regarding the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) often stress the high degree of secrecy surrounding the talks. Bearing in mind the provisions of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union requiring the European Parliament to be kept informed of any discussions conducted by the Commission in the context of its powers under Title V of that Treaty, and in the light of the written questions previously tabled: 1.
Related
By FFII | November 18, 2010
Parliamentary questions
20 October 2010 H-0541/2010
Question for Question Time
to the Commission
Part-session: November 2010
Rule 116
Carl Schlyter (Verts/ALE)
Subject: ACTA – injunction powers going beyond those provided for in the EU acquis
In the Civil Enforcement section of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), paragraph 1 of Article 2.X: Injunctions allows judicial authorities to issue an order (injunction) against a party, or a third party, to ‘prevent infringing goods from entering into the channels of commerce’. This injunction power is considerably different from that existing under the EU acquis (Article 9 of the Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Directive (Directive 2004/48/EC)), which permits injunctions ‘to prevent any imminent infringement’.
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By FFII | November 18, 2010
The latest text of ACTA includes confusingly similar trade mark goods. This is bad for access to essential medicines.
Related
Berlin, Nov 18th 2010 — India has just adopted an open standards preference policy. In contrast, the directorates for Internal Market and Trade recently hindered an adoption of the European Interoperability Framework (EIF) 2.0 during the European Commission’s inter-service consultations.
Related
By FFII | November 14, 2010
Brussels, 11 November 2010 — The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) criminalises ordinary companies and individuals, according to the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII). In an open letter to the European Parliament, the FFII urges the Parliament to obtain the opinion of the Court of Justice as to whether ACTA is compatible with the EU Treaties.
Related
By FFII | November 14, 2010
Question for written answer P-9459/2010 to the Commission
Rule 117 Emine Bozkurt (S&D)
Subject: ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement)
The Commission submitted the final text on ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement) on 6 October. Regarding the text of the agreement and the finalising of the details, can the Commission answer the following questions:
1.
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By FFII | November 12, 2010
Today adopted: European Parliament resolution of 11 November 2010 on the forthcoming EU-US Summit and the Transatlantic Economic Council
42. Emphasises the importance of close transatlantic cooperation on the digital agenda, such as the digital market, internet freedom in the world, net neutrality, the right of privacy, common standards, transparency and the rule of law in relation to ACTA;
43.
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By FFII | October 30, 2010
Question for written answer E-8847/2010 to the Commission Rule 117
Marietje Schaake (ALDE)
Subject: ACTA – a law enforcement treaty? There is public concern worldwide about the lack of formal transparency
in the ACTA negotiation process, such as illustrated in the article
‘ACTA Guide, Part Three: Transparency and ACTA Secrecy’, by Professor
Michael Geist (see http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/4737/125/).
Related
By FFII | October 25, 2010
Brussels, 25 October 2010 — The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is not in line with present EU laws, according to a Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII) analysis. Previously, the European Commission has often stated that ACTA would remain fully in line with existing EU legislation.
Related
By FFII | October 22, 2010
The Commission often says nice things about ACTA. But as Christian Engström (Pirate MEP) remarked in the European Parliament – “however, when you look at the text …”
Related
By FFII | October 22, 2010
Article 83
(ex Article 31 TEU)
1. The European Parliament and the Council may, by means of directives adopted in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure, establish minimum rules concerning the definition of criminal offences and sanctions in the areas of particularly serious crime with a cross-border dimension resulting from the nature or impact of such offences or from a special need to combat them on a common basis.
Related
By FFII | October 22, 2010
Parliamentary questions 16 June 2010 E-4292/2010 Question for written answer to the Commission Rule 117
Yannick Jadot (Verts/ALE) , Carl Schlyter (Verts/ALE) , Sandrine Bélier (Verts/ALE) , Christian Engström (Verts/ALE) , Karima Delli (Verts/ALE) and Oriol Junqueras Vies (Verts/ALE)
Subject: Lack of safeguards in ACTA undermining access to medicines
In the WTO Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Council), the enforcement of intellectual property rights is a topic of formal discussion including, but not limited to, discussion of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). The WTO is also the forum in which India and Brazil are pursuing consultations with the EU over seizures of in-transit generic drugs on grounds of alleged patent infringement.
Related
By FFII | October 22, 2010
Parliamentary questions 2 July 2010 P-5214/2010 Question for written answer to the Commission Rule 117 Filip Kaczmarek (PPE)
Subject: Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement — ACTA
Many people feel that provisions contained in the Anti‑Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) make telecom operators liable for copyright infringements committed by customers using their networks. In the Commission’s view, does this mean that, in practice, operators will be required to remove Internet access from customers whom they suspect of copyright infringement – without proper judicial review of such actions – in order not to incur penalties?
Related
By FFII | October 22, 2010
Parliamentary questions 12 October 2010 E-8295/2010
Question for written answer to the Commission Rule 117
Franziska Keller (Verts/ALE) and Oriol Junqueras Vies (Verts/ALE)
Subject: ACTA — outstanding issues
In its resolution of 10 March 2010, Parliament:
— was ‘deeply concerned that no legal base was established before the start of the ACTA negotiations and that parliamentary approval for the negotiating mandate was not sought’;
— instructed the Commission to conduct impact assessments ‘prior to any EU agreement on a consolidated ACTA treaty text’. A Commission trade spokesperson informed MEPs that the negotiators in Tokyo had ‘produced a consolidated and largely finalised text’ and that the Government of Japan had ‘hosted informal meetings’ with business leaders(1);
The Commission has silently withdrawn the IPRED2 proposal for a directive on criminal sanctions (2005/0127/COD)(2).
Related
By FFII | October 21, 2010
The legal base for the Commission’s DG Trade negotiations of ACTA is Article 207 of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union (TFEU). Article 207
(ex Article 133 TEC)
1.
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By FFII | October 21, 2010
Karel De Gucht, Member of the European Commission (20 Oct 2010). Mr President, honourable Members, you asked me to come to the plenary to explain where we are in the negotiations on ACTA – the international Anti‑Counterfeiting Trade Agreement.
Related
By FFII | October 21, 2010
Karel De Gucht, Member of the Commission (20 Oct 2010)
Mr President, first of all there have been several interventions claiming that the implementation of ACTA would lead to limiting civil liberties, and several pointed out the control of laptops, or of air passengers at borders for example. The joint declaration of 16 April issued by all the ACTA parties is quite clear.
Related
By FFII | October 20, 2010
October 20, 2010 – European Parliament Plenary
Marietje Schaake (ALDE). – Mr President, yesterday the Commission adopted a strategy to mainstream the legally binding EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.
Related
By FFII | October 20, 2010
The MEPs from the Green Group in the European Parliament ask crucial technical questions about the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement as “priority questions”. These questions address the tip of an iceberg concerning technical issues with the ACTA, there is much more that can be raised.
Related
By FFII | October 8, 2010
Summary
(Update: 3 January 2011)
The negotiating parties published the final ACTA text. The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA)’s criminal measures criminalise ordinary companies and individuals.
Related
By FFII | October 8, 2010
The negotiating parties published the consolidated Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) text. FFII statement:
“The EU still wants punitive measures against patent infringements in ACTA.
Related
Brussels, 6 October 2010 — The negotiating parties published the consolidated Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) text. The following statement can be attributed to the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII):
“The EU still wants punitive measures against patent infringements in ACTA.
Related
Brussels, 5 October 2010 — In a radio interview held last Thursday, Mr Vincent Van Quickenborne, Belgian Minister of the Economy, tried to explain that the current situation concerning software patents in Europe was fine, and that the current plans are not intended to “change the patent system to make software programming more difficult”. The FFII says this is wrong, considering the thousands of software patents already granted by the European Patent Office (EPO).
Related
By FFII | October 4, 2010
The Dutch foundation Vrijschrift requested publication of ACTA documents. The request was denied.
Related
By FFII | October 3, 2010
Knowledge Ecology International has posted the latest leaked version of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) text, the Washington DC August 2010 text. The FFII published the following statement:
We are disappointed the EU still wants punitive measures against patent infringements in ACTA.
