WIPO: Common Public Interest NGO statement

Mehr als 100 NGOs, darunter auch das Netzwerk Neue Medien, haben bisher ein gemeinsames Statement für eine Reform der WIPO unterzeichnet, indem die Position der Group of Friends of Development /3,3MB PDF) unterstützt wird.

Die Hauptforderungen sind dabei:

* the development dimension should be present in all of WIPO’s work
* a treaty on Access to Knowledge (A2K for short) should be considered
* an independent WIPO Evaluation and Research Office (WERO) should be set up to monitor WIPO’s work
*there should be clear principles and guidelines for the technical assistance programme

It also demands that WIPO’s norms and practices should be reviewed. Here, special attention should be given to:

* the respective costs and benefits of copyright, patents and trademarks
* the fact that patents, copyright and trademarks are not ends in themselves, but rather tools to foster the common good
* the issue that there can be no „one size fits all“-solutions
* the flexibilities built into copyright and patent laws
* greater transparency of WIPO and its work

[via Inside, wide-eyed]