WIPO Didn’t Want The Pirate Party To Observe Its Efforts, But Happy To Include A Group Whose Mission Is To Battle Space Lizards

/wipo-didnt-want-pirate-party-to-observe

  • WIPO Didn’t Want The Pirate Party To Observe Its Efforts, But Happy To Include A Group Whose Mission Is To Battle Space Lizards

    https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20180528/21243939931/wipo-didnt-want-pirate-party-to-observe-efforts-happy-to-include-group-who

    You may recall five years ago how WIPO — the World Intellectual Property Organization, a UN body that is famous for its maximalist and expansionary approach to intellectual property — delayed and then rejected the Pirate Parties International request to become an “observer.” As we noted, the “observer” process is more or less a formality, and it’s pretty common to see everyone who applies get approved. So it was a bit odd that WIPO rejected the Pirates.

    And it’s even odder when you consider just who WIPO allowed in this year. As noted by Intellectual Property Watch, one of the organizations whose application was rubber-stamped this year to become a WIPO observer is that of the generically named “IP Centre.” However, that group’s website at the time that it was granted observer status claimed the following as its mission:

    Our mission

    As a global conspiracy investigation institution with a pioneering awareness raising model, our mission is to create an environment that brings together open-minded people, cultures and ideas from around the world, in order to free individuals and organizations from space lizards’ control.

    Let me just repeat that again. WIPO — which rejected the application of a political party for whom intellectual property is a central plank in its platform — instead approved a group whose stated mission on its website was to free us from “space lizards’ control.”.