Related
By FFII | October 3, 2010
Berlin, Sept 15th 2010 — A European Parliament majority accepted a written declaration on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) which iterates the calls to European Commissioner Karel de Gucht for more legislative transparency. In a speech before the European Parliament Commissioner Karel De Gucht threatened the United States to leave negotiations when geographical indications would be “discriminated”, that is excluded from the scope of the negotiations on ACTA.
Related
Strasbourg, Sept 21, 2010 — Today the European Parliament plenary adopted a report on completing the internal market for e-commerce prepared by Spanish rapporteur Pablo Arias Echeverría (EPP). The reports highlights the importance of an open document exchange format for electronic business interoperation and calls on the European Commission to take concrete steps to support its emergence and spread.
Related
Berlin, Sept 17th 2010 — This week the 5th meeting of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF 2010) took place in Vilnius. The United Nations organised it as a multi-stakeholder dialogue on global internet governance which inherited from the UN World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS).
Related
By FFII | September 15, 2010
Berlin, Sept 15th 2010 — A European Parliament majority accepted a written declaration on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) which iterates the calls to European Commissioner Karel de Gucht for more legislative transparency. In a speech before the European Parliament Commissioner Karel De Gucht threatened the United States to leave negotiations when geographical indications would be “discriminated”, that is excluded from the scope of the negotiations on ACTA.
Related
By FFII | September 12, 2010
Berlin, 12th Sept 2010 — The FFII calls for better access to public data for commercial and non-commercial purposes. A consultation is now open for public contributions.
Related
By FFII | July 27, 2010
Brussels, 27 July 2010 — According to the EU Ombudsman, citizens have a clear interest in being informed about the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). Despite this, he concludes for formal reasons that there was no maladministration by the Council of the European Union when it denied access to the ACTA documents.
Related
2010-06-12 Workshop about current developments in software patents and open standards at LinuxTag 2010 in Berlin. 2010-03-16/17/18 Booth of FFII France at “Solutions Linux / Open Source 2010” in Paris, France.
Related
By FFII | June 29, 2010
Washington, D.C., June 29th 2010 — The Supreme Court of the United States delivered its ruling on the Bilski landmark case yesterday. A split court issued a very narrow ruling, avoiding broad decisions on patentability.
Related
By FFII | June 15, 2010
Strasbourg defends an internet governed by openness principles and expresses its concerns over technological dependencies on dominant market solutions. Today the European Parliament sitting adopted a report “Internet Governance – the next steps” from rapporteur Francisco Sosa Wagner.
Related
By FFII | June 4, 2010
Brussels, June 4th 2010 — The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) may hamper the fight against climate change by inhibiting the diffusion of green technology, according to the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII). Behind closed doors, the European Union, United States, Japan and other trade partners are negotiating an Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement.
Related
Berlin, May 27th 2010 — Following a recent high court judgement in Germany wireless networks are becoming a legal concern for consumers running open WiFi hotspots. Lawyers and lobby organisations are sending automated cease and desist letters to consumers who have an “insecure” WiFi access point, accusing them of helping unauthorized file sharing by offering open WiFi internet connections.
Related
By FFII | May 20, 2010
Brussels, 20 May 2010 — Yesterday EU-Commissioner Neelie Kroes disclosed her long-expected Digital Agenda for Europe. The Digital Agenda spans a 10-year period of upcoming European Commission policies in the digital sphere including ambitious regulatory initiatives.
Related
By FFII | May 19, 2010
Berlin, May 19th 2010 — Today Google announced it would make the VP8 codec open source and royalty-free as part of their WebM project. The codec is on par with other video codecs for high video quality and can be used in the emerging HTML5 web standard for playing video content natively in a web browser.
Related
By FFII | May 12, 2010
Munich, 13 May 2010 — The highest appeal chamber of the European Patent Office, the Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBoA), has decided on patents for computer programs. The questions on point of law from President Brimelow were decided to be “inadmissible” under Article 112(1)(b) EPC. It chided the President for bothering the board with her questions.
Related
By FFII | May 3, 2010
Berlin, May 31th 2010 — The European Parliament would spend five million EUR to give an Apple iPad to every Member of Parliament under an “IT mobility” budget earmark, an investigative journalist of the British newspaper Times asserts. An iPad costs around 550 Euro and there are 736 representatives.
Related
By FFII | April 16, 2010
Strasbourg, 16 April 2010 – Business Europe fiercely opposes a role for the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in patent law. During a conference in the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Thierry Sueur of Business Europe disclosed the United Patent Litigation System (UPLS) was aimed to keep the ECJ away from interpreting substantive patent law under the European Patent Convention (EPC), particularly for software patentability.
Related
By FFII | April 8, 2010
Brussels, April 8th 2010 – An ACTA Oversight Committee will undermine the European Parliament’s power in intellectual property rights enforcement, according to the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII). A recently leaked Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) document shows negotiating parties want to create an “Oversight Committee”, which is planned to supervise the implementation and consider the further development of ACTA.
Related
By FFII | April 8, 2010
Brussels, April 8th 2010 – Until this week everyone interested in interoperability within the context of public service delivery has been invited to send suggestions aiming at contributing to the implementation of the European Interoperability Strategy. FFII e.V. contributed a short 5 pages opinion paper to the consultation of the European Commission.
Related
By FFII | March 31, 2010
Berlin, March 31st 2010 – On today’s “Document Freedom Day” the German radio stations Deutschlandfunk, Deutschlandradio Kultur and Austrian Radio Orange were lauded for their usage of the open Ogg Vorbis format for live streaming. In Berlin staff members of Deutschlandradio received an award certificate and a big cake with the slogan “rOgg on!”.
Related
By FFII | February 10, 2010
El problema de los 3 avisos previos a cortar los servicios de Internet
Madrid, 10 de febrero del 2008 – Cerca de cuatro millones de ciudadanos no pueden acceder a la banda ancha en España en función de su sitio de residencia; a este indicador negativo para el desarrollo de la Sociedad de la Información en España, se le podrían sumar bajas masivas de clientes del Adsl más lento y caro de Europa. Las entidades representativas de la comunidad internauta, los profesionales y los consumidores informáticos en España estiman en cuatro millones la cifra de clientes de banda ancha -Adsl y cable-modem- que podrían darse de baja, si finalmente se confirma el acuerdo que RedTel las sociedades de gestión de los derechos de autor, abanderadas por la Sgae, para que en España se dén tres avisos antes de que la operadora de telecomunicaciones proveedora de los servicios de Internet desconecte o ralentice la conexión a Internet por usar redes P2P.
Related
By FFII | January 10, 2010
Brussels, 10 January 2010 — The Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII) calls upon the EU Parliament and member states to remove the intellectual property rights chapter from the EU – Korea Free Trade Agreement. According to the FFII analysis, the free trade agreement is a threat to software companies, companies that use software, and free software projects; this undermines innovation, competitiveness and legal certainty.
Related
2009-12-16 2nd meeting of the CENATIC Advisory Council with the participation as member of Alberto Barrionuevo representing FFII. 2009-12-04 to 13 (possible) meeting with the informatization board of the Cuban Ministry of Communications and Informatics, La Habana, Cuba, by Alberto Barrionuevo.
Related
By FFII | November 6, 2009
Brussels, 6. November 2009 –This week a Dutch journalist, Brenno de Winter, alerted the public about a new draft for an upcoming European Interoperability Framework (EIF) 2.0 communication of the European Commission.
Related
By FFII | October 6, 2009
Washington DC, 6 October 2009 — The Foundation for a Free Informational Infrastructure (FFII) and IP Justice filed an Amicus Curiae Brief to the U.S. Supreme Court. The case Bilski v. Kappos is expected to become a landmark ruling on the future of the U.S. patent system.
Related
By FFII | September 21, 2009
Brussels, 21 September 2009 — The EU and South Korea plan to initial a Free Trade Agreement in October. The trade agreement includes civil, border and criminal measures on the enforcement of copyright, trade mark rights, patents and other exclusive rights.
