Re: [Free-sklyarov-uk] [Fwd: [Patents] European Consitution]

[Jozef Halbersztadt <halber@idea.net.pl>]

Andrew Rendle wrote:

> > Proposed rough draft of the second paragraph:
> > The public domain, copyright, patents and the other exclusion rights
> > each one in own way are crucial to innovations, the spread of knowledge and 
> > culture, the access to our past, and promotion of the Progress of Science and 
> > Art. The law should guard a balance between support of free competition, 
> > public domain and protection of the Intellectual Production Rights as 
> > copyright and patents.
> >
> >    
>
> (CC'ed to patents, apologies if this creates a completely screwed up
> subject line)
> I see two practical problems here:
> 1. That entire section is a direct copy & paste of another document
> (http://db.consilium.eu.int/df/docs/en/CharteEN.pdf) and so they would
> be unlikely to make any changes to it:
> "The basic starting point underlying the [working group on the Charter
> of Fundamental Rights of the European Union]'s conclusions on the
> Charter is that the content of the Charter represented a consensus
> reached by the previous Convention, a body which had special expertise
> in fundamental rights and served as model for the present Convention,
> and endorsed by the Nice European Council. The whole Charter - including its statements of 
> rights and principles, its preamble and, as a crucial element, its "general 
> provisions" - should be respected by this Convention and not be re-opened by it."
> (http://register.consilium.eu.int/pdf/en/02/cv00/00354en2.pdf)
Here is a real problem.

> 2. Time - the final meetings are tomorrow and friday, so we're leaving
> it very late to try to get changes made
They are only final meetings of the convention. The constitution must be 
accepted by a special InterGovernmental Conference, by parliaments. In 
some countries probably by a referendum. The public debate is only starting.

JH