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[FYI] WIPO to present its "Digital Agenda" to Member States



http://ecommerce.wipo.int/press/pr99-186.html

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PRESS RELEASE  

WIPO TO PRESENT ITS "DIGITAL AGENDA" TO MEMBER STATES  

                        

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) will submit to 
its member states the "Digital Agenda" it drafted following a three-
day meeting in Geneva from September 14 to 16, 1999 that brought 
together some 700 high-level representatives from government, 
industry and other interested parties. Among the high-level 
government representatives that addressed the International 
Conference on Electronic Commerce and Intellectual Property Issues 
were the Secretary of Commerce of the United States of America, Mr. 
William Daley, French Minister of Culture, Mrs. Catherine Trautmann, 
the Attorney General of Australia, Mr. Daryl Williams, and the 
Minister of Industry and International Business of Barbados, Mr. 
Reginald Farley.  

[...]

The nine points of the WIPO Digital Agenda are:  

1) Broaden the participation of developing countries through the use 
of WIPONET and other means for:  

                       - access to intellectual property information;

                       - participation in global policy formulation;

                       - opportunities to use intellectual property   
                         in electronic commerce.

2) Entry into force of the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) and the WIPO 
Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT) before December 2001.  

3) Promote the adjustment of the international legislative framework 
to facilitate electronic commerce through:  

                       - the extension of the principles in the WPPT  
                         to audiovisual performances;

                       - the adaptation of broadcasters’ rights to    
                         the digital era;

                       - the review of the need for the conclusion of 
                         an international instrument on the           
                         protection of databases.

4) Implement the recommendations of the Report of the Domain Name 
Process and pursue the achievement of compatibility between 
identifiers in the real and virtual worlds through the establishment 
of rules for mutual respect and the elimination of contradictions 
between the domain name system and intellectual property rights.  

5) Establish appropriate principles at the international level for 
determining the circumstances of intellectual property liability of 
Online Service Providers (OSPs) which are compatible and workable 
within a framework of general liability rules for OSPs.  

6) Promote adjustment of the institutional framework for facilitating 
the exploitation of intellectual property in a global economy and on 
a global medium through coordination and, where desired by users, the 
implementation of systems in respect of:  

                       - the interoperability and interconnection of  
                         electronic copyright management systems and  
                         the metadata of such systems;  

                       - the online licensing of the digital          
                         expression of cultural heritage;

                       - the online administration of intellectual    
                         property disputes.

7) Introduce online procedures for the filing  and administration of 
international applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) 
and the Madrid System at the earliest possible date.  

8) Study and, where appropriate, respond in a timely and effective 
manner to the need for measures designed to improve secure digital 
management of intellectual property assets at the international level 
including, for example, investigating the desirability and efficacy 
of:  

                       - the establishment of agreed procedures and   
                         forms for global licensing of
                         intellectual property assets in digital form;

                       - the notarization of electronic documents;

                       - the introduction of a procedure for the      
                         certification of websites containing         
                         intellectual property for
                         compliance with appropriate intellectual     
                         property standards and procedures.

9) Coordinate with other international organizations in the 
formulation of appropriate international positions on horizontal 
issues affecting intellectual property, in particular:  

                       - the validity of electronic contracts;

                       - jurisdiction.


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