The IP Observatory
In the legal affairs committee JURI in the European Parliament, we have been discussing an initiative by the EU Commission to set up an ”IP Observatory” that should monitor and combat all kinds of intellectual property infringements, from commercial goods counterfeiting to kids downloading films and music. Right now, we are in the process of drafting a resolution, known as the Gallo report, on the subject.
During these discussions, I have been under the impression that this was something that was not yet decided, and the reason we were spending time in the parliament on these discussions was to influence a future decision.
This turns out to be completely wrong.
The IP Observatory has already been set up and has started working.
Here is the home page of the IP Observatory. Some quotes from it:
What is the European Observatory on Counterfeiting and Piracy?
The Observatory has been launched to:
- improve the quality of information and statistics related to counterfeiting and piracy on the Internal Market of the EU
- identify and spread national best practice strategies and enforcement techniques from both the public as well as the private sector
- help raise public awareness.
The Observatory is focused on active delivery and as such, it has already commenced work in a number of key areas. As an example, the Commission has carried out an exercise to identify structures and frameworks currently in place to combat IP infringements, within Member States. Private stakeholders have been keen to offer advice and assistance on developing the study work.
Three initial subgroups have been created within the Observatory. The topics of the subgroups are surrounding data gathering, existing legal frameworks and public awareness. Subgroup participants are already providing reports and studies to help in the functioning of the Observatory, and have committed to do so in the future.
……
Who is participating in the work of the Observatory?
The Observatory is composed of members from both the private and public sectors.Private industry representatives from a broad range of European and national associations, regularly engaged and experienced in fighting counterfeiting and piracy, were invited to represent a wide diversity of sectors and geographical areas. These participants have also been invited to contribute to specialised working groups.
In respect of public sector representatives, Member States have designated national representatives to take part. Member States were asked to nominate representatives who have established relations with private industry and share a common know-how in fighting counterfeiting and piracy. The national representatives also have broad experience in internal and external coordination and are familiar with the design of consumer awareness-raising activities.
……
How is the work delivered?
The day-to-day work is coordinated and driven by the European Commission and appointed external contractors.
Regular meetings involving private sector participants, national representatives and external experts are taking place. Alongside these meetings, technical working groups are set up to work on specific issues and deliver practical results.
An annual Observatory report will also be published.
So much for the involvement of the European Parliament on this issue. We have been invited to hold an exchange of views in the JURI committee, and we are currently spending time on drafting a resolution on if and how the IP Observatory should be set up.
But before we (the parliament) were invited to join the discussion, the decision had already been taken, and the IP Observatory had already been set up and started working. It’s just that the representative of the Commission forgot to mention this detail when she was presenting the initiative to the JURI committee.
Isn’t it funny how things work in this Union they call democratic?
If you have any questions about the IP Observatory, the home page says you can mail them to markt-iprobservatory@ec.europa.eu
Please feel free to do so.
…………
Previous posts on the IP Observatory:
More fun from EU’s new IP Observatory — and not (January 29, 2010)
IP Observatory in JURI (November 10, 2009)
Varuförfalskningar och piratkopiering i JURI (October 6, 2009)
Korporativt organ för fildelarjakt i EU (April 2, 2009)
…………
Andra bloggar om: piratpartiet, eu, politik, informationspolitik
Christian Engström, former Member of the European Parliament 2009-2014 for Piratpartiet, Sweden
Christian Engström, Pirat 
Är det bara jag som blir en smula förvirrad av nedanstående citat, oj – hoppsan! – nu fattar jag. Kronologin är ju bakvänd. September kommer innan april, eller?
”Policy Background
On 11 September 2009 the Commission adopted a Communication on Enhancing the enforcement of intellectual property rights in the internal market (see in particular chapter 2 on the creation of the Observatory)
On 2 April 2009 the Commission launched the European Observatory on Counterfeiting and Piracy.”
Källa: http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/iprenforcement/observatory/index_en.htm#policy
Kommentar av infallsvinkel — 8 februari 2010 @ 21:11
”I Herredagsmän faren icke så fort
Vad göras skall, är allaredan gjort”
Så på Karl XI:s tid, så ock idag.
Kommentar av viktualiebroder — 8 februari 2010 @ 21:12
Thanks for the heads-up, Christian. I have emailed the IP Observatory, curious about (quote from email):
”I am writing to you as an EU citizen.
Can you please elaborate on how the IP Observatory will benefit me and other citizens?
Please do not involve any financial aspects in the response, as any financial benefits of IP per se are highly questionable from a society perspective, which is why I am only interested in other aspects that give huge benefits to our hundreds of millions of EU citizens.
I am looking forward to your response.”
It would of course also be of interest how citizen’s views are collected and honoured on how EU should be ”fighting counterfeiting and piracy”, for example through reducing protections that aren’t accepted by the majority of intellectual, unbiased citizens.
Kommentar av Jakob — 8 februari 2010 @ 21:55
Hur definierar IP Observatory begrep som piracy och counterfitting?