Related
By FFII | May 12, 2009
Brussels, 12 May 2009 — The European Commission is pushing for software patents via a centralised trusted patent court that would be created with the United Patent Litigation System (UPLS), an international treaty that would remove national courts. This court system would be shielded against any review by the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
Related
By FFII | May 8, 2009
Brussels, 8 May 2009 — A record number of amicus briefs have been received by European Patent Office (EPO) in their latest attempt to justify granting of software patents. The EPO’s latest attempt to validate their widely criticized practice of software patenting has been met with a much stronger response than expected.
Related
FFII members participation on critical activities about the European Patent System in Munich on 15th April 2009. Hartmut Pilch invited Richard Stallman to give a speech and educate the public about Software Patents.
Related
By FFII | April 2, 2009
Brussels, 2 April 2009 — The EU Council leaves the possibility open to pass the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) silently during parliamentary vacation. The Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII) opposes such secret legislation.
Related
By FFII | April 1, 2009
Brussels & Munich, 1st April 2009 — After years of confidential work, the European Patent Office (EPO) and the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII) today announce a radical way to improve software patent quality: Binaries-As-Prior-Art, or BAPA. BAPA combines a database of billions of compiled computer programs (“binaries”) with a powerful Cloud search engine that can find any invention in microseconds.
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By FFII | March 29, 2009
“Hay razones para afirmar que las patentes de software, que son bastante comunes en los Estados Unidos y en Europa se encuentran ante la legalización, en realidad inhiben la innovación. Europa todavía podría cambiar el rumbo.”
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By FFII | March 17, 2009
Brussels, 17 March 2009 — At the highest level of the European Patent Office (EPO), the legality of software patents in Europe is about to be tested. The FFII warns that the European Parliament is being bypassed by allowing a decision with EU-wide implications to be made without its involvement or any real debate.
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By FFII | January 13, 2009
Brussels, 13 January 2009 — The Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII) has filed a complaint with the Ombudsman against the EU Council for deliberately obstructing access to Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) documents. As stated by an other participant in the negotiations, the EU has agreed to keep ACTA drafts secret.
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By FFII | December 12, 2008
Berlin, 12 December 2008 – Backed by the FFII and other organisations, software developers launch a petition in 28 languages to stop software patents and protect European innovators. The petition asks for legislative clarifications to clear out the legal uncertainty and imbalances created by software patents.
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By FFII | December 1, 2008
Paris, Munich, Campos, December 1st 2008 – the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII) released during the Open World Forum the first conclusions of its workgroup on Total Information Outsourcing (TIO). TIO is a recent trend in the management of corporate information systems which consists of outsourcing critical information infrastructure to Web based services.
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By FFII | November 10, 2008
Brussels, 10th November 2008 – The EU Council of Ministers refuses to release secret Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) documents. The Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII) had requested these documents to make public and parliamentary scrutiny possible.
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By FFII | November 3, 2008
Brussels, 3rd November 2008 – The Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII) has requested 12 secret Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) documents from the EU Council. Behind closed doors, the EU, US, Japan and other countries are negotiating ACTA.
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By FFII | September 2, 2008
Brussels, 2nd September 2008 — A global coalition of more than 80 software companies, associations and developers has declared the 24th of September to be the “World Day Against Software Patents”. Five years ago, on 24 September 2003, the European Parliament adopted amendments to limit the scope of patent law and thereby protect small software companies from the harmful effects of broad and trivial software patents.
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By FFII | July 4, 2008
Brussels, 04 July 2008 — Amendments to the European Telecommunications directive being rushed through the European Parliament propose a “Soviet internet” where software publishers and internet service providers watch traffic and data for Hollywood. Software and services that run on the internet would have to ask for permission of the regulators.
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By FFII | May 21, 2008
Munich, 21 May 2008 — The Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII) today endorsed two petitions which call for the use of free and open standards in e-government to ensure all citizens’ rights to fair and equal interaction with political institutions. In a letter [1] to the Members of the European Parliament the association urges them to back these initiatives and implement the requested changes.
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By FFII | May 13, 2008
Brussels, 13 May 2008 — European Commissioner McCreevy is pushing for a bilateral patent treaty with the United States. This Tuesday 13 May in Brussels, White House and European representatives will try to adopt a tight roadmap for the signature of a EU-US patent treaty by the end of the year.
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By FFII | April 7, 2008
Brussels, 7 April 2008 — Four years after the European Commission first proposed criminal measures against infringements of so called intellectual property rights, the Commission has started a study to find out whether such measures are actually needed. The study was started half a year after the European Parliament concluded its first reading on the latest proposal, IPRED2, the Criminal Measures directive.
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By FFII | April 2, 2008
Brussels, 2 April 2008 — ISO members failed to disapprove the Open XML format. Microsoft has compromised the International Standards Organisation (ISO) during the rush to get a stamp for their Office OpenXML (OOXML), using unfair practices such as committee stuffing in several countries and political interventions of ministers in the standardization process.
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By FFII | February 19, 2008
Brussels, Feb 19, 2008 — Nicola Zingaretti, rapporteur on intellectual property rights enforcement in the European Parliament, is calling on the EU to take urgent action against “some internet users”, who in his view are engaging in “the increasingly systematic violation of copyright”. Zingaretti has asked the European Council to provide a time frame for discussion of the draft directive on criminal measures aimed at ensuring the enforcement of intellectual property rights.
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What happened in Q3 and Q4 2007 concerning software patents and related topics: Latest news linked to dossiers and tutorials provided by FFII and a community of wiki editors. 2007-11-07 US Ars: Patent holding company targets 131 companies over SMS patents
2007-11-12 UK ClickPress: UK High Court set to review government restrictions on the patenting of software
2007-11-07 US OReilly: Sun’s counter-attack on NetApp and the defense of free software…
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By FFII | December 7, 2007
Munich, 7 December 2007 — EPO rules for full revocation after a hearing in the opposition of the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII e.V.) against Amazon.com’s infamous patent on the online purchase of gifts. The patent EP927945 is a descendant of the controversial One-Click Patent, which was granted to Amazon in the USA but was partially revoked there due to lack of novelty in October 2007.
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By FFII | October 23, 2007
Brussels, 23 October 2007 — EU Commissioner Kroes’ deal with Microsoft creates real dangers to Europe’s growing open source economy, warns the FFII. Using patent licenses that exclude businesses, the software monopolist has turned the EU competition ruling into a victory, and now gets implicit support from the Commission to proceed aggressively against its competitors.
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By FFII | October 17, 2007
Brussels, 17 October 2007 — The FFII congratulates Eric S. Maskin, an economist who has long criticised the patenting of software, for receiving the 2007 Nobel Prize for Economics. Prof. Maskin and two colleagues receive the Prize for research into the optimal design of economic mechanisms. By applying his theory to the IT sector, Maskin demonstrated “that in such a dynamic industry, patent protection may reduce overall innovation and welfare.”
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By FFII | October 1, 2007
Paris, 1st October 2007 — Wednesday afternoon, during the adoption of the London Protocol to simplify patent translations, a number of deputies raised serious concerns regarding EPLA, the European Patent Litigation Agreement. Former Minister of Justice, M. Pascal Clément was the first to criticize the EPO’s plan: “France runs the risk of entirely abandoning its sovereignty over the matter of patents, to the benefit of a structure which would not even be part of the European Community.”
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By FFII | October 1, 2007
Brussels, 1st October 2007 — Microsoft itself is the surprise winner of the FFII’s “Kayak Prize 2007”, offered by the FFII in its <NO>OOXML call for rejection of Microsoft’s Office Open XML (OOXML) standards proposal. The software monopolist is honored as “Best Campaigner against OOXML Standardization”.
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By FFII | September 17, 2007
Brussels, 17 September 2007 — The Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII) says that Microsoft was expecting the 17 September verdict of the EU’s anti-trust case, and will exploit software patents to keep its monopoly grip on the global IT market. FFII president Pieter Hintjens explains, “The decision seems positive but it is five years out of date.
