The IP Observatory is already in place
Sparat under: English, informationspolitik — Christian Engström @ 20:14
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.
résumé du problème selon pers :
acte 1 : la commission européenne dit "tiens, on vous propose la chose suivante :
on va créer un observatoire européen des violations de "Propriété Intellectuelle", qu'en pensez-vous ?"
acte 2 : les députés européens se mettent au boulot, réfléchissent, discutent
... élaborent une proposition différente, plus aboutie, plus équitable
acte 3 : lesdits députés se rendent compte que pendant ce temps-là, ledit observatoire a *déjà* été lancé derrière leur dos
acte 4 : vous avez dit démocratie ?