intellectual property

APC, Korean Progressive Network Jinbonet and OpenNet Korea submit this report for the review of the Republic of Korea’s compliance with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

This three-part case study contemplates the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) through aspects of intellectual property in India, namely, mobile patents, free and open source software (FOSS), and India’s Traditional Knowledge Digital Library.

Executive summary The commitments to development-oriented intellectual property policy, in particular the proposed changes to the patent system to ensure greater access to medicines, are welcome. The policy addresses issues that affect the daily struggles of millions of South Africans. The A2K coalition therefore submits that as a national policy it must take into account the fundamental rights...

South Africans should be able to make fair use of copyright materials. Fair use is important for technological innovation, reverse engineering, education and access to knowledge. Contracts and anti-circumvention rules should not be allowed to prevent South Africans from making fair use of copyright materials. South Africans should be able to bulk import copyright works including textbooks legit...

In March 2015 the UN Special Rapporteur in the field of Cultural Rights presented a report to the 28th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva regarding copyright policy in the context of cultural rights. APC joins the Global Library and Archives Community in welcoming the report that examines copyright from a critical but often neglected perspective: the human dimension.

Human rights and the internet are referred to in the founding documents on the United Nations World Summit of the Information Society, the Geneva Declaration of Principles and the Internet Governance Forum. During 2011 it became clear that the UPR must include the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms on the internet, particularly freedom of expression and freedom of...

The OpenNet Initiative released its 2011 Year in Review, a collection of the year’s top instances of filtering, surveillance, and information warfare around the globe. The spotlight was on the SOPA and PIPA bills in the US and on Asian and Middle Eastern countries and regimes as well as European and American companies for their role in internet censorship.    

Recent human rights battles have shown the world that Poland’s civil society is alive and kicking. APCNews contacted Michał “rysiek” Woźniak, chairman of the Free and Open Source Foundation, to discuss human rights, the internet and ACTA.