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By FFII | September 17, 2007
Bruselas, 17 de setiembre del 2007 – La Fundación para una Infraestructura Informática Libre (FFII) declara que Microsoft se esperaba el veredicto que se ha producido en el caso antimonopolio de la UE, y que ahora va explotar sus patentes de software para mantener su control en el mercado global informático. El presidente de la FFII, Pieter Hintjens explica, “La decisión parece positiva pero está 5 años desfasada y obsoleta.
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By FFII | September 5, 2007
Brussels, 5 September 2007. The draft standard OOXML submitted by Microsoft and ECMA has been rejected in a vote at ISO, reaching neither the required 2/3 majority among “participating countries” nor the required 3/4 majority among all countries.
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By FFII | August 1, 2007
Bruselas, 1 de Agosto de 2007. La Asociación por una Infraestructura Informática Libre (FFII) alerta de que dos grandes decisiones que se tomarán en Septiembre definirán el futuro de la interoperabilidad en el área clave de la informática de usuario.
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By FFII | August 1, 2007
Brussels, 1 August 2007 — The Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII) warns that two major decisions in September will define the future of interoperability in the key desktop computing market. FFII President Pieter Hintjens explains: “Around the world, national boards of ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) are voting on a proposal to accept ‘Ecma 376’, Microsoft’s Office format, as an international standard.
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What happened in July 2007 concerning software patents and related topics: Latest news linked to dossiers and tutorials provided by FFII and a community of wiki editors. 2007-07-31 US Oreilly: Microsoft Reaches Settlement on EOLAS Patent
2007-07-27 US CodingHorror: The Coming Software Patent Apocalypse
2007-07-31 US internetnews: RealNetworks Case Highlights Sea-Change In Patent Law
2007-07-31 US shacknews: (software?) Processor Patent Adds to Sony’s Lawsuit Woes
2007-07-30 US ars technica: “Attempted infringement” appears in new House intellectual property bill
2007-07-29 US mercextra: A conversation with Nathan Myhrvold
2007-07-27 US Groklaw: Another Facebook lawsuit – re patents this time
2007-07-24 UK ZDNet: Sun exec accuses Microsoft of ‘patent terrorism’
2007-07-24 SE DN: Erik Josefsson: Software patents discourage development (Swedish)
2007-07-19 UK ZDNet: Linspire Linux deal ‘worse than Novell’
2007-07-19 US EPO: Computer-implemented inventions: where do we stand in the debate on “software patents”?
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What happened in June 2007 concerning software patents and related topics: Latest news linked to dossiers and tutorials provided by FFII and a community of wiki editors. 2007-06-29 EU IPkat: EPLA or bust?
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By FFII | June 27, 2007
Brussels, June 27, 2007 — The Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII), said that it was putting up a 2,500 Euro prize in its fight against Microsoft’s attempt to gain international standardisation for its Office format. Veteran FFII campaigner Benjamin Henrion, founder of the noOOXML.org site, explains: “Microsoft is spending millions on rent-a-crowd support for international certification for its proprietary Office format, OOXML.
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By FFII | June 14, 2007
Madrid/Bruselas 14 de junio de 2007: La Ley de Acceso Electrónico de los Ciudadanos a los Servicios Públicos (LAECSP) ha sido aprobada tras sufrir numerosas mejoras por parte del Congreso de los Diputados y del Senado con respecto a las carencias del Proyecto de Ley original remitido por el Ministerio de Administraciones Públicas (MAP). Dicho proyecto original no recogía ni las recomendaciones de la ONU sobre software libre y estándares abiertos, ni la política de interoperabilidad de la UE basada en los mismos.
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What happened in May 2007 concerning software patents and related topics: Latest news linked to dossiers and tutorials provided by FFII and a community of wiki editors. 2007-05-30 US ZDNet: Kill the patents, kill the problem
2007-05-30 US eWeek: MS Sees No Conflict with Its Patent/Open Source Initiatives
2007-05-29 US eWeek: The Patent Puzzle
2007-05-29 UK The Register: UK firms contest ‘absurd’ software patent ruling
2007-05-29 US Broadcom PR: Federal Jury Finds That Qualcomm Infringes Three Broadcom Patents
2007-05-28 WW ComputerWorld: From vapourware to scareware, Microsoft keeps innovating
2007-05-25 US Groklaw: Novell has filed its 10K & patent agreement: may be restricted in ability to include GPLv3 code; MS may cease to distribute
2007-05-25 US SEC: Microsoft – Novell patent cooperation agreement
2007-05-25 WW Gamasutra: Feature: ‘Patent Strategy in the Game Industry’
2007-05-25 WW BetaNews: Linux Foundation: We Have Our Own Patent ‘Arsenal’
2007-05-24 WW e-Literate: New Patent Information Center at EDUCAUSE
2007-05-24 EU JBKempf: Bored with Debian – x264 patents
2007-05-24 US Slashdot: Sony Sued for Blu-Ray Patent Violation
2007-05-24 US Gamespot: Sony sued over Blu-ray
2007-05-24 EU Europarl: report on Putting knowledge into practice: A broad-based innovation strategy for Europe
2007-05-25 US IAM: The European Parliament does it again
2007-05-25 EU Horns: EU Parliament Demanding EPO To Be Integrated Into European Community
2007-05-23 US CNET: Red Hat: Software patents slow innovation
2007-05-23 US CNET: Novell to detail Microsoft patent pact
2007-05-23 WW ZDNet blogs (Ed Burnette): Sun prepared to defend Red Hat and Ubuntu against Microsoft patent threats
2007-05-23 US InfoWorld: Microsoft says licensing protects customers
2007-05-23 US InfoWorld: Novell and EFF team on patent reform
2007-05-24 WW Simon Phipps (Sun): Seven Patent Reforms While We Wait For Nirvana
2007-05-23 EU IPKat: More EPO technical thoughts
2007-05-22 EU DigiMaj: What’s wrong with software patents?
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By FFII | May 4, 2007
Brussels, 4 May 2007 — Over thirty renowned international speakers assemble on 15 and 16 May in Brussels’ Metropole Hotel to discuss the future of the European Patent System. Among the topics being discussed are the recently published plans of the EU Commission for a new European patent system, and recent important decisions in the US Supreme Court, and new data and research from the USA about the impact of the patent system on the high-tech sector.
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By FFII | April 25, 2007
Strasbourg, 25 April 2007 — The European Parliament today accepted the IP Criminal Measures directive after its first reading in a vote of 374 to 278, and 17 abstentions. It left several unexamined rights in the scope, and threatens to criminalise consumers and incriminate ISPs.
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By FFII | April 24, 2007
Strasbourg, 24 April 2007 – Tomorrow, 25 April, the European Parliament will vote on the first Community criminal law ever, the Criminal Measures IP directive. Last week a coalition representing European consumers, innovators and library associations has called on Members of the Parliament to amend the Criminal Measures IP directive.
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By FFII | April 13, 2007
Brussels, 13 April 2007 — On 15 and 16 May, over thirty experts from universities, institutions, government, and industry gather in Brussels to discuss the question “What future for the patent system in Europe?” Among the speakers are William Kovacic, US Federal Trade Commissioner, Ron Marchant, former Chief Executive of the UK Patent Office, Prof. Reto Hilty of the Max Planck Institute, and South African entrepreneur and industry leader Mark Shuttleworth, CEO of Canonical, Ltd.
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What happened in April 2007 concerning software patents and related topics: Latest news linked to dossiers and tutorials provided by FFII and a community of wiki editors. 2007-04-30 US Reuters: Top court rules for Microsoft on patent (in the ATT vs MSFT case)
2007-04-30 US Arstechnica: Supreme Court ruling makes “obvious” patents harder to defend
2007-04-30 US Bloomberg: Top U.S. Court Clears Way for More Patent Challenges
2007-04-29 US Patently O: 2007 Patent Reform: Proposed Amendments on Damages
2007-04-28 US Brough Turner: Ringback tone patents
2007-04-27 US Courier-journal: Lexington company sues Google over patent
2007-04-27 US InternetFinancialNews: Google Sued For Adding Options To Links
2007-04-26 EU Digimaj: Who would benefit from a European patent court?
