Information on FTAs - Revision history

Tfisher at 17:27, 28 February 2010

2010-02-28T17:27:00Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:27, 28 February 2010
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	Multilateral agreements, such as TRIPS, can provide effective protection to copyright holders worldwide, because they set a common framework for copyright protection in many countries. However, in order to create this common framework, every country that is a member to the agreement must agree with the version that will be adopted. This fact makes negotiations of the multilateral treaties complicated and the final draft of the treaty is likely to be a compromise among the proposals suggested from the different countries.		Multilateral agreements, such as TRIPS, can provide effective protection to copyright holders worldwide, because they set a common framework for copyright protection in many countries. However, in order to create this common framework, every country that is a member to the agreement must agree with the version that will be adopted. This fact makes negotiations of the multilateral treaties complicated and the final draft of the treaty is likely to be a compromise among the proposals suggested from the different countries.

	Persuading one country to reforms its intellectual-property laws can be much easier than persuading the ~~139 Member~~ countries to the WTO. Such bilateral agreements are commonly known as free trade agreements (FTAs).		Persuading one country to reforms its intellectual-property laws can be much easier than persuading all of the member countries of the WTO. Such bilateral agreements are commonly known as free trade agreements (FTAs).

	Although FTAs can be very useful in promoting both countries’ interests, they can also be misused by developed states, which typically have much greater bargaining power than developing countries. Developed countries are able to insist on intellectual property rules far in excess of the requirements imposed by the multilateral treaties in return for providing developing countries access to their large markets. These requirements can have adverse effects on technology transfer or access to information and information technology. As a result, there is a growing trend to conclude FTAs that remove or reduce the flexibilities in the TRIPS Agreement and establish even higher standards of intellectual property rights in developing countries. For example, the U.S. government has included strong anti-circumvention obligations in its bilateral FTAs with Jordan, Singapore, Chile, Morocco, Bahrain, and Oman.		Although FTAs can be very useful in promoting both countries’ interests, they can also be misused by developed states, which typically have much greater bargaining power than developing countries. Developed countries are able to insist on intellectual property rules far in excess of the requirements imposed by the multilateral treaties in return for providing developing countries access to their large markets. These requirements can have adverse effects on technology transfer or access to information and information technology. As a result, there is a growing trend to conclude FTAs that remove or reduce the flexibilities in the TRIPS Agreement and establish even higher standards of intellectual property rights in developing countries. For example, the U.S. government has included strong anti-circumvention obligations in its bilateral FTAs with Jordan, Singapore, Chile, Morocco, Bahrain, and Oman.

Tfisher at 14:09, 25 August 2009

2009-08-25T14:09:42Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:09, 25 August 2009
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	Although FTAs can be very useful in promoting both countries’ interests, they can also be misused by developed states, which typically have much greater bargaining power than developing countries. Developed countries are able to insist on intellectual property rules far in excess of the requirements imposed by the multilateral treaties in return for providing developing countries access to their large markets. These requirements can have adverse effects on technology transfer or access to information and information technology. As a result, there is a growing trend to conclude FTAs that remove or reduce the flexibilities in the TRIPS Agreement and establish even higher standards of intellectual property rights in developing countries. For example, the U.S. government has included strong anti-circumvention obligations in its bilateral FTAs with Jordan, Singapore, Chile, Morocco, Bahrain, and Oman.		Although FTAs can be very useful in promoting both countries’ interests, they can also be misused by developed states, which typically have much greater bargaining power than developing countries. Developed countries are able to insist on intellectual property rules far in excess of the requirements imposed by the multilateral treaties in return for providing developing countries access to their large markets. These requirements can have adverse effects on technology transfer or access to information and information technology. As a result, there is a growing trend to conclude FTAs that remove or reduce the flexibilities in the TRIPS Agreement and establish even higher standards of intellectual property rights in developing countries. For example, the U.S. government has included strong anti-circumvention obligations in its bilateral FTAs with Jordan, Singapore, Chile, Morocco, Bahrain, and Oman.

