[WSIS CS-Plenary] WIPO Shutting Out Public Interest Organizations

[Robert Guerra]

Reality check -


If WSIS is to mean anything - then the much talked about ability to 
observe, participate , speak and submit documents must extend itself 
outside of the WSIS process.

As you can see from the message below this - multi-stakeholder 
process - is not happening @WIPO.  I would submit to this group that 
the plenary should take action - as a min we should again issue a 
statement in support of our civil society colleagues @ WIPO .

regards

Robert
--

Date: Tue, 08 Mar 2005 04:54:40 -0800
From: Jeff Williams <jwkckid1 at ix.netcom.com>
Subject: [alt.wsis] WIPO Shutting Out Public Interest Organizations

All,

   Like ICANN's ALAC, the WTO, WHO, and WGIG, WIPO,
continues its ugly form of censorship... Is the UN truly relevant?

See: http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2005_03.php#003401[3

WIPO Shutting Out Public Interest Organizations
Experts on Development Won't Be Heard at Crucial Meetings
Geneva - Last week, the World Intellectual Property
Organization (WIPO) announced that it will shut out most
public interest organizations at two important meetings
devoted to intellectual property and development. As a
result, WIPO delegates from 182 nations will discuss these
issues without hearing from many of the world's
best-qualified experts.
Scheduled for next month, two WIPO "Development Agenda"
meetings will focus on the impact of copyright, patent, and
other intellectual property rights regimes on the
developing world. Without the public interest
organizations, the discussions will be heavily weighted
toward major motion picture studios, broadcasters,
pharmaceutical giants, and other powerful interests that
want to expand copyright and patent law.
"This is an embarrassment for WIPO," explained EFF European
Affairs Coordinator Cory Doctorow. "Settling the debate by
locking one side out of the building isn't the way the UN
is supposed to work. We love the Development Agenda -- it's
supposed to be a new direction for WIPO. A one-sided
discussion isn't a new direction, though. It's just more of
the same."
These meetings are a response to the proposal put forward
by Brazil and Argentina in the wake of the Geneva
Declaration on the future of WIPO, which was signed by
hundreds of individuals and public interest
non-governmental organizations (NGOs), including the
Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).
Most public interest groups have only recently begun
participating in WIPO and are not yet permanently
accredited by the organization, since the accreditation
process takes a year and they have always been able to
participate as "ad hoc" observers in the past. On March 2,
however, the International Bureau Secretariat advised EFF
that only those NGOs that are currently accredited as
"permanent" observers at WIPO will be allowed to attend
these meetings. As a result, the bulk of civil society will
be barred from attending.
"The Secretariat's exclusion of ad hoc observer NGOs raises
fundamental questions about WIPO's commitment to a full and
thorough discussion of the important issues  in the
Development Agenda proposal," said EFF International
Affairs Director Gwen Hinze.
EFF is accredited as a WIPO permanent observer and will be
attending the meetings. The group will be reporting on the
proceedings and will attempt to represent the viewpoints of
some of the other public interest groups that are being
excluded from the process.

Regards,

--
Jeffrey A. Williams
Spokesman for INEGroup LLA. - (Over 134k members/stakeholders strong!)
"Be precise in the use of words and expect precision from others" -
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United States v. Carroll Towing  (159 F.2d 169 [2d Cir. 1947]
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###
Robert Guerra <rguerra at privaterra.org>
Privaterra - <http://www.privaterra.org>