Topic: Wipo

The Obama administration has signed the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) in secret. A WIPO official suggests that if the World Wide Web had been patented, it could have funded more research. The hosts discuss the history of the saxophone patent from 1842 as a contrast to modern rigid patent systems.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is suing the US government to reveal the contents of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). The treaty is criticized for its lack of transparency, with concerns that it may contain restrictive patent and copyright provisions that bypass public oversight.