Ge-BAC is suspending active project team participation within UN/CEFACT
Saturday, June 10 2004 @ 06:02 PM GMT
Ge-BAC believes that all participants involved in
advancing the UN/CEFACT work program should be afforded a
“safe-harbor” working environment that respects both the
rights of those participants as well as their
contributions. In order to achieve this we believe the
United Nations must be able to provide a transparent and
accessible process supported by an Intellectual Property
Rights (IPR) policy that is publicly available, not
oppressively burdensome and legally enforceable.
Ge-BAC was saddened to learn that the UN/CEFACT Plenary was
unable to advance this issue during its recent May session.
As a result, we understand that the previous status remains
unchanged and that neither the United Nations nor UN/CEFACT
is able to provide a published IPR policy that is
applicable to the work conducted within UN/CEFACT and its
Groups.
As a result of the lack of any policy statement that can be evaluated by our legal advisors we concur with the potential risks and exposure identified by Mr. David Marsh, UN/CEFACT Legal Rapporteur, during his presentation at the May Plenary session.
Accordingly, Ge-BAC had no alternative, after receiving legal counsel, but to inform the UNECE and CEFACT Chair that it is suspending all active project team participation by its employees within UN/CEFACT and its Groups. They will however continue to fulfill their administrative duties as TMG elected officers until the upcoming Forum in McLean (13 – 17 September 2004).
Further, legal counsel has advised that Ge-BAC should suspend its hosting services for the TMG and BCF web sites as well as the TMG list server in order to avoid legal challenges related to the ownership and distribution rights of the IP reflected in the content of all online material. We regret this action, but as a small company we must avoid all unwarranted potential legal actions.
At such time as the UNECE can successfully provide IPR policy documentation, Ge-BAC will evaluate the acceptability of that policy to our business operations and continued participation in UN/CEFACT activities.
We sincerely hope the UNECE senior management
appreciates the value of work conducted by UN/CEFACT and
its Groups and recognizes the critical importance of
providing an effective and realistic IPR policy that would
permit the continued progression of that work. We further
encourage the UNECE to provide this information at the
earliest opportunity. Otherwise, we fear for the loss of
momentum and interest by those involved in supporting the
UN/CEFACT work environment.
Respectfully,
Klaus-Dieter Naujok
UN/CEFACT/TMG Chair