In Uruguay, 14 People Convicted for Making Copies of Educational Resources
[Jorge Gemetto] Last week, 14 people were convicted by an Uruguayan judge for the crime of making copies of educational resources. The defendants, owners of copy shops located near the University of the Republic (Universidad de la República) in Montevideo, have been sentenced to seven months in prison, although the judge has conditionally suspended the imprisonment. The case began in 2013, when a major police operation shuttered copy shops in the area surrounding the University, confiscated photocopy machines, and detained 32 people. Click here for more.
Internet Infrastructure Coalition Comment to USTR for the Special 301 Out of Cycle Review of Notorious Markets
The Internet Infrastructure Coalition (i2Coalition) respectfully submits the following comments regarding the 2016 Special 301 Out of Cycle Review of Notorious Markets (Docket No. USTR-2016-2013), as requested by the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) … we have noticed a disturbing trend in submissions: using the Special 301 process to attempt to restrict technology innovation. Certain submissions favor an approach to intellectual property and infringement protections that would be harmful to the Internet infrastructure marketplace, and therefore to the Internet itself, as well as the global U.S. and global economies. Click here for the full submission.
AARP, AFL-CIO, Oxfam, Consumers Union & MSF Letter to President Obama, re: Data Exclusivity for Biologics and the TPP
Dear President Obama: As organizations that represent millions of Americans, including consumers, retirees, and patients, and that provide medical care globally, we are concerned about recent reports that your Administration is working behind the scenes to craft Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) implementing legislation and possibly enter into side letters that would mean even more lengthy monopoly protections for biologics than the already onerous provisions in the TPP agreement. It is our understanding that this could bind the United States to a 12-year market exclusivity period for biologics and block the U.S. and other countries from reducing the amount of time expensive biologic drugs are protected from competition from less expensive biosimilar drugs. Click here for more.
Is it Copyright’s Role to Fill Houses with Books?
[Rebecca Giblin] Abstract: Proposed copyright reforms are typically situated as being pro-user/anti-author (or vice versa). When it comes to making normative judgments about how far copyright rights ought to extend however, we need to ask more than whether a change might make one or another interest worse off. Since copyright isn’t zero sum, we need to ask who loses how much in exchange for who gaining what. Click here for more.
Global Report on Access to Hepatitis C Treatment: Focus on Overcoming Barriers
[Stefan Wiktor, Françoise Renaud and Peter Beyer] … This is the first-ever global report on treatment access to hepatitis C medicines. The report provides the information that countries and health authorities need to identify the appropriate HCV treatment, and procure it at affordable prices. The report uses the experience of several pioneering countries to demonstrate how barriers to treatment access can be overcome. It also provides information on the production of new hepatitis C drugs and generic versions worldwide, including where the drugs are registered, where the drugs are patented and where not, and what opportunities countries have under the license agreements that were signed by some companies as well as current pricing of all recommended DAAs, including by generic companies all over the world. Click here for more.
EFF to Copyright Office: It’s Time for Real Reform of DMCA 1201
[EFF Press Release] San Francisco – The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) urged the U.S. Copyright Office today to protect the public’s right to research and repair everything from phones to refrigerators to tractors, to support the right of people with print disabilities to convert media into an accessible format, and to restore users’ rights to make fair and lawful uses of the software and media they buy. Click here for more.
The Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement and Pharmaceutical Regulation in Canada and Australia
[Joel Lexchin and Deborah Gleeson] Abstract: The Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) is a large regional trade agreement involving twelve countries. It was signed in principle in February 2016 but has not yet been ratified in any of the participating countries. The TPP provisions place a range of constraints on how governments regulate the pharmaceutical sector and set prices for medicines. Click here for more.
