[P2P-F] Fwd: [fcforum] brussels, June 7: hearing - on the enforcement of intellectual property rights

[Michel Bauwens]

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From: at <at at kein.org>
Date: Thu, May 12, 2011 at 9:00 PM
Subject: [fcforum] brussels, June 7: hearing - on the enforcement of
intellectual property rights
To: fcforum at list.fcforum.net


Will anyone be in Brussels for this or consider attending?

Public Hearing   Directive 2004/48/EC on the enforcement of intellectual
property rights:  Challenges posed by the digital environment

http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/iprenforcement/docs/conference20110607/programme_en.pdf


A piece from Monica Horten's iptegrity.com
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3-minute speech limit at EU copyright hearing
Written by Monica Horten
May 10, 2011 at 11:38 PM
The European Commission  threatens to  handbag* all speakers who go over
 3-minutes at a public hearing on the IPR Enforcement directive (also
known as IPRED).   A key focus of the hearing will be Internet copyright
enforcement and peer-to-peer file-sharing.  What will the Commission's
new, ex-IFPI, head of copyright have to say?

Following the demise of its secret ‘stakeholder dialgoue', the European
 Commission has   announced a public hearing on intellectual property
enforcement in the digital environment.

The  hearing  - on the enforcement of intellectual property rights:
Challenges posed by the digital environment  - is the final  part of DG
Markt's consultation exercise regarding the IPR Enforcement directive
(IPRED). The Commission's objective is to obtain further feedback to its
plans for revision of this directive.

 According to the Commission's Communication on the IPRED  review, the
main focus of the policy agenda  is  Internet enforcement, and  the
Internet will be the main discussion topic for the hearing.  Challenges
in this context, means how to stop peer-to-peer file-sharing, and how to
get the ISPs to do the dirty work for the rights-holders, in enforcing
copyright online.

The head of  intellectual property policy at the European Commission,
Margot  Fröhlinger,  will be chairing the discussion. Potentially over
two hours of time has been allocated for stakeholder comments. But
anyone who wants to speak must register beforehand, and will only be
allowed to speak  3 minutes.

We should therefore ask whether the Commission is really willing to
listen to anyone other than a few favoured lobbyists, and whether the
public interest will be considered?

It  is likely that the three-minute limit will be enforced, and one does
have to question whether the Commission will enable a balance   of
interests to be heard. In particular, I do wonder whether she will
permit citizens groups to speak  at all.

In 2008, I attended a hearing at the beginning of the Telecoms Package
with a similar 3-minute rule, and the gavel came down swiftly on head of
the telecoms lobby group, ETNO, when he tried to speak for longer.

It was ETNO who brought down Mrs Fröhlinger's  recent ( and secret)
Stakeholder Diablogue talks.

Observers will be keenly interested to see  Margot Fröhlinger's number
two in copyright,   Maria Martin Prat and any presentations by her will
be closely watched.

Ms Martin-Prat,  formerly worked as Director of Legal Policy for   IFPI,
the  music industry lobby group , and was recently appointed as  head of
the European Commission's Copyright Unit.  She  replaces Tilman Lueder
who has apparently left the Commission.

Ms Martin Prat's appointment to head the copyright unit is highly
controversial and  her ability to act impartially has been highlighted.
As a member of the Commission services, she is a civil servant, and is
duty bound to show no favoritism, however, her former connection with
IFPI does raise question marks and will certainly test her integrity to
the full.

My first question is - which brand of handbag does she  carry?

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