Take on development agenda, NGOs urge WIPO

Non-governmental organisations from across the globe have come out in support of a proposal submitted by the Group of Friends of Development (FoD) for a development agenda at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)." Some 99 organisations have supported the demand, at the time of writing..

Making a compelling case backed by arguments on diverse fronts, a five-point statement calls for amending the WIPO convention and including a specific "development dimension, consistent with WIPO’s obligation as a UN agency". It also calls for elaboration of a treaty on access to knowledge and technology

APC partners that have signed the statement include apc.au, Australia; Bytes4All, South Asia; Colnodo, Colombia; Fantsuam Foundation, Nigeria; Foundation for Media Alternatives (FMA), Philippines; Greennet, UK; Instituto del Tercer Mundo (ITeM), Uruguay; Jinbonet, South Korea; Open Forum, Cambodia; RITS, Brazil; and Women’sNet, South Africa.

Signatory NGOs said, "We, the undersigned public interest non-governmental organizations support the adoption of the proposal submitted by the Group of Friends of Development (FoD) for a Development Agenda at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)".

Those signing it, in order of signing (as of July 19), were:

1. IP Justice ~ International

2. International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) ~ International

3. Electronic Information for Libraries (eIFL.net) ~ Italy

4. Netzwerk Neue Medien ~ Germany

5. Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) ~ International

6. Public Knowledge ~ USA

7. CPSR-Peru ~ Peru

8. Foundation for Media Alternatives (FMA) ~ Philippines

9. Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR) ~ International

10. Professional Leaders Forum (PLF) ~ Nigeria

11. Promoting SA Music ~ South Africa

12. Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights ~ Egypt

13. Society of College, National and University Libraries (SCONUL) ~ UK

14. Institute for Sustainable Development and Research (ISDR) ~ India

15. Jaring Foundation ~ Indonesia

16. Health Information for Development (HID) ~ UK

17. International Alliance on Information Access (IAIA) ~ UK

18. Coastal Development Partnership (CDP) ~ Thailand

19. Open Knowledge Foundation (OKF) ~ UK

20. IPLeft ~ South Korea

21. SAMADHAN ~ India

22. Jyotirmayee Mahila Samiti ~ India

23. Mahavir Yubak Sangh ~ India

24. Integrated Social Development Effort (ISDE) ~ Bangladesh

25. Luca Coscioni Association for Freedom of Scientific Research ~ Italy

26. Transnational Radical Party ~ International

27. Association Electronique Libre (AEL ASBL) ~ Belgium

28. Bytes For All ~ International

29. Committee for the Promotion of Public Awareness and Development Studies (COPPADES) ~ Nepal

30. SAARATHI ~ Bangalore

31. Bikash Bharati Welfare Society ~ India

32. Australian Digital Alliance ~ Australia

33. Australian Libraries’ Copyright Committee ~ Australia

34. Shakti Vahini ~ India

35. Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) ~ International

36. Heinrich-Boell-Foundation ~ Berlin, Germany

37. IP Charter ~ UK

38. South Africa Medical Research Council Library & Information Services ~ South Africa

39. Bibliothek und Information Deutschland (BID) ~ Germany

40. Association Informatio-Consortium ~ Kyiv, Ukraine

41. Consortium des Bibliothèques de l’Enseignement Superieur du Senegal (COBESS) ~ Senegal

42. Georgian Library Association ~ Tbilisi, Georgia

43. Albanian Library Association ~ Albania

44. Albanian Publishers Association ~ Albania

45. Albanian Libraries Consortium ~ Albania

46. Digital Imaging South Africa (DISA) ~ Natal, South Africa

47. National Electronic Information Consortium (NEICON) ~ Moscow, Russia

48. Foundation of Tertiary Institutions of the Northern Metropolis (FOTIM) ~ South Africa

49. Zimbabwe University Libraries Consortium ~ Zimbabwe

50. FreePress.net ~ USA

51. French-Speaking Association of the Users of Linux and Free-Software ~ International

52. Matseliso MOSHOESHOE-CHADZINGWA ~ Lesotho

53. Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure ~ International

54. Young Power in Social Action (YPSA) ~ Bangladesh

55. Korean Progressive Network Jinbonet ~ South Korea

56. INKLING ~ India

57. ICESA City Campus ~ South Africa

58. Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) ~ Australia

59. Flemish Association of Libraries, Archives and Documentation Centres ~ Belgium

60. Institute for Global Communications ~ International

61. Association for Progressive Communications Australia ~ Australia

62. Colnodo ~ Colombia

63. Greennet ~ UK

64. Instituto del Tercer Mundo (IteM) ~ Uruguay

65. Open Forum ~ Cambodia

66. Jeevan Sanstha ~ India

67. Sierra Leone Association of Archivists, Librarians and Information Scientists (SLAALIS) ~ Sierra Leone

68. Women’sNet – South Africa

69. World Blind Union ~ International

70. Serbian Academic Library Association ~ Serbia

71. Nederlandse Vereniging voor Beroepsbeoefenaren in de Informatie-, Bibliotheek- en Kennissector (NVB / The Dutch Librairians Organisation)

72. Laos Library and Information Consortium (LALIC)~ Laos

73. LACA: The Libraries and Archives Copyright Alliance ~ UK

74. Cambodian Electronic Information for Libraries Consortium (Cam-eIFL) ~ Cambodia

75. University of Swaziland

76. Bulgarian Information Consortium ~ Bulgaria

77. Library and Information Consortia of Kyrgyzstan ~ Kyrgystan

78. Information Network for the Third Sector (Rits) ~ Brazil

79. Unimondo ~ Italy

80. Zamirnet ~ Croatia

81. Fantsuam Foundation ~ Nigeria

82. Green Spider Foundation ~ Hungary

83. Community Education Computer Society (CECS)~ South Africa

84. Swiss Internet User Group (SIUG) ~ Switzerland

85. Privatkopie.net ~ Germany

86. Consortium of Uganda University Libraries (CUUL) ~ Uganda

87. Lithuanian Research Library Consortium ~ Lithuania

88. Lithuanian Librarians’ Association ~ Lithuania

89. Consortium of Slovenian Electronic Collections (COSEC) ~ Slovenia

90. American Association of Law Libraries ~ United States of America

91. Electronic Information for Libraries ­ Nigeria ~ Nigeria

92. Poznan Foundation of Scientific Libraries ~ Poland

93. Uzbekistan Library Association ~ Uzbekistan

94. Cameroon Consortium of Libraries in Higher Institution ~ Cameroon

95. European AIDS Treatment Group (EATG) ~ Belgium

96. OneWorld South East Europe (OWSEE) ~ The Balkans

97. Federation of Organisations in the field of Libraries, Information and Documentation (FOBID) ~ The Netherlands

98. Coalition of South African Library Consortia

99. European Bureau of Library, Information and Documentation Associations (EBLIDA) ~ The Netherlands

NGOs willing to sign this statement were asked to email Robin Gross at IP Justice, at robin@ipjustice.org with Tuesday, 19 July 2005 as the last date to be included in the printed version.