On April 26, 2010, WIPO celebrates both the 10th anniversary of World Intellectual Property Day and the 40th anniversary of the entry into force of the Convention establishing WIPO (the WIPO Convention).

The theme of World IP Day in this celebratory year is “Innovation – Linking the World”.

Relatively few decades ago, the world remained vast and largely unknown for most people. Travel was costly and long. Knowledge was paper-based and hard to share. Telephone service was, in many places, non-existent. Outside of large cities, access to foreign culture and the arts was limited.

Rapid innovation and its global adoption has transformed our outlook. We are now linked – physically, intellectually, socially and culturally – in ways that were impossible to imagine. We can cross continents in a few hours. From almost anywhere on the planet, we can access information, see and speak to each other, select music, and take and send photographs, using a device small enough to fit in the palm of a hand.

This universal connectivity, sustained by the Web and wireless technology, has huge implications for the future. With the “death of distance”, we are no longer limited by physical location – and the benefits are legion.

Web-based learning frees intellectual potential in previously isolated communities, helping to reduce the knowledge gap between nations. Sophisticated video-conferencing techniques reduce business travel, diminishing our carbon footprint. Mobile telephony, already used by over half the world’s population, transforms lives and communities: Solar powered mobiles are helping track disease, run small businesses, and coordinate disaster relief in areas previously out of reach.

Rapid data management and exchange speed the innovation cycle, facilitating collective innovation and promoting mutually beneficial collaboration between companies, research institutions and individuals. At the same time, digital technologies are enabling like-minded people to create virtual platforms from which to work on common projects and goals – such as WIPO’s web-based stakeholders’ platform, aimed at facilitating access to copyrighted content for the estimated 314 million persons with visual and print disabilities world wide.

Innovative technologies are creating a truly global society. The intellectual property system is part of this linking process. It facilitates the sharing of information – such as the wealth of technological know-how contained in WIPO’s free data banks. It provides a framework for trading and disseminating technologies. It offers incentives to innovate and compete. It helps structure the collaboration needed to meet the daunting global challenges, such as climate change and spiraling energy needs, confronting us all.

WIPO is dedicated to ensuring that the intellectual property system continues to serve its most fundamental purpose of encouraging innovation and creativity; and that the benefits of the system are accessible to all – helping to bring the world closer.

(http://www.wipo.int/)

TechCrunch.com
Wednesday, November 12, 2008; 4:47 AM

Copyright watchdog Recording Association of Vietnam (RIAV) has reportedly filed a $3 million lawsuit against FPT Telecom and Nokia Vietnam for violating intellectual property rights. RIAV, which represents 60 music production companies throughout Vietnam, is suing both companies over allegations of copyright infringement of recorded music.

Earlier this month, RIAV said that it was going to initiate a lawsuit against FPT Telecom for sharing recorded music over the internet via its website, Nhac So, and using copyrighted material on FPT Telecom’s internet television service, IPTV. After a failed attempt for a settlement between the two companies, RIAV also filed a suit against Nokia Vietnam for allowing its customers to download 1,000 copyrighted songs from a 10,466 song database through Nhac So.

Nokia sent a letter to the RIAV last week, pointing its finger at FPT Telecom. According to the company, FPT admitted to them that it may not have the necessary rights for all of the music content on their website, although they had previously confirmed to Nokia that they did have the legal rights for the complete music content on their website.

In response, RIAV said that it recognizes Nokia?s goodwill but affirmed that Nokia is trying to avoid its responsibility.

This suit raises lots of questions. The most important being: If Nokia is distributing music in Vietnam, why is it relying on third-party licensing deals instead of striking global licensing deals itself?

We have an e-mail in with Nokia for more information and will update the post ASAP.

CIS represent for RIAV in this case.

Washington Post

Original Link: here