	~~Overbroad~~ legal protection for technological protection measures can have serious unintended consequences in areas beyond those governed by traditional copyright law, including the technology sector and educational and research activities. It has been claimed that anti-circumvention provisions can stifle free speech and scientific research by censoring discussions of copy-protection systems for example; anti circumvention provisions have been also accused of unilaterally eliminating the public’s fair use rights, such as making personal copies of CDs or DVDs, as well as hindering competition and creating monopolies.		Overly broad legal protection for technological protection measures can have serious unintended consequences in areas beyond those governed by traditional copyright law, including the technology sector and educational and research activities. It has been claimed that anti-circumvention provisions can stifle free speech and scientific research by censoring discussions of copy-protection systems for example; anti circumvention provisions have been also accused of unilaterally eliminating the public’s fair use rights, such as making personal copies of CDs or DVDs, as well as hindering competition and creating monopolies.

	For these reasons, the governments of developing countries should be extremely cautious when negotiating FTAs and in particular intellectual property rules substantially in excess of the requirements imposed by the World Trade Organization.		For these reasons, the governments of developing countries should be extremely cautious when negotiating FTAs and in particular intellectual property rules substantially in excess of the requirements imposed by the World Trade Organization.

Tfisher: /* Free trade agreements */

2009-08-25T14:09:26Z

Free trade agreements

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:09, 25 August 2009
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	~~== Free trade~~ agreements==		Multilateral agreements, such as TRIPS, can provide effective protection to copyright holders worldwide, because they set a common framework for copyright protection in many countries. However, in order to create this common framework, every country that is a member to the agreement must agree with the version that will be adopted. This fact makes negotiations of the multilateral treaties complicated and the final draft of the treaty is likely to be a compromise among the proposals suggested from the different countries.

	Multilateral agreements, such as the TRIPs, can provide effective protection to copyright holders worldwide, because they set a common framework for copyright protection in a lot of countries. However, in order to create this common framework, every country ~~that is a member~~ to the ~~agreement has~~ to ~~agree with~~ the ~~version that will be adopted~~. This fact makes negotiations of the multilateral treaties complicated and the final draft of the treaty is more likely to be an intermediate solution of the proposals suggested from the different countries, rather than the initial version that each country envisaged.		Persuading one country to reforms its intellectual-property laws can be much easier than persuading the 139 Member countries to the WTO. Such bilateral agreements are commonly known as free trade agreements (FTAs).

	You can imagine though that persuading one country can be much easier than persuading the 139 Member countries to the WTO. So, although the international framework exists, two countries might still want to sign an agreement between them and take further obligations towards one another, aiming, among others, to provide further protection of copyright. These agreements fall under the category of free trade agreements (FTA).		Although FTAs can be very useful in promoting both countries’ interests, they can also be misused by developed states, which typically have much greater bargaining power than developing countries. Developed countries are able to insist on intellectual property rules far in excess of the requirements imposed by the multilateral treaties in return for providing developing countries access to their large markets. These requirements can have adverse effects on technology transfer or access to information and information technology. As a result, there is a growing trend to conclude FTAs that remove or reduce the flexibilities in the TRIPS Agreement and establish even higher standards of intellectual property rights in developing countries. For example, the U.S. government has included strong anti-circumvention obligations in its bilateral FTAs with Jordan, Singapore, Chile, Morocco, Bahrain, and Oman.

	Although FTAs can be very useful ~~to promote~~ both countries’ interests, they can also be misused by developed states, ~~as the latter are in a stronger negotiating position in comparison to~~ developing countries. Developed countries are able to insist on intellectual property rules far in excess of requirements of the ~~WTO as a~~ return for providing to developing countries access to their large markets. These requirements can have adverse effects on technology transfer or access to information and information technology.

	An example of a bilateral FTA would be that country A will agree to lower tariffs on country’s B agricultural and manufactured goods and country B will agree to have tighter copyright protection for the rights of country’s A citizens. So, signing bilateral FTAs is a ~~very effective method for a developed country to ensure protection for its citizens’ creative works out of its own boundaries.~~
	~~Thus~~, there is a growing trend to conclude FTAs~~, which~~ remove or reduce the flexibilities in the TRIPS ~~agreement~~ and establish even higher standards of ~~Intellectual Property~~ rights in developing countries. For example, the US government has included anti-circumvention obligations in its bilateral FTAs with Jordan, Singapore, Chile, Morocco, Bahrain and Oman.