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By FFII | April 4, 2007
Brussels, 4 April 2007 — EU Commissioner McCreevy today announced his plans for an EU-wide patent law. The Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure, which represents more than 3,000 small-to-medium IT firms and 8,000 IT professionals, says that this proposal is based on flawed assumptions and will make it easier for large US companies to sue small European IT firms.
FFII President Pieter Hintjens explains, “The EU is following the US down the risky path of a central patent jurisdiction, when this experiment has failed miserably in the US.”
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By FFII | April 4, 2007
Legislación europea única de patentes, beneficiosa para los gigantes de EEUU, y perjudicial para las pequeñas empresas Europeas. Bruselas, 4 de Abril del 2007 — El comisario de la UE McCreevy anunció hoy sus planes para una legislación pan-europea de patentes.
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What happened in March 2007 concerning software patents and related topics: Latest news linked to dossiers and tutorials provided by FFII and a community of wiki editors. 2007-03-31 US 43(B)log: What Ifs?
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By FFII | March 29, 2007
El ponente de las sanciones por los delitos penales fracasa en proteger a las empresas europeas
29 de Marzo del 2007, Bruselas — A pesar de tres aplazamientos, la propuesta de considerar delito penal (incluida la cárcel) a las violaciones de los derechos de la propiedad intelectual, incluso aquellos que violan tan solo propiedades otorgadas sin sin previo examen, sigue sin resolverse. Tras los cambios orales de última hora dictados por el ponente, Nicola Zingaretti, incluso la mera aceptación de una violación es un delito penal.
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By FFII | March 19, 2007
Brussels, 19 March 2007 — The upcoming vote on Tuesday 20 March on the Criminal Sanctions Directive in the EP’s Legal Affairs Committee (JURI) is premature and non-transparent. Despite three delays, the issue of criminalising all infringements, even those on unexamined rights, remains unsolved.
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What happened in February 2007 concerning software patents and related topics: Latest news linked to dossiers and tutorials provided by FFII and a community of wiki editors. 2007-02-27 US ZDNet: Tech Policy Summit: Patent Office head lays out reform strategy
2007-02-28 US ITJungle: Ballmer Dismisses Linux Threat, Talks Up Intellectual Property
2007-02-27 UK OSNews: UK Gov: No Software Patents in the UK
2007-02-28 UK IPKat: SanDisk – in the wrong country?
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By FFII | February 26, 2007
Brussels, 26 February 2007 — The European Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee (JURI) vote on the “IPR Enforcement Directive” (IPRED2), originally scheduled for tomorrow, was postponed today for the third time. With this action the European Parliament’s rapporteur, Nicola Zingaretti, sends a strong political signal to the Commission to withdraw or rewrite its proposal.
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What happened in January 2007 concerning software patents and related topics: Latest news linked to dossiers and tutorials provided by FFII and a community of wiki editors. 2007-01-31 US Automation: Patent Office validates National Instruments’ LabVIEW Patent
2007-01-31 EU EDRI: ENDitorial : Constitution by criminalisation
2007-01-30 UK Peter Groves: Gowers Review (summary of symposium)
2007-01-30 US Yahoo: Imaging Diagnostic Systems Updates Patent Scorecard
2007-01-30 CN People: Third revision drafted for Patent Law (“it also […] extends the scope of patent infringement exemptions”)
2007-01-30 US Bizjournals: MP3 patent suit could affect hundreds of companies
2007-01-30 EU Fosdem: Interview: Aleksey Bragin
2007-01-29 US ZDNet: Vista to give HD Photo format more exposure
2007-01-29 EU TheStreet: Reinventing the Inventor
2007-01-29 US ZDNet: Microsoft backpedals on programming patent
2007-01-29 EU LWN: FFII on proposed OpenXML adoption
2007-01-29 US Slashdot: Microsoft Retracts Patent
2007-01-29 US Groklaw: A Brave New Modular World – Another MS Patent Application
2007-01-29 US MSDN: Update: Response to BlueJ Patent Issues
2007-01-28 US Pubpat: Patent Office grants pubpat requests to reexamine EpicRealm dynamic website patents
2007-01-28 US SOA World Magazine: IBM Hit with Mega-Buck Antitrust Tying Charges
2007-01-25 US Chron.com: National Instruments Patent Upheld
2007-01-29 WW FFII: FFII opposes Fasttrack adoption of Microsoft OOXML format as ISO standard
2007-01-27 IE Finfacts: Intellectual Property symposium told of 18 million patent backlog throughout the world
2007-01-27 NZ Scoop: IP Heavyweights Address Global Challenges
2007-01-27 US ITNews: New Linux Foundation must be part lawyer, part peacemaker
2007-01-27 US InformationWeek: Sun Exec Rips Microsoft Patent Application
2007-01-27 US AmericasNetwork: Broadcom did not infringe on Qualcomm patents, jury says
2007-01-27 US ZDNet: Microsoft copies BlueJ, admits it, then patents it
2007-01-27 US Fistfulofeuros: Brio and Open-Source Hardware
2007-01-27 US FinanzNachrichten: Jury Finds Broadcom Does Not Infringe Two Qualcomm Patents
2007-01-27 EU IP-watch: Piracy, Innovation Top Developed-Country Industry Priority List
2007-01-27 DE Horns: German Government Initiating Ratification of EPC2000
2007-01-27 US Slashdot: Microsoft Copies Idea, Admits It, Then Patents It
2007-01-27 EU DigiMaj: The EPO explains its true mission
2007-01-26 US Slashdot: Jury Rules That H.264 is Not Patented
2007-01-26 UK IPKat: Sony’s metadata structures found not patentable (kind of)
2007-01-26 UK Out-Law/The Register: Sony’s video metadata invention could be patentable in part
2007-01-26 EU Heise: German government plans to ratify amendments to patent agreement
2007-01-25 US PFF: Solutions for Software Patents: Notes From Under My Desk (SourceWatch on PFF)
2007-01-25 US AgIpNews: Sipro Lab Telecom Issues Statement on Patents
2007-01-25 US Groklaw: Patent Office Orders Re-Examination of Blackboard Patent
2007-01-25 US MarkAufflick: Patent Office Orders Re-Examination of Blackboard Patent
2007-01-25 US 271patent: John Love Named Deputy Commissioner for USPTO Patent Examination Policy
2007-01-25 US TechLiberation: Software Patent of the Week: Visual Programming
2007-01-25 US Business Wire: ASD Files Patent Infringement Lawsuit Against Fiserv and Federal Reserve Banks
2007-01-24 SA Legalbrief Today: Software patents still being filed in SA
2007-01-25 US Seb Schmoller: United States Patent & Trademark Office orders re-examination of Blackboard Patent
2007-01-24 EU Euractiv: EU businesses support ‘open’ innovation and IP
2007-01-08 US FT: Beware the ‘patent trolls’ of finance
2007-01-23 US Bloomberg: Fiserv, Federal Reserve Banks Accused of Patent Infringement
2007-01-22 US Patently-O: Follow-on to Professor Merges: High-Tech Calls For Reform
2007-01-22 US Ocbj: Europe Now Has a Common Currency, But Patent Process Still All Over Map (registration required)
2007-01-22 US Masstlc: Open Source: Microsoft & Novell – Building Bridges
2007-01-22 US Groklaw: Dan Bricklin Wants to Pick Your Brain re Novell-Microsoft Meeting – Updated
2007-01-22 US SearchEngineLand: Google’s OneBox Patent Application
2007-01-22 ZA Tectonic: Multi-nationals ignore SA patent law
2007-01-22 EU Cordis: Companies gain by sharing intellectual property, finds survey
2007-01-22 ZA GraphicRepro: Xerox awarded 27 per cent more patents in 2006
2007-01-22 US Legal Theory Blog: Mennell on Patent Reform
2007-01-22 US Red Herring: Startup Slaps IBM with Antitrust Suit
2007-01-21 US Feld: Emperical Evidence of Why Software Patents Are Bad (or Good) – Part 1
2007-01-21 US Patently-O: Merges: Back to the Shadows, or Onward and Upward?
