IP-Enforcement Roundup – September 5, 2011

TPP Negotiators to Meet in Chicago for Negotiating Round:  Reports Show the Conflict Between IP Provisions and Local Laws in the U.S. and Australia

The next negotiating round of the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement will be held in Chicago from September 6-15.  Negotiators hope to make progress on outstanding issues including intellectual property protection, which has been an area where negotiators have had trouble reaching agreement.  It is rumored that the U.S. will table text on data exclusivity. Last week, Knowledge Ecology International published comments submitted to USTR that highlight a number of areas where the US-proposed intellectual property chapter that was leaked in February conflicts with US legal norms and practices.  This follows an analysis by Kimberlee Weatherall completed last month that shows the conflict between the IP provisions and Australian law. Click here for more.

Copyrights Amendment Bill to Be Tabled in Indian Parliament – Parallel Importation Provisions Have Been Removed

This week, the Indian government’s Rajya Sabha (the upper house of Parliament) will debate the Copyright Amendments Act.  The Centre for Internet and Society has raised a number of concerns – including the removal of parallel import provisions that would have allowed universities and libraries greater access to foreign works, the extension of copyright terms, and the introduction of technological protection measures, with stiff penalties for circumvention. Click here for more.

UK Domain Name Registrar Considers New Rules for Domain Name Takedowns

Nominet, the British domain name registrar for .uk domains, has requested comments on proposed rules concerning “Domain names used in connection with criminal activity.” The draft rules include “an expedited process to suspend domain names,” which could include suspension of domain names without a court order, as long as law enforcement agencies “provide a declaration that the suspension is proportionate, necessary, and urgent.” Nominet has asked for input from stakeholders by September 20 (to submit comments, email them to policy@nominet.org.uk).  Click here for more.

Google Reports on Efforts to “Make Copyright Work Better Online”

Kent Walker, Senior Vice President and General Counsel for Google, posted a “Progress Report” on the company’s Public Policy Blog, highlighting steps the company has taken to address online copyright infringement. He discusses Google’s efforts to “Act on reliable copyright takedown requests within 24 hours;” “Prevent terms that are closely associated with piracy from appearing in Autocomplete;” “Improve our AdSense anti-piracy review;” and “Improve visibility of authorized preview content in search results.”  Click here for the Progress Report on the Google Public Policy Blog.

The European Strategy: Send Money to the US (Guest Article by Joe Karaganis in TorrentFreak)

“Over the past two decades, the EC has been a very active proponent of higher IP standards and stronger enforcement, from the ACTA agreement, to the upcoming revision to the Enforcement Directive, to the imminent extension of copyright on recordings.  Let’s ask the obvious question: why?”  Click here for the full article.

Events and Deadlines