Det känns som att det vid tillfällen blandats lite för snabbt i leken med den typen av begrep. Alltså handlar piracy om kopiering för eget bruk eller om kopiering i kommersiellt syfte?
Kommentar av Micke — 8 februari 2010 @ 21:57
”Counterfeiting” är ”varuförfalskningar”, alltså falska Gucci-väskor, falska Marlboro-cigg och falsk Viagra som man köper på nätet. Det är en vedertagen term i juridiska kretsar, så det är inget att säga om.
”Piracy” har däremot ingen juridisk innebörd alls (om man inte pratar sjörätt), utan är bara ett påhittat ord. Jag skriver om det i inlägget Varuförfalskningar och piratkopiering i JURI, och konstaterar att kommissionen definierar ”piracy” till att betyda upphovsrättsintrång i en fotnot på sidan tre i den ursprungliga kommunikationen.
Man kan ju tycka att alla de välutbildade juristerna på kommissionen skulle klara av att stava till ”non-commercial copyright infringements”, som det heter egentligen, men eftersom det inte har samma känslomässiga klang väljer de att prata lite barnspråk och kalla det för ”piracy” istället. Men det är alltså det de menar.
Kommentar av Christian Engström — 8 februari 2010 @ 22:09
Hmmmm, staten och kapitalet …….dum,de, dum …….. den ena handen vet precis vad den andra gör………
har ni nån spanare i kommissionens korridorer?
Kommentar av anders e — 8 februari 2010 @ 23:17
Nu är det här visserligen off topic men den här gången är det faktiskt berättigat:
ETT STORT GRATTIS PÅ 50-ÅRSDAGEN, CHRISTIAN!
Hoppas att du får en trevlig födelsedag med inte allt för mycket jobb nere i Bryssel och att du snart kan komma hem till Sverige och bli firad av din familj! Du gör ett kanonjobb, Christian!
Kommentar av Adam Eltér — 8 februari 2010 @ 23:40
Ja det vore ju önskvärt att de skrev ut vad de faktiskt menade, men det är väl för mycket begärt 🙂
Grattis på 50 årsdagen förresten!
Kommentar av Micke — 8 februari 2010 @ 23:57
Infallsvinkel: Det beror på att lobbyisterna är sådana bakåtsträvare. 😉
Målet för dem är att vrida tillbaks klockan till för längesedan…
Grattis förresten Christian! Visste ej du fyllde år idag 🙂
Kommentar av gastlind — 9 februari 2010 @ 0:19
Grattis på 50-årsdagen!
Kommentar av Sjöholm — 9 februari 2010 @ 0:22
Christian har såklart rätt i detta inlägg men syftet med mitt inlägg är att skriva GRATTIS hehe, 50bast är coolt o du är o förblir våran supermanhjälte 🙂 Ha det bäst o taca mannen ;-)) Hurra Hurra Hurra Hurra!
Kommentar av LIGIZT — 9 februari 2010 @ 3:15
OFF TOPIC.
Happy Birthday.
Regards//AV
Kommentar av AquaVera — 9 februari 2010 @ 7:07
Grattis Christian!
Kommentar av dinsyrra — 9 februari 2010 @ 8:44
Om man nu ska hålla sig till sjörövartermer så tycker jag att hela IP Obeservatory ska ut på plankan!
och GRATTIS Christian!
Kommentar av Anders — 9 februari 2010 @ 9:01
OT!
Grattis på dagen!
Tack för ett strålande jobb du gör!
Kommentar av Johannes — 9 februari 2010 @ 9:14
IP-Observatoriet är en tydlig illustration över det demokratiska tomrummet i hjärtat av EU. Lyssna på den märkliga historien om hur detta demokratiska tomrum uppstod hos UR.
Och grattis på födelsedagen Christian!
Kommentar av V — 9 februari 2010 @ 9:56
UR-streaming verkar funka dåligt med firefox. Här är en direktlänk till streaming strömmen av programmet.
Kommentar av V — 9 februari 2010 @ 10:03
Se punkt 15 i denna rådsresolution från september 2008:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2008:253:0001:0002:SV:PDF
Kommentar av Anonym — 9 februari 2010 @ 11:09
IP Observatory var väl inte någon kul födelsedagspresent precis.
Jag litar på att du fortsätter stå i fronten och kämpa mot dessa
odemokratiska tilltag.
Grattis på födelsedagen Christian !
Kommentar av Hans D — 9 februari 2010 @ 11:22
Heder åt dig som jobbar för oss även på din 50-årsdag. Grattis!
Kommentar av Pär L — 9 februari 2010 @ 11:38
Grattis på födelsedagen Christian!
Och lycka till med att reda ut vad som är vad i denna soppan.
Man undrar hur mycket ”monitoring” de sysslar med nu och
vill syssla med i framtiden?
Kommentar av Zohajar Imamou — 9 februari 2010 @ 12:25
First and intentionally off topic, Congratulations, Christian! Many sincere voices are wishing you a well-deserved, Happy birthday today.
