Via: "=?UTF-8?Q?Frederick_Noronha?= =?UTF-8?Q?_[=E0=A5=9E=E0=A4=B0?= =?UTF-8?Q?=E0=A5=87=E0=A4=A6=E0=A4=B0=E0=A4=BF=E0=A4=95?= =?UTF-8?Q?_=E0=A4=A8=E0=A5=8B=E0=A4=B0?= =?UTF-8?Q?=E0=A5=8B=E0=A4=A8=E0=A4=AF=E0=A4=BE]?="
Moser Baer seeks to vacate stay against using movie products
Chennai | July 29, 2008 11:35:05 PM IST
http://news.webindia123.com/news/articles/Business/20080729/1013140.html
Entertainment major Moser Baer has sought to vacate a Madras High
Court stay issued against the company from using 12 movie products,
sources told IANS Tuesday.
"The products are all old and were sold to us properly. It is quite a
common thing that small timers obtain stays which are routinely
vacated subsequently. Further, we too have obtained similar orders
against the same plaintiff, K.P. Ravindran, in the Delhi High Court,"
a Moser Baer spokesman said.
Justice V. Ramasubramanian while hearing the petition Monday
restrained till further orders Moser Baer from selling the 12 films
against which a dispute has been raised, petitioner's lawyers said.
The Rs.40 billion Moser Baer is producing many south Indian films in
collaboration with several producers and exhibitors. The audio of
"Raman Thediya Seethai", a forthcoming venture, is scheduled for a
Wednesday release, the ciompany's publicists said.ap/tsv/am/vt
(165 Words)29072241NNNN (IANS)
Via: Sunil Abraham
-------- Forwarded Message --------
From: Frederick [FN] Noronha * फ्रेडरिक नोरोन्या
Reply-To: asia-commons@googlegroups.com
To: asia-commons@googlegroups.com
Subject: WIPO calls on India to sign Internet treaties on copyright
Date: Fri, 25 Jul 2008 14:04:33 +0530
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blnus/15151701.htm
WIPO calls on India to sign Internet treaties on copyright
GENEVA: The World Intellectual Organisation (WIPO) on Tuesday called
on India to become a signatory to the two Internet treaties which will
provide for global protection of the rights of copyright holders,
performers and producers of phonograms.
The WIPO Copyrights Treaty and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms
Treaty, collectively termed as Internet Treaties, were negotiated in
1996 under the auspices of WIPO. But India is yet to sign them.
"India has got huge information, film and entertainment industries.
For its own benefit, the country must become a signatory to the two
treaties. It would ensure a strong protection about the use of
creative works on the world wide web not only in that c ountry but
also abroad,'' Director of Copyright Law at WIPO Jorgen Savy Blomqvist
told PTI here.
With Internet, web piracy is also fast gaining grounds in the world.
As Indian products generate big money in that country and in the
overseas, signing the treaties would ensure that producers of creative
works in India get their fair share of income the products generate
abroad, the Director said.
It will provide an enormous boost to India's cultural and creative
industries. Through digital networks, that country's music, art,
literature, and folklore can reach new markets throughout the world,
and be delivered directly to paying customers around the globe,'' he
said. - PTI
Via: "Patrice Riemens"
bwo Hippies from Hell list/ Marius de Pijper
It's now 1 year old almost, but typical.
If someone knows how it ended..?
Original at:
http://www.thetimes.co.za/PrintEdition/News/Article.aspx?id=580773
(The Times South Africa)
Drug companies looting SAs bounty of medicinal plants
Bobby Jordan Published:Oct 07, 2007
GERMANE: Elizabeth Nkqayi, 73, holds up a pelargonium root Picture: GARY
HORLOR
When they come they are just like thieves, stealing the indigenous
knowledge
State to protect shrubs, and traditional healers rights
The government has stepped in to save a tiny South African plant from
extinction after hundreds of tons were harvested for foreign drug
companies, one of which has patented its use to fight HIV/Aids.
Now traditional healers, who have used the plant for centuries, are trying
to win back the patent which they claim is rightfully theirs.
The matter has become so heated that the Eastern Cape government has
banned all further harvesting of the plant pelargonium part of the
geranium family until further notice.
But illegal harvesting of pelargonium, also known as umckaloabo and
klawerbossie, continues in the hills around Grahamstown and Alicedale and
has led to dozens of arrests, according to Eastern Cape researchers.
Now the Department of Environmental Affairs has decided to review all
biological prospecting projects to make sure they conform to new
regulations that protect the commercial rights of traditional healers.
The pelargonium tug of war will be discussed next week in Canada at a
special United Nations working group meeting on biopiracy and
biodiversity.
At the heart of the row are three drug patents granted to German drug firm
ISO Arzneimittel for the use of extracts from pelargonium to treat a wide
range of diseases and symptoms such as pain, fatigue, depression, insomnia
and all Aids-related infections such as tuberculosis, herpes and
pneumonia. But traditional healers say they have been using the plant to
treat some of these conditions for hundreds of years.
ISO Arzneimittel has now reserved the right to apply for a South African
pelargonium patent on the use of extracts of the plant to treat HIV/Aids.
