Free culture leader and Harvard University law professor Larry Lessig was at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) yesterday to talk about access to scientific knowledge on the internet. In the symbolic place where the World Wide Web was invented and where scientists are now trying to unravel the creation of the universe, Lessig praised CERN’s open access initiative and in this temple of reasoning, said the copyright architecture was on the edge of absurdity.
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Biodiversity and climate change issues are coming together under the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), according to a new working paper from the University of Edinburgh. The CBD is engaged in questions relating to climate change, it found. In particular, the CBD has progressively addressed legal and policy implications of the impacts on biodiversity of climate change, as well as mitigation and adaptation measures.
Having successfully advanced discussions toward treaties on the protection of folklore and traditional knowledge, country experts this week are meeting at the World Intellectual Property Organization to discuss the protection of genetic resources. But this time, it might prove trickier.
Influential copyright scholar Larry Lessig yesterday issued a call for the World Intellectual Property Organization to lead an overhaul of the copyright system which he says does not and never will make sense in the digital environment. A functioning copyright system must provide the incentives needed for creative professionals, but must also protect the freedoms necessary for scientific research and amateur creativity to flourish.
a new paper by MICHAEL C. CALVER AND J. STUART BRADLEY published in the volume 24 issue 3 of the Conservation Biology comparing the number of citations of open access and non-open access papers in six journals and four books published since 2000 to test whether open access increases number of citations overall and increases citations made by authors in developing countries.
Creative Commons is investing up to $100,000 to empower individuals and communities deeply rooted in the principles of openness and sharing. With the Catalyst Grants program, Creative Commons will seed activities around the globe that support our mission. Our goal is to scale our community’s efforts and support them in becoming self-sustainable. Through a rigorous public review and transparent evaluation process, the best proposals submitted by CC affiliates and the broader community, will be selected to receive $1,000–$10,000 to make their ideas a reality.
Intellectual property rights and access to medicines were on the agenda at the first day of a biotechnology industry group’s annual convention yesterday. The group held a panel on IP rights and also released a policy statement on access to medicine in developing countries. The director of the US Patent and Trademark Office commented positively on the initiative. The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO)’s 
The Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP, Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, was in Cambridge this month to give the inaugural The Cambridge Conservation Initiative (CCI) Guest Lecture. Mr Benn welcomed the creation of The Cambridge Conservation Initiative as a key player in helping to evaluate and communicate the importance of ecosystems and biodiversity. He stressed the need to articulate clearly the science, and specifically the numbers, that show how ecosystems underpin economic prosperity, and to act on the economic opportunities that biodiversity conservation offers. 