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By FFII | January 29, 2007
Bruxelas, 29 janeiro 2007 – A FFII enviou uma carta aberta a todas as delegações da Organização Internacional de Estandardização (ISO) para que, antes do vencimento -dia 5 de fevereiro – oponham-se com contradições à adoção mediante via rápida (“fast track”) da especificação a mais de 6000 páginas do formato OOXML de Microsoft (ECMA-376). A proposta de Microsoft dana a adoção do padrão existente ISO 26300 (OpenDocument) que cobre praticamente a mesma funcionalidade com uma especificação de só 600 páginas.
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By FFII | January 29, 2007
Brussels, 29 January 2007 — The FFII has sent an open letter to all delegations of the International Standardization Organization (ISO) to oppose with contradictions the “fast track” adoption of the Microsoft’s 6000-page OOXML specification (ECMA-376) before the deadline of February, 5th. Microsoft’s proposal damages the adoption of the existing ISO 26300 standard (OpenDocument) that covers almost the same functionality in just 600 pages.
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By FFII | January 29, 2007
Bruselas, 29 enero 2007 — La FFII ha enviado una carta abierta a todas las delegaciones de la Organización Internacional de Estandarización (ISO) para que, antes del vencimiento el 5 de febrero, se opongan con contradicciones a la adopción mediante vía rápida (“fast track”) de la especificación de más de 6000 páginas del formato OOXML de Microsoft (ECMA-376). La propuesta de Microsoft daña la adopción del estándar existente ISO 26300 (OpenDocument) que cubre prácticamente la misma funcionalidad con una especificación de solo 600 páginas.
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What happened in December 2006 concerning software patents and related topics: Latest news linked to dossiers and tutorials provided by FFII and a community of wiki editors. 2006-12-28 US eWeek: Judge Dismisses Patent Lawsuit Against Google
2006-12-29 US MSNBC: US patents for financial services boost
2006-12-13 US NiallKennedy: Talking Linux IP with Bill Gates
2006-12-27 US MSNBC: Bankers are beating path to patent office
2006-12-27 US Chicago Tribune: Google wins dismissal of suit over search patents
2006-12-27 US TelematicsJournal: TCS Awarded New Location Patent
2006-12-26 US InformationWeek: Microsoft Defends RSS Patent Applications
2006-12-23 US Finanznarichten: Garmin Obtains Complete Victory on TomTom Patents, Will Pursue Own Patent Claims Against TomTom
2006-12-23 WW British Medical Journal: Scrooge and intellectual property rights (Slashdot discussion)
2006-12-22 US Slashdot: ESR’s Desktop Linux 2008 Deadline
2006-12-22 US TechWorld: Samba co-founder leaves ‘pariah’ Novell
2006-12-22 US InformationWeek: Microsoft Seeks RSS Patents; Blogosphere Worries
2006-12-21 EU RobertGaloppini: European Patent Conference invitation (wed 24 January, Brussels)
2006-12-21 US Cpilive: Door open to open-source pacts
2006-12-20 US ACS Blog: Report: Patent Law Stifles Drug Innovation (-> Slashdot)
2006-12-18 UK The Register: Halliburton loses software patent appeal in UK
2006-12-18 US Computerworld: GPLv3 touted as foil to Microsoft-Novell deal
2006-12-18 US News-leader: Peerflix could gain clout from patent
2006-12-18 US Patently-O: Microsoft v. AT&T: Transnational Patent Law At The Supreme Court
2006-12-18 US UnionLeader: Bryan Lord: NH’s future rests on intellectual property rights
2006-12-18 US Timedispatch: Ask the propeller heads: Patent dispute at heart of surfer’s pop-up blues
2006-12-18 US Computerworld: Amazon says IBM infringes patents in WebSphere
2006-12-18 EU Vanguardngr: Changes by ETSI will reduce the uncertainty around intellectual property rights — GSMA
2006-12-18 US ITNewsonline: US Software Patents Have No Right to Cover Activity Outside of the US
2006-12-18 US Usability: 79 Usability Patents by Jakob Nielsen
2006-12-18 US Lasers-in-the-jungle: a letter from Knuth to the U.S. Patent Office in Sept.
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By FFII | December 18, 2006
Brussels, 18 December 2006 — Dutch European Parliament Member Toine Manders has tabled an amendment “to ensure that any purchase of goods infringing an intellectual property right is considered as fencing” to the IPR Enforcement Directive in the Legal Affairs Committee (JURI). With cases like SanDisk’s allegedly patent-infringing MP3 player, the perfume “La Valeur” infringing on “Trésor”-related trademarks, Denda’s phone directory infringing on KPN’s database rights, …
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By FFII | December 14, 2006
Brussels, 14 December 2006 — At the Monday’s 11 December late vote on the “IPR Enforcement Directive” (IPRED2, 2005/0127 (COD)), the European Parliament’s Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs committee (LIBE) failed to exclude common business conflicts from the directive. And while the committee did remove patents from the scope, it left in infringements on substantially unexamined design rights and unexamined utility model rights.
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By FFII | December 12, 2006
Brussels, 12 December 2005. On Wednesday’s Parliamentary vote in Strasbourg, MEPs should vote for amendments 47 and 93, urges the FFII, an information rights group based in Munich, in an open letter to MEPs.
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By FFII | December 11, 2006
Brussels, 11 December 2006 — At the pan-European IP Summit in Brussels last week, FFII President Pieter Hintjens warned that growing imbalances were putting the entire patent system at risk. His comments were echoed in Gowers’ report issued by Britain’s Treasury, which called for a new balance between patent holders and the public.
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By FFII | December 11, 2006
Bruselas, 11 de Diciembre del 2006: En la conferencia sobre propiedad intelectual e industrial celebrada la semana pasada en Bruselas, el presidente de la FFII, Pieter Hintjens, advirtió que un desequilibrio creciente está poniendo en peligro a la totalidad del sistema de patentes. Sus comentarios concuerdan con el informe publicado por Andrew Gowers para el gobierno Británico, en el que se recomienda un mayor equilibrio entre los intereses de los propietarios de patentes y el bien público.
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What happened in November 2006 concerning software patents and related topics: Latest news linked to dossiers and tutorials provided by FFII and a community of wiki editors. 2006-11-30 US NewsForge: Software Freedom Law Center to challenge Blackboard patent
2006-11-30 US Information Week: Center Seeks To Overturn E-Learning Patent
2006-11-30 US News.com: Open-source group wants educational patent reversed
2006-11-29 US ZDNet: Patent reform needs to go further
2006-11-29 EU Pingwales: EC report on software patents ignores small IT firms
2006-11-29 EU ZDnet Opinion: Small doesn’t mean insignificant
2006-11-29 EU PC Pro: Big businesses boast of patent benefits, for small businesses
2006-11-29 US SCOTUSBlog: Analysis: Patent law made for tinkerers?
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By FFII | November 29, 2006
Bruselas, 29 de Noviembre de 2006: Un importante informe entregado por un grupo de trabajo de la Comisión Europea ha sido escrito casi completamente por la industria de las patentes y las grandes empresas, incluyendo los abogados de patentes de SAP, compañías estadounidenses y la Oficina Europea de Patentes, según nos cuenta la FFII. El informe titulado Derechos de la Propiedad Intelectual para la competitividad y la innovación argumenta que hay estudios que prueban que las PYMES necesitan protegerse con patentes, que las patentes benefician a las PYMES, y que el creciente número de patentes de software en EEUU no ha entorpecido la innovación en el sector tecnológico estadounidense.
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By FFII | November 29, 2006
Brussels, 29 November 2006 — A key report produced by a European Commission task force was written almost entirely by the patent industry and large firms, including SAP’s patent lawyers, US firms, and the European Patent Office, says the FFII. The report titled “IPR for competitiveness and innovation” claims that studies prove that SMEs need patent protection, that SMEs benefit from patents, and that increased software patents in the US have not hampered innovation in the US ICT sector.