If successful it would stop South African companies using the plant to
develop medicine to fight the pandemic. This means the company could make
billions out of a plant that South Africans have harvested for centuries.
ISO Arzneimittel, linked to giant German drug company Schwabe
Pharmaceuticals, has teamed up with South African firm Parceval
Pharmaceuticals, which has a permit to harvest pelargonium.
Extracts of the plant are contained in homeopathic remedies and sold in
Germany as Umckaloabo and in America as Umcka.
Existing patent law makes no provision for traditional knowledge, although
this is likely to change.
In what is seen as a significant step towards patent reform, a group of
community leaders near Alicedale in the Eastern Cape this week appointed
legal advisers to help protect their traditional knowledge of pelargonium,
which they say has started to disappear from the wild due to commercial
demand.
The move has also sparked a fierce backlash against the pharmaceutical
companies from South Africas Traditional Healers Organisation and
environmentalists, who now want ISO Arzneimittels patents revoked.
I grew up knowing that this plant is very important, said Nomthumzi
Sizani, spokesman for the Eastern Cape group. T he community wants to
stop [companies] from saying they were the first to know that this
medicine is important, because we grew up knowing that.
She said it was unfair for a foreign company to make millions while
unemployed villagers earned only R4 per kilo of pelargonium: When the
buyers come they are like thieves, just stealing the indigenous
knowledge, Sizani said.
Patent experts said these issues would be addressed by at least two new
laws which will soon be tabled in South Africa.
Currently, foreign companies do not have to enter into community-sharing
agreements with communities if they develop medicines based on traditional
knowledge. Although a plant may not be patented, any company can patent
extracts of a plant or a new use for plant extracts if they can prove they
are the first to discover this use, experts said.
Rich foreign companies have snapped up hundreds of patents this way
despite ongoing protests from traditional healers who do not have the
resources to compete.
ISO Arzneimittel could not be reached for comment this week. However their
South African partner, Parceval, said the German companys patents did not
clash with traditional use of the plant.
Parceval spokesman Ulrich Feiter said: The patents cover only one certain
preparation and not pelargonium in general. Pelargonium is used by a
number of companies, in South Africa and elsewhere, and they have not been
challenged by the patent holder in any way.
But traditional healers say they dont believe the company should qualify
for any patents at all because it did not discover its powerful
properties. Its a view shared by some environmental groups fighting for
social justice, including the African Centre for Biosafety (ACB).
ACB director Mariam Mayet said: Just because the traditional healers
didnt write down the chemical formula, doesnt mean they didnt know all
about the plant and how it could be used.
According to an ACB report, pelargonium was discovered in 1897 by a
mechanic from Birmingham who sought medical advice from a Basotho healer.
The plants were later tested in Europe and, after studies at the
University of Munich, some of their biological properties were patented by
ISO Arzneimittel in 2002.
Pelargonium is one of dozens of South African plants being targeted by
drug companies eager to develop new medicines. Other plants successfully
targeted in recent years include sutherlandia and hoodia, a succulent
plant used by San communities to suppress appetite and thirst on long
hunting journeys.
Via: namita
A funny scene from the IT crowd (brit television series) where two guys
are watching the anti piracy ad at the theatre.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTbX1aMajow
Via: Lawrence Liang
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Local_News&subsection=Qatar+News&month=July2008&file=Local_News2008071243820.xml
Enterprising workers turn hawkers on weekends
Web posted at: 7/12/2008 4:38:20
Source ::: The Peninsula / By Suddep Sonawane
*Doha ? A few dare-devil workers from the low-income group turn hawkers
on weekends and sell pirated CDs and DVDs illegally in some areas of Doha.
*
One such popular spot where many low-income workers congregate and where
this illegal business is done is the green square, dotted with trees,
off the Grand Hamad Street at the HBK signal (Old Toyota signal) junction.
"There are some who are keen to make money. They sell audio and video
CDs and DVDs and many labourers buy since they are sold very cheap,"
said one worker hanging around in the area. The audio CDs are sold for
QR2, VCDs for QR3 and DVDs for QR5, according to him.
The pirated copies of audio CDs and video CDs or DVDs are mostly from
the Asian entertainment world. Those featuring latest Bollywood films
and songs move quickly from the makeshift shops, which are little more
than a mat spread out under a tree or in some other convenient location
with shade. There is demand for movie CDs from other regions too.
"Many workers from Industrial Area, Al Khor, Wakra and even from far-off
places like Dukhan regularly assemble at some popular public areas in
the city," said one worker who could communicate articulately. "They can
do nothing much on weekends as they cannot afford to entertain
themselves at expensive restaurants or buy things available in malls, so
they come to such places and buy these CDs to entertain themselves in
their camps."
"Most workers arrive here in Karwa buses or in private vehicles and
exchange notes on their friends and families back home," said another
man hanging around at Grand Hamad Street. "So these spots are a good
place for those who are brave enough to sell these film CDs."
Pirated CDs and VCDs can be watched on cheap unbranded players,
available at less than QR100. These players do not have inbuilt features
that prevent them from playing pirated CDs. Many workers living in
labour camps own such cheap DVD players that play pirated copies. This
completes the grey market circle of buyer and seller.