	~~However, overbroad~~ legal ~~entrenchment~~ for technological protection measures can have serious unintended consequences beyond ~~areas~~ governed by copyright law, including on the technology sector and on educational and research activities. It has been claimed that anti circumvention provisions can stifle free speech and scientific research by censoring discussions of copy-protection systems for example; anti circumvention provisions have been also accused of unilaterally eliminating the public’s fair use rights, such as making ~~legitimate~~ personal copies of CDs or DVDs, as well as hindering ~~competitors~~ and creating monopolies.		Overbroad legal protection for technological protection measures can have serious unintended consequences in areas beyond those governed by traditional copyright law, including the technology sector and educational and research activities. It has been claimed that anti-circumvention provisions can stifle free speech and scientific research by censoring discussions of copy-protection systems for example; anti circumvention provisions have been also accused of unilaterally eliminating the public’s fair use rights, such as making personal copies of CDs or DVDs, as well as hindering competition and creating monopolies.

	For ~~all~~ these reasons the governments of developing countries should be extremely cautious when negotiating FTAs and in particular intellectual property rules ~~far~~ in excess of the requirements imposed by the World Trade Organization.		For these reasons, the governments of developing countries should be extremely cautious when negotiating FTAs and in particular intellectual property rules substantially in excess of the requirements imposed by the World Trade Organization.

Avalle2: New page: == Free trade agreements== Multilateral agreements, such as the TRIPs, can provide effective protection to copyright holders worldwide, because they set a common framework for copyright p...

2009-04-26T15:39:23Z

New page: == Free trade agreements== Multilateral agreements, such as the TRIPs, can provide effective protection to copyright holders worldwide, because they set a common framework for copyright p...

New page

== Free trade agreements==

Multilateral agreements, such as the TRIPs, can provide effective protection to copyright holders worldwide, because they set a common framework for copyright protection in a lot of countries. However, in order to create this common framework, every country that is a member to the agreement has to agree with the version that will be adopted. This fact makes negotiations of the multilateral treaties complicated and the final draft of the treaty is more likely to be an intermediate solution of the proposals suggested from the different countries, rather than the initial version that each country envisaged.

You can imagine though that persuading one country can be much easier than persuading the 139 Member countries to the WTO. So, although the international framework exists, two countries might still want to sign an agreement between them and take further obligations towards one another, aiming, among others, to provide further protection of copyright. These agreements fall under the category of free trade agreements (FTA).

Although FTAs can be very useful to promote both countries’ interests, they can also be misused by developed states, as the latter are in a stronger negotiating position in comparison to developing countries. Developed countries are able to insist on intellectual property rules far in excess of requirements of the WTO as a return for providing to developing countries access to their large markets. These requirements can have adverse effects on technology transfer or access to information and information technology.

An example of a bilateral FTA would be that country A will agree to lower tariffs on country’s B agricultural and manufactured goods and country B will agree to have tighter copyright protection for the rights of country’s A citizens. So, signing bilateral FTAs is a very effective method for a developed country to ensure protection for its citizens’ creative works out of its own boundaries.
Thus, there is a growing trend to conclude FTAs, which remove or reduce the flexibilities in the TRIPS agreement and establish even higher standards of Intellectual Property rights in developing countries. For example, the US government has included anti-circumvention obligations in its bilateral FTAs with Jordan, Singapore, Chile, Morocco, Bahrain and Oman.

However, overbroad legal entrenchment for technological protection measures can have serious unintended consequences beyond areas governed by copyright law, including on the technology sector and on educational and research activities. It has been claimed that anti circumvention provisions can stifle free speech and scientific research by censoring discussions of copy-protection systems for example; anti circumvention provisions have been also accused of unilaterally eliminating the public’s fair use rights, such as making legitimate personal copies of CDs or DVDs, as well as hindering competitors and creating monopolies.

For all these reasons the governments of developing countries should be extremely cautious when negotiating FTAs and in particular intellectual property rules far in excess of the requirements imposed by the World Trade Organization.