DeeDee

This is great.  I wish I hadn't spent the whole summit inside the conference venue, folks outside in the street seemed to have had more fun.  Who's the "I'm gonna sue your ass" guy with the beard?

Maybe we could get Negativeland to do a video on IPR in ICANN…? :-)

Bill

On Oct 14, 2011, at 6:47 AM, DeeDee Halleck wrote:

> During the WSIS in Geneva, a group of us (calling ourselves "We Seize"
> ) held a screening at the WIPO headquarters, projecting a video by
> Negative Land entitled Gimme the Mermaid on the WIPO building.
> http://youtu.be/a7EqYVPEq_c
> The film is a comment on one of the historic (ab)users of prohibitive
> intellectual property restrictions: Walt Disney.
> DeeDee Halleck
> http://www.deepdishwavesofchange.org
> 
> Andrew A. Adams [log in to unmask] via listserv.syr.edu to NCSG-DISCUSS
> show details 12:33 PM (12 hours ago)
> I would also note, however, that WIPO started out as a treaty organisation
> dedicated to enforcing IP treaties (as the BIRPI). WIPO arose from this in
> 1970 with the mission of promoting strong IP laws and promoting protection of
> IP. It only became an arm of the UN in 1974 and retained this lopsided
> mission until within the last decade when a more balanced mission statement
> was pushed on it. Many believe that the secretariat still retain the old
> mission as their mindset and their links with commercial organisations whose
> interests strong IP laws and enforcement apparently serve tend to reinforce
> this. Many on the civil society side still view WIPO as more of an enemy than
> a fair arbiter let alone an ally in the fight for balance.
> 
> (Just one example was their commission of Nick Garnet to produce a review of
> the WIPO CT and PT in 2005. Garnet was formally chief negotiator for IFPI at
> WIPO negotiations. A fox investigating a massacre at a henhouse.)