Growing Opposition to the Authors’ Guild Request to Remove Text-to-Speech on Kindle2

The groups below represent 15 million Americans who cannot read print because of blindness, dyslexia, spinal cord injury and other print disabilities. Reading disabled persons affected by the Authors’ Guild request to remove the text to speech function on Kindle 2 include school children, the elderly, professionals, university students, returning veterans, and yes, your neighbors, family members and friends.

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The 41 proposed COMMUNIA recommendations for Accessing, Using, Reusing Public Sector Content and Data

In London’s, at the 5th COMMUNIA workshop held at the London School of Economics, speakers here are asked to suggest recommendations on the topic of “Accessing, Using, Reusing Public Sector Content and Data.” Here are the 41* that have been proposed in advance, including 9 from KEI.

5th COMMUNIA Workshop:
Accessing, Using, Reusing Public Sector Content and Data

26-27th March 2009, London School of Economics

Policy Recommendations

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Notes from Day one of WIPO SCP 13

WIPO’s five day 13th meeting of the Standing Committee on the Law of Patents (SCP) began on Monday, and will go through Friday. The agenda is quite full, as the SCP will consider four important reports written by the Secretariat.

SCP/13/2: Standards and Patents
SCP/13/3: Exclusions from Patentable Subject Matter and Exceptions and Limitations to the Rights
SCP/13/4: The Client-Attorney Privilege
SCP/13/5: Dissemination of Patent Information

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WIPO SCP 13, slides from KEI Side event on Patents and Standards

On March 23, 2009, Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) organized a Briefing on Patents and Standards at WIPO’s 13th meeting of the Standing Committee on Patents (SCP). The meeting features presentations from Dr. Baisheng An, a Research Fellow at the South Centre, George Greve, President of Free Software Foundation Europoe (FSFE), Ahmed Abedel Latif, of the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD), and James Love, Knowledge Ecology International (KEI). Continue Reading

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WIPO paper on limitations and exceptions to the exclusive rights of patents

The International Bureau has released a 47-paged paper in preparation for the 13th Session of the WIPO Standing Committee on the Law of Patents (23 March-27 March, 2009) entitled Exclusions from patentable subject matter and exceptions and limitations to the rights (SCP/13/3).

In its introduction to the treatment of patent exceptions and public policy, the paper asserts:

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WHO issues mild statement on transit of medicines

The WHO has just issued a statement on the transit of medicines. It is short and mild. The statement does not mention goods in transit in the title. It does not mention at all that medicines have been seized. The best part of the statement is the following quote:

Ensuring that the interests of trade and health are appropriately managed, also means that the flow of legitimate medicines, including generic medicines, is not impeded.


The action part of the statement is weak, however:

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