After signing an international petition urging the WIPO to open its doors to non-governmental organisations for the important debates on developing an alternative development agenda, European Digital Rights was awarded last-minute ad hoc accreditation on 11 April 2005. The German DRM-expert Volker Grassmuck was able to make a statement on behalf of EDRI during a special Inter-sessional Inter-governmental Meeting (IIM) from 11-15 April 2005.

Grassmuck concentrated on the conflict between the circumvention protection of DRM and copyright exceptions. Article 11 of the WIPO Copyright Treaty obligates Members to "provide adequate legal protection and effective legal remedies against the circumvention of effective technological measures." Many WIPO Members, including most European countries have therefore introduced anti-circumvention provisions into their national laws. While in Europe recently some interesting balances have been struck by governments, for example the unique agreement with German Publishers Association, the German Phonographic Industry and the German Library to enable the National Library to circumvent DRMs for preservation purposes, the situation for the developing nations is extremely bleak. Grassmuck said: "It therefore appears that while developing nations are getting the same - some would argue excessive - level of technologically implemented IP protection as developed nations, they are lacking the corresponding mechanisms that counterbalance IP protection with access to knowledge."

But North-South discrepancies are not the only concern of European Digital Rights: "Part of the next step towards re-establishing balance is defining a set of minimum unwaivable exceptions as has been suggested by the distinguished delegate from Chile at the last SCCR meeting. In particular, as the only mandatory exception under Berne, there must be a mechanism to protect the quotation exception against DRM, as pointed out by Sam Ricketson in a WIPO study on limitations and exceptions."

EDRI considers access for NGOs to these meetings crucial, since it offers one of the very few chances to try to tilt the current imbalance between right holders and consumers/civil society. On 4 October 2004 the WIPO member states adopted a proposal from Argentine and Brazil (supported by numerous developing nations) to work on a Development Agenda. At the adoption, member countries explicitly called upon WIPO to 'give greater weight to the interests of consumers and public interest at large.' But at the IIM meeting only NGO's with permanent member status before fall 2004 were allowed.

In the final statement of the IIM it was decided that EDRI and the other non-permanent NGOs will also get ad hoc accreditation at the two follow-up meetings on 20-22 June and in July.

Statement Volker Grassmuck on behalf of EDRI (12.04.2005)
http://lists.essential.org/pipermail/a2k/2005-April/000250.html

Group Request for Reconsideration of NGO Accreditation Policy for WIPO Development Agenda Meetings 11 –15 April 2005 (29.03.2005)
http://www.ipjustice.org/WIPO/group_request032905.shtml

Overview of other NGO and country statements at IIM
http://www.cptech.org/ip/wipo/iim1.html