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By FFII | November 28, 2006
Brussels, 28 November 2006 — In today’s vote on the “IPR Enforcement Directive” (IPRED2, 2005/0127 (COD)), the European Parliament’s Industry Committee (ITRE) limited the directive’s scope to copyright piracy and trademark counterfeiting. The rapporteur, David Hammerstein MEP (Greens/EFA), received backing from all groups for his amendments.
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By FFII | November 28, 2006
Bruselas, 28 de Noviembre de 2006 — En la votación de hoy acerca de la “Directiva para la Aplicación de los Derechos de Propiedad Intelectual e Industrial (IPRED2, 2005/0127 (COD), el Comité de Industria del Parlamento Europeo (ITRE) limitó el ámbito de la directiva a la piratería de obras bajo copyright y a la falsificación de marcas registradas. El ponente, David Hammerstein MPE (Verdes/EFA), recibió el apoyo de todos los grupos a sus enmiendas.
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The FFII won the Grand Prix 2006 awarded by the Newropeans Magazine in the category “Citizenship – Citizens Action”. The award highlights through three different aspects the essential link between European construction and democracy:
1.
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By FFII | November 14, 2006
Brussels, 14 November 2006 — The FFII today announced the European Patent Conference (EUPACO), a series of events under the banner, “Towards a New European Patent System”. Hintjens said, “the patent system, both globally, and in Europe, is under serious stress.
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By FFII | November 14, 2006
Bruselas, 14 de noviembre del 2006 — La FFII anuncia hoy la Conferencia Europea de Patentes (EUPACO), una serie de eventos bajo el lema “hacia un nuevo sistema de patentes”. Hintjens, presidente de la FFII Internacional: los sistemas de patentes global y europeo están sufriendo problemas muy serios.
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What happened in October 2006 concerning software patents and related topics: Latest news linked to dossiers and tutorials provided by FFII and a community of wiki editors. 2006-10-30 EU EgovMonitor: European innovation policy must take small businesses on board
2006-10-30 US Prnewswire: Workbrain Stands Behind Its Innovative Workforce Management Products and Intellectual Property
2006-10-30 CN Xinhuanet: New U.S. system to review software patents
2006-10-30 US Patently-O: NY Times Editorial on Patent Law
2006-10-30 US BusinessWire: Park City Group Aggressively Defends Its Intellectual Property
2006-10-30 US bloggingstocks:msft: Microsoft and AT&T patent dispute could impact the industry
2006-10-30 US Slashdot: An Argument Against Software Patents
2006-10-30 UK Outlaw: Landmark ruling denies UK patent to document assembly
2006-10-30 EU Bloomberg: Qualcomm Faces EU Probe Into Cell-Phone Patent Fees, People Say
2006-10-30 US LATimes: Editorial: No business patenting vague methods
2006-10-30 EU Heironymouscoward: Whats wrong with software patents?
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By FFII | October 27, 2006
London, 27 October 2006 – Today the UK Court of Appeal is expected to hand down its judgement in the cases of Macrossan’s Application and Aerotel vs. Telco.
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By FFII | October 12, 2006
Brussels, 12 October 2006 – In a new resolution on patent policy adopted with 494 to 109 votes, the European Parliament has stressed ongoing concerns with the patent granting practice of the European Patent Office and a lack of democratic control over the patent system. It is relatively silent about the EPLA, the draft treaty that set the ball rolling.
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What happened in September 2006 concerning software patents and related topics: Latest news linked to dossiers and tutorials provided by FFII and a community of wiki editors. 2006-09-29 EU Corante: SHiFT: Dannie Jost – Patents and software
2006-09-29 US DigitalSilence: Gif Format is finally patent free
2006-09-29 US TheChannelInsider: OSDL: Patent Infringement Not a Real Open-Source Threat
2006-09-29 EU Greens-Efa: EU patent law: EU Commission must not introduce EU patents by the backdoor
2006-09-29 EU Mueller: Ever more warnings against EU software patents by EPLA back door
2006-09-29 EU Mueller: Commissioner McCreevy recognizes legitimacy of our doubts and concerns about the EPLA
2006-09-29 EU TheRegister: Commissioner says EU patent doubts ‘legitimate’
2006-09-29 EU ITWorld: European Commissioner outlines software patents plans
2006-09-29 DE Heise: EU Commissioner announces comprehensive patent policy initiative
2006-09-29 US Slashdot: The Gif Format is Finally Patent-Free
2006-09-29 EU ThomasNet: Ending of the Format War before it’s really begun
2006-09-29 EU UEAPME: Patent litigation agreement is not a substitute to a comprehensive patent policy
2006-09-28 EU Eureporter: Parliament split over McCreevy software plans
2006-09-28 EU IT Industry Association warns MEPs about dangers of proposed European patent courts
2006-09-29 EU ComputerWorld: European commissioner outlines software patent plans
2006-09-28 IN India Times: Patenting is not a numbers game
2006-09-27 IN MoneyControl: Gathering steam (comments about Indian patent system)
2006-09-26 EU EU Observer: MEPs set for scrap on EU patents
2006-09-26 WW New York Times: Hoping to Be a Model, I.B.M. Will Put Its Patent Filings Online
2006-09-26 EU EU Observer: MEPs set for scrap on EU patents
2006-09-25 US CCIA: CCIA Warns Against Handing Innovation Policy to Patent Institutions
2006-09-25 US NYTimes:Hoping to Be a Model, I.B.M. Will Put Its Patent Filings Online
2006-09-25 EU Euractiv: EU braced for patent-battle revisited
2006-09-25 EU Sys-con: European Software Patents Boxing Match: Round 2
2006-09-25 EU UNU-MERIT: European public research performs better than thought (“Improving Indicators could ease comparisons”)
2006-10-02 IN Outlook India: He’s Got An Idea (Microsoft lobbying for software patents in India)
2006-09-21 EU BetaNews: The European Patent Debate – Who Decides What’s a Patent?
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By FFII | September 28, 2006
Brussels, 28 September 2006. The US-based Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) sent a letter to all MEPs warning them of the dangers of a new system of patent courts proposed under the European Patent Litigation Agreement (EPLA).
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By FFII | September 21, 2006
Brussels, 21 September 2006 — Commissioner McCreevy proclaims blissful ignorance about the consequences of the European Patent Litigation Agreement (EPLA). In a series of six non-answers to Members of the European parliament, the Commission reveals that until now it is unable to comment on cost, judicial independence, jurisprudence and treaty-related concerns.
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What happened in August 2006 concerning software patents in Europe and related topics: Latest news linked to dossiers and tutorials provided by FFII and a community of wiki editors. 2006-08-29 US TheRegister: Patent rulings could destroy open source software
2006-08-28 ZA OSS group claims Microsoft patent victory (MS-XML-patent)
2006-08-31 US Forbes: The Problem With St.
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What happened in July 2006 concerning software patents in Europe and related topics: Latest news linked to dossiers and tutorials provided by FFII and a community of wiki editors. 2006-07-31 EU Ag-ip-news: FSF Should Stand Firm on Patents Despite Pressure from Large Corporations – Mueller
2006-07-31 EU The Lawyer: IP, IT & telecoms
2006-07-31 EU The Lawyer: Nascent patents
2006-07-31 US Psfk: Friendster’s bid to patent social networking
2006-07-31 US TechRockies: TensorComm Expands Patents
2006-07-30 US Signon Sandiego: The battle over 3G technology is creating…
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By FFII | July 12, 2006
Brussels, 12 July 2006. The FFII today asks in its speech at the EU patent policy hearing for addressing the European patent problems at the core: the malpractice of the European Patent Office (EPO).
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By FFII | July 10, 2006
Brussels, 10 July 2006. The Commission made an undercover move to get more “useful” answers following the 12 April closing date of its Patent Policy consultation.
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By FFII | July 10, 2006
Brussels, 10 July 2006. In leaked documents the Commission criticises the European Patent Office (EPO) as a “business culture of its own” that considers EU interferences in patent law “as an attack on the holy writ”.
