EFF: Broad Coalition Urges Obama to Diversify IP Appointments

Electronic Frontier Foundation Media Release

For Immediate Release: Thursday, April 02, 2009

Contact:

Fred von Lohmann
   Senior Intellectual Property Attorney
   Electronic Frontier Foundation
   fred@eff.org
   +1 415 436-9333 x123 (office), +1 415 215-6087 (cell)

Broad Coalition Urges Obama to Diversify IP Appointments

EFF and Others Call for New Offices to Promote Innovation

Washington, D.C. - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)
has joined a broad coalition of public interest groups and
trade associations calling for President Obama to diversify
future appointments to intellectual property policy
positions and create new offices devoted to promoting
innovation and free expression.

In all, 19 organizations signed the letter to the
president, spearheaded by Washington D.C.-based non-profit
Public Knowledge.  The coalition includes the Consumer
Electronics Association, the American Library Association,
and the Wikimedia Foundation.

Several of the president's recent appointees to positions
that oversee intellectual property policy have represented
the recording industry or other industries that support
overly broad IP protection.  But many positions with IP
policy responsibilities have not yet been filled.  In the
letter sent today, the coalition urges the administration
to appoint individuals representing the diversity of
stakeholders involved in IP issues.

"Innovators, artists, and the increasingly participatory
public are all deeply invested in the future of America's
intellectual property policy," said EFF Senior Intellectual
Property Attorney Fred von Lohmann.  "For example, thousands
of remix videos are posted to YouTube every day, and they
are already an important part of political debate and
artistic expression in the 21st century.  America needs
policymakers who will protect new tools and new artistic
works."

The coalition also calls on the president to create new
positions at the Patent and Trademark Office, the United
States Trade Representative, and the Department of State
dedicated to promoting innovation and advancing the cause
of progress in sciences and the useful arts.

"While the content industry plays a significant role in our
economy, so too do the creators of technology and their
force of innovation," said Gigi B. Sohn, president and
co-founder of Public Knowledge.  "And while we recognize
the rights of corporate content creators, we might also
recognize the rights of consumers lawfully to create their
own works and to use their own digital media.  It's that
balance the Administration needs to recognize."

For the full letter to President Obama:
http://www.eff.org/files/filenode/obamaIPcoalitionletter.pdf

For this release:
http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2009/04/02

About EFF

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading civil
liberties organization working to protect rights in the
digital world. Founded in 1990, EFF actively encourages and
challenges industry and government to support free
expression and privacy online. EFF is a member-supported
organization and maintains one of the most linked-to
websites in the world at http://www.eff.org/

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