Information Society Watch

February 23, 2007, James Love, Huffington Post

This article is a statement on the outcomes of the World Intellectual Property Organisation's (WIPO) first review in February of proposals to reform intellectual property issues. Overall the statement finds that negotiations proceeded better than anticipated, with participation from governments of the US and EU states, as well as a crucial role of developing countries and civil society to push forward a reform agenda. It finds that in some areas, there was broad and substantive agreement on reforms in response to a growing demand for reforms and a more balanced approach to intellectual property protection. In other areas such as 'access to knowledge', however, agreement was quite limited. The statement concludes with some quotes from participants in the WIPO review.

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