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By FFII | July 4, 2006
Brussels, London, Berlin, Warsaw, Ljubljana, 4th July 2006. In an open letter to the EU Commission, six small business associations have called on Commissioners Verheugen and Reding to modify their plans for a task force, designed “to define the future EU policy in ICT”.
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By FFII | July 3, 2006
The Hague, 3 July 2006. Both Chambers of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) unanimously concluded last Thursday that the European Commission has no competence to propose a directive to criminalise intellectual property infringements.
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What happened in June 2006 concerning software patents in Europe and related topics: Latest news linked to dossiers and tutorials provided by FFII and a community of wiki editors. 2006-06-30 US Enterprise OpenSource Mag: Red Hat & JBoss Sued for Patent Infringement
2006-06-30 US Slashdot: Red Hat Sued Over Hibernate ORM Patent Claim
2006-06-28 US Cio: Palm Pays Xerox $22.5M to Settle Patent Clash
2006-06-28 US InformationWeek: Palm, Xerox Settle Patent-Infringement Suit
2006-07-03 DE Heise: Dutch parliament opposes criminalization of violations of intellectual property across the EU
2006-06-30 CA Ottawa Business Journal: Mitel embroiled in patent dispute with Avaya
2006-06-30 EU Techspot: Red Hat sued by Firestar over patent infringement
2006-06-30 EU Out-law: Open source firm Red Hat sued in patent case
2006-06-30 EU Mueller: Patent infringement suit filed against Red Hat
2006-06-30 US Slashdot: On Software Patent Lawsuits Against OSS
2006-06-30 US Technocrat.net: The Monster Arrives: Software Patent Lawsuits Against Open Source Developers (by B. Perens)
2006-06-29 NL FFII: Dutch Parliament says no to European criminal law against IP violations
2006-06-28 US Patently-O: Red Hat Faces Patent Infringement Suit
2006-06-28 US Ipfrontline: Patent Terrorism – Terror of the Intangibles
2006-06-28 US IHT: The foolishness of stifling creativity
2006-06-27 EU IT World Canada: European firms shy from ‘one patent’ regime
2006-06-27 WW FFII: Internet standards process undermined by software patents
2006-06-26 US CNET: U.S. Supreme Court to weigh standards for patent “obviousness”
2006-06-26 US Tech News World: Millions of Patents, Applications Dodge a Bullet
2006-06-26 US Techworld: What is Visto’s game?
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By FFII | June 26, 2006
Brussels, 26 June 2006. The IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) Working Group for a new standard for the “syslog” protocol is being confronted by an undisclosed software patent by one of its Working Group members, the Chinese company Huawei.
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By FFII | May 24, 2006
Brussels, 24 May 2006. In a reply to a question from Polish MEP and inventor Adam Gierek, the European Commission has confirmed that the European Patent Office’s (EPO) case law is not binding for member states, nor (under the proposed Community Patent regulation) for the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
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By FFII | May 12, 2006
Brussels, 12 May 2006. The Commission’s recently relaunched “Enforcement Directive” (IPRED2, 2005/0127 (COD)) proposal aims to criminalise all intentional and commercial IP infringements in order to “combat organised crime” and to “protect national economies and governments”.
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By FFII | April 4, 2006
Brussels, 4 April 2006. Following a formal complaint by the FFII to the EU Commission’s President Barroso, and meetings between the FFII and the Commission, the Commission has agreed to extend its deadline from 31 March 2006 to 12 April 2006.
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By FFII | March 22, 2006
Brussels, 22 March 2006. The FFII urges European businesses which produce or depend on software for their daily operations to participate in the European Commission’s consultation on the Community Patent.
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By FFII | March 15, 2006
Strasbourg, 15 March 2006. Members of the European Parliament successfully opposed a move by a MEP to jeopardise the annual Lisbon report.
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By FFII | March 8, 2006
Brussels, 8 March 2006. The EU’s “Consultation on the future of the Community Patent in Europe” has serious flaws, says the FFII, an international information rights group based in Munich.
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In the CNET Networks UK 2005 technology awards, the FFII, together with NoSoftwarePatents.com, was the winner in category “Outstanding contribution to software development”, because of the “tireless work” that resulted in the rejection of the software patents directive.
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By FFII | December 14, 2005
Strasbourg, 14 December 2005. The European Parliament today adopted a directive that will create the largest monitoring database in the world, tracking all communications within the EU.
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By FFII | December 7, 2005
Brussels, 7 December 2005. The EU “fast-food factory” is producing hasty and unsafe laws like the Big Brother anti-privacy law, warns the FFII, an international information rights group based in Munich.
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By FFII | November 29, 2005
Brussels, 29 November 2005. The FFII General Assembly today unanimously elected a new president, Pieter Hintjens, to lead the organisation into 2006, backed by a strengthened board.
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By FFII | July 8, 2005
Munich, 08 July 2005. Even after the EU Parliament’s rejection of a controversial directive, the war of words rages on between opponents and proponents of software patents.
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By FFII | July 6, 2005
Strasbourg, 6 July 2005. The European Parliament today decided by a large majority to reject the software patents directive.
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By FFII | July 5, 2005
Brussels, 5 July 2005. At a press conference this morning at 9:00, the coordinator of the European People’s Party group in the Legal Affairs Committee explained that he is putting together a majority of MEPs who will vote for a rejection of the Council’s “Common Position” right at the beginning of tomorrow’s vote, even before any amendments are voted on.
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Patent lobby MEPs calling for rejection of the directive
Brussels, 5 July 2005. At a press conference this morning at 9:00, the coordinator of the European People’s Party group in the Legal Affairs Committee explained that he is putting together a majority of MEPs who will vote for a rejection of the Council’s “Common Position” right at the beginning of tomorrow’s vote, even before any amendments are voted on.
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By FFII | July 5, 2005
Brussels, 5 July 2005. The Confederation of European Associations of Small and Medium Enterprises CEA-PME, representing more than 500,000 corporate members throughout Europe, has sent a multilingual letter by fax to all members of the European Parliament, which warns that the future of an important SME-driven sector of Europe’s economy is at stake and calls on MEPs to support the 21 Buzek-Rocard-Duff cross-party compromise amendments, or, if these do not achieve the needed majority of 367 votes, reject the directive.
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By FFII | July 4, 2005
Brussels, 4 July 2005. 1737 companies from across Europe with a combined turnover of more than 3 billion euros and over 30,000 employees have joined together to call on the European Parliament to protect them from software patents and preserve the IT sector’s current competitive and innovative character.
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By FFII | July 1, 2005
Brussels, 1 July 2005. Members from all political sides are showing their support for 21 new amendments to the European software patent directive.
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By FFII | June 20, 2005
20 June 2005. The Economic Majority speaks out against software patents, loud and clear.
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By FFII | June 6, 2005
6 June 2005. We offer an exclusive first-hand report of the closed 27th May and 3rd June meetings of the Council Working Group on Intellectual Property (Patents).
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By FFII | May 23, 2005
Brussels, 23 May 2005. The FFII is proud to announce a new conference on patent policy making, co-sponsored by four prominent members of the European Parliament and by the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA).
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By FFII | May 20, 2005
Brussels, 20 May 2005. The FFII in conjunction with the European Patent Office (EPO) is pleased to announce it is co-hosting a new conference on EU software patent policy entitled “SMEs, software, copyright and patents” to be held on Tuesday May 24th.
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By FFII | April 28, 2005
Brussels, 28 April 2005. The FFII warmly welcomes the report of Michel Rocard MEP following its discussion by the European Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee (JURI) last week.
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By FFII | April 27, 2005
Madrid, 27 April 2005. In a nation-wide event to take place at noon today, students, teachers, and faculty-members across Spain will participate in anti-software-patent demonstrations to be held at their respective universities.
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By FFII | April 25, 2005
Brussels, 25 April 2005. Apparently unable to find enough independent small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to lobby for software patents, EICTA has resorted to sending companies to the European Parliament in which its multinational members hold a strong position.
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