World Intellectual Property Organization - Wiki WIPO members Members Non-members The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is one of the 17 specialized agencies of the United Nations. WIPO was created in 1967 "to encourage creative activity, to promote the protection of intellectual property throughout the world WIPO currently has 187 member states,[2] administers 26 international treaties,[3] and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. History[edit] The predecessor to WIPO was the BIRPI (Bureaux Internationaux Réunis pour la Protection de la Propriété Intellectuelle, French acronym for United International Bureaux for the Protection of Intellectual Property), which had been established in 1893 to administer the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works and the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property. WIPO was formally created by the Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization, which entered into force on April 26, 1970. Information network[edit] See also[edit]
ACTA : Victoire totale pour les citoyens et la démocratie ! Strasbourg, 4 juillet 2012 – Le Parlement européen a rejeté ACTA1 par une large majorité, le détruisant définitivement. Ce rejet constitue une victoire majeure pour la multitude de citoyens et d'organisations connectés qui ont travaillé dur pendant plusieurs années, mais aussi un espoir d'ampleur globale pour une meilleure démocratie. Sur les ruines d'ACTA, nous devons désormais bâtir une réforme positive du droit d'auteur, qui devra prendre en compte nos droits plutôt que les combattre. La victoire contre ACTA doit retentir comme un avertissement pour les législateurs : les libertés fondamentales et l'Internet libre et ouvert doivent prévaloir sur les intérêts privés. Les citoyens de l'Internet et du monde entier ont gagné ! La Quadrature du Net tient à remercier chaleureusement et à féliciter tous les citoyens, organisations ou réseaux qui ont œuvré collectivement à cette victoire ! 1.
Friend Request Rejected: Maryland Bans Employers from Asking Employees for their Social Media Passwords : Privacy Law Blog Maryland became the first state to pass legislation (House Bill 964 and Senate Bill 433) that prohibits employers from asking employees and job applicants for their social media passwords. The legislation also prohibits an employer from (a) taking, or threatening to take, disciplinary action for an employee’s refusal to disclose his or her password, or (b) failing to hire an applicant due to the applicant’s refusal to disclose his or her password. While generally protective of employees, there is an exception built into the legislation that allows employers to require an employee to disclose certain access information (e.g., user name and password) for “…accounts or services that provide access to the employer’s internal computer or information systems.”
European MPs throw out online piracy pact THE European Parliament rejected a global agreement against copyright theft yesterday, handing a victory to protesters who say the legislation would punish people for sharing films and music online. The vote marked the culmination of a two-year battle between legislators who supported the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (Acta) and its largely young, digitally savvy opponents. Tens of thousands of activists held rallies across Europe in February to protest against the law, which they said would curb their freedom and allow officials to spy on their online activities. About 2,5-million signed a petition against the agreement. European Parliament MPs voted against the agreement by 478 to 39 with 165 abstentions, meaning the proposed law will have to be renegotiated by the European Commission, the European Union's (EU's) executive. Acta took four years to negotiate and has already been signed by several of the EU's big trading partners, including the US, Canada and Japan. Reuters
Stop the biggest threat to Internet freedom 2,008,307 have signed. Help us get to our new target of 3,000,000 Update: 10 February 2012 Amazing! Posted: 25 January 2012 Last week, 3 million of us beat back America's attack on our Internet! ACTA - a global treaty - could allow corporations to censor the Internet. Europe is deciding right now whether to ratify ACTA -- and without them, this global attack on Internet freedom will collapse. It's outrageous -- governments of four fifths of the world’s people were excluded from the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) negotiations and unelected bureaucrats have worked closely with corporate lobbyists to craft new rules and a dangerously powerful enforcement regime. The oppressively strict regulations could mean people everywhere are punished for simple acts such as sharing a newspaper article or uploading a video of a party where copyrighted music is played. Big corporate interests are pushing hard for this, but the EU Parliament stands in the way.
Netzaktivisten: Das Aus für Acta ist ein Sieg der Demokratie | Digital Das EU-Parlament hat Acta abgelehnt. Ohne die Lobbyarbeit der Bürgerrechtler und ohne die Demonstrationen der Wähler wäre das Abkommen durchgekommen, kommentiert P. Beuth. Speichern Drucken Twitter Facebook Google + Anti-Acta-Parole der Digitalen Gesellschaft | © Thomas Peter / Reuters Acta ist endgültig gescheitert. Das Ende von Acta ist ein Erfolg, den sich vor allem Bürgerrechtsorganisationen wie EDRi (European Digital Rights), die Digitale Gesellschaft oder La Quadrature du Net auf die Fahnen schreiben dürfen. Anzeige Zunächst haben sie der EU-Kommission klargemacht, dass Acta nicht im Geheimen verhandelt werden darf. Danach haben die Bürgerrechtler das EU-Parlament als den Ort identifiziert, an dem sie Acta noch stoppen können – und dann haben sie klassische Lobbyarbeit geleistet. Patrick Beuth Die Aufklärungsarbeit hat dabei nicht bei allen gefruchtet.
Big Data mining: Who owns your social network data? The now-trendy concept of Big Data usually implies ever-growing hordes of data, including unstructured info posted on Facebook and Twitter, and ways of gleaning intelligence from all of it to create business opportunities. The concept, however, also carries with it risks for anyone opening up about themselves on the Internet and raises questions about who exactly owns all this data. Big Data is associated with technologies such as the Apache Hadoop distributed computing platform and is prompting some technology companies, including IBM, to make major acquisitions. But the term "Big Data," claims GigaOm analyst Derrick Harris, is a bit of a misnomer; it's really about data from different sources, including social networks and even cell phones. "It's coming from sensors, it's coming from computers, it's coming from the Web," he says. [ Read InfoWorld's primer "The big promise of Big Data." | See how IBM views Big Data in Eric Knorr's interview "A conversation with IBM's Mr.
Open Resources How to act against ACTA This page lists different ways to take action against ACTA right now and to learn more about this dangerous agreement. ACTA is a multi-lateral trade agreement which threatens to change the Internet as we know it and puts fundamental freedoms at risk. The European Parliament will vote on ACTA this Wednesday July 4th and has the occasion to reject it once and for all. You will find on this page different ways you can act to defeat ACTA as a citizen. As a citizen, the main two things to do are: contacting Members of the European Parliament helping spread the word about ACTA. Contacting your Elected Representatives is the most useful thing you can do right until the wednesday's final vote in the European Parliament, last step of the procedure. [edit] How to? To easily get in touch with the right Members of the European Parliament, you can use our PiPhone. You also can use Political Memory to get the contact details of a precise MEP. [edit] Who to contact? [edit] General advice Here are some ideas:
European Parliament rejects ACTA "I am very pleased that Parliament has followed my recommendation to reject ACTA" said rapporteur David Martin (S&D, UK), after the vote, reiterating his concerns that the treaty is too vague, open to misinterpretation and could therefore jeopardise citizens' liberties. However, he also stressed the need to find alternative ways to protect intellectual property in the EU, as the "raw material of the EU economy". The EPP's key ACTA advocate, Christofer Fjellner (EPP, SE), asked before the vote that Parliament should delay its final vote until the European Court of Justice has ruled on whether ACTA is compatible with the EU treaties. However, when a majority of MEPs rejected this request, a substantial minority responded by abstaining in the vote on Parliament's consent. Procedure: Consent
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