Since I shared the meat of my email to the IP Observatory about a day ago (# 3. above), I believe I should also post the response that I have today received. I was pleasantly surprised by the citizen-oriented short response time. Content-wise, it’s better than normal EU level, but still raises some question marks. Response follows as quoted below.
”Thank you for contacting us in respect of the EU Observatory on counterfeiting and piracy. It may help if I provide some background as to why this initiative was launched.
Most European and international enforcement institutions including Europol, Interpol and UNICRI now recognize that counterfeiting and piracy is a constantly expanding illegal activity and that organized crime is greatly attracted by its high profitability. Indeed the main reasons lying behind organized crime’s interest in counterfeiting are the huge profits that can be derived from this illicit activity (estimated by UNICRI to be at least equal to those attainable from drug trafficking). However, there has also been a comparatively low level of risk that criminals face when they commit this crime. In all then, it has been seen to be low risk – high profit form of crime, with huge potential as a source of funding for other criminal activities and as a safe method to launder money.
The global fight against counterfeiting suffers on a number of grounds such as effective collaboration across borders and a distorted public perception of the crime. For years counterfeiting has been considered as an economic crime that was having little real effect on society, as it has only affected large companies. As a result, it has often been labelled as a ‘victimless crime’. Consequently it enjoyed a high and unjustified degree of tolerance. Indeed this tolerance has facilitated the huge diffusion of this crime as consumers have been unaware of its links, threats and actual impact. This has resulted in relatively undisturbed illicit, global industry.
Unfortunately, within the the production and delivery process of fake products, human rights and ethics are often disregarded with severe consequences. Examples have been found where slave or child labour has been used to access raw materials. Moreover, children have been found to be employed in the production facilities, in terrible conditions and using unsuitable or even toxic raw materials.
In reality, organized criminals have found a huge source of money in counterfeiting and piracy that is often used to fund other illicit activities and there are documented cases in which counterfeiting has been linked to drug trafficking and other anti social crimes.
In recent times, consumers and the public at large have been increasingly exposed to a series of direct risks and threats, as a result of counterfeit products. In many cases, they are often unaware of the hazards. Counterfeiters have little conscience and their products have infiltrated medicines, toys, electrical components, spare parts, food and beverages. Clearly they pose a direct and serious threat to public health and safety. Furthermore, since organized crime is the real driver of counterfeiting and piracy, buying products that apparently do not pose any harm to the public such as luxury goods or CDs and DVDs often result in a financial contribution to organized crime’s illicit activities, which ultimately brings associated international crime closer to everyone’s doors.
As a multifaceted problem, counterfeiting requires a multi-disciplinary approach and the Observatory has been set up to address many of the issues raised above. It is brings together experts form Government, enforcement, industry (including small and medium sized companies) and key European consumer groups.
Amongst a range of activities the Observatory will:
· improve the collection and use of independent, reliable information and data. This means that we will develop detailed information on the true scope, scale and impact of the problem, which can be used to to drive evidence-based enforcement strategies and to target precious enforcement resources more effectively
· promote and spread best practice amongst authorities. In this way we can ensure that the successes we achieve are used elsewhere across the EU and potentially to combat other forms of crime.
· Foster greater public awareness, particularly of those products that will affect health and safety.
The Observatory is being run from existing Commission services.
I hope this goes someway to answering your question. However, the societal issues surrounding counterfeiting and piracy are extremely wide and complex. There are many reports and studies in existence. The last report by the OECD goes someway to describing the issues and effects and may provide useful material. Attached is also a link to the World Health Organisation IMPACT Group, fighting fake medicines
http://www.oecd.org/document/50/0,3343,en_2649_34173_39542514_1_1_1_1,00.html
http://www.who.int/impact/resources/ImpactBrochure.pdf”
Kommentar av Jakob — 9 februari 2010 @ 23:41
Still, I urge you to adopt a response to the communication from the Commission which is as strongly worded as possible, and draws clear lines for what is important to strike down and what is not.
Kommentar av Johan Tjäder — 10 februari 2010 @ 1:39
Also, where does the Commission get funding for the IP Observatory. It had to be approved somewher, or?
Kommentar av Johan Tjäder — 10 februari 2010 @ 1:40
Lustigt hur Observatoriet, i sitt svar i Jakobs inlägg ovan, talar sig varm om problematiken i ”counterfeiting” men inte nämner ett ord om vad ”piracy” vare sig är eller gör. Den senare termen bara nämns ibland i förbigående med den förra. Lustigt.
Kommentar av Hasse — 11 februari 2010 @ 14:30
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Hasse:
Jag tänkte också på det. De försöker lura folk med association att piracy skulle ha något med counterfeiting att göra, att det skulle vara ens i närheten av liknande ekonomiska processer, men det är ju naturligtvis helt felaktigt. Counterfeiting har med fysiska produkter att göra. Piracy med digital immateria.
Kommentar av gastlind — 16 februari 2010 @ 10:24