HR Caucus nomination to IPG-MAG

[Robin Gross <robin@ipjustice.org>]

Dear colleagues,

I have nominated myself for consideration by the WSIS-Internet 
Governance Caucus as a candidate to the IGF-MAG.

I would warmly welcome an endorsement from the WSIS Human Rights Caucus 
if appropriate.

Below is my candidacy statement. Thank you for your consideration.

Robin


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Candidate Name: Robin D. Gross

Name of Nominator: Robin Gross (self-nomination)

Nationality: US citizen

Country of Residence: United States (San Francisco)

Gender: Female

BIO:
ROBIN D. GROSS is an attorney in San Francisco, California. She is the 
Founder and Executive Directive of IP JUSTICE an international civil 
liberties organization that promotes balanced intellectual property law 
and protects freedom of expression (www.ipjustice.org). Ms. Gross 
advises policy makers throughout the world on the impact of intellectual 
property rules in national legislatures, international treaties, and 
trade agreements.

Ms. Gross teaches international copyright law at Santa Clara University, 
where she also serves as a member of the Santa Clara University School 
of Law High Technology Legal Advisory Board. Ms. Gross regularly 
lectures at international seminars, law schools, and universities on 
cyberspace legal issues including digital copyright, fair use, and other 
Internet legal issues.

Ms. Gross is a Council Member of the Internet Corporation for Assigned 
Names and Numbers (ICANN) Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) 
Policy Council, representing the Non-Commercial Users Constituency (NCUC).
Ms. Gross was selected by WSIS Civil Society to speak before the WSIS 
General Assembly in Tunis in 2005 and she chaired two parallel events at 
the Tunis Summit. She also spoke at the 2003 WSIS Summit in Geneva at a 
parallel event organized by the Heinrich Boell Foundation on 
communication rights and human rights. Ms. Gross is a participant of the 
WSIS Patent, Copyright, and Trademarks (PCT) Working Group and the WSIS 
Human Rights Caucus.

She sits on the Board of Directors for the Union for the Public Domain, 
a nonprofit organization in Washington, D.C. that is dedicated to 
protecting the public domain (www.public-domain.org). And she is on the 
Advisory Boards of Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility-Peru 
(CPSR-Peru) and of FreeMuse, an international organization based in 
Copenhagen that advocates freedom of expression for musicians and 
composers worldwide (www.freemuse.org).

In July 2004 Managing Intellectual Property Magazine named Ms. Gross as 
one of “2004’s Top 50 Most Influential People in Intellectual Property 
in the World.” She testified before the US Copyright Office during the 
2003 and 2000 Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) Rulemaking 
Hearings. California’s legal newspaper The Daily Journal selected Ms. 
Gross as one of “California’s Top Ten Most Influential Attorneys in 
2001”. She has appeared as a guest legal expert on TV and radio news 
stations including CNN, BBC, NPR, PRI, Tech TV, NHK, DRS, VOA, and CBC. 
Ms. Gross has been quoted in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, 
Washington Post, USA Today, Business Week, Wired News, Associated Press, 
Reuters, Financial Times, Billboard and other media outlets.

Before founding IP JUSTICE in 2002, Ms. Gross was the first Staff 
Attorney for Intellectual Property with cyber-liberties organization the 
Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), where she began the group’s 
campaign in intellectual property issues in 1999 (www.eff.org).

A graduate of Santa Clara University’s High Technology Law Program, Ms. 
Gross is licensed to practice law in California. In 1997 she co-founded 
VIRTUAL RECORDINGS one of the first digital music websites with her 
musician husband. A Michigan native, she graduated from Michigan State 
University’s James Madison College in 1995 with degrees in political 
philosophy and international relations.


WHY I AM A GOOD CHOICE:

I have been working to protect digital rights since 1999 and have 
developed a fundamental understanding of the key policy and technical 
issues in the online world.

If selected, I would work towards ensuring that the Internet Governance 
Forum provides greater protection for traditional civil liberties – 
particularly freedom of expression, privacy, and user rights regarding 
digital media.

I have been an active participant of both phases of the World Summit of 
the Information Society (WSIS). At the 2005 WSIS General Assembly in 
Tunis, I was the only speaker to advocate for reform of over-zealous 
intellectual property rules that threaten traditional civil liberties on 
the Internet. Also during the Tunis Summit, I chaired two parallel 
events on the topic of reform of international IP regimes and on the 
topic of the social and legal issues surrounding P2P file-sharing and 
e-Democracy. At the Geneva 2003 Summit, I spoke at a WSIS parallel event 
to argue that communication rights are human rights in an information 
society. I also provided substantive comment in 2005 to members of the 
Working Group for Internet Governance (WGIG) who were responsible for 
drafting papers on intellectual property issues. In March 2006 I 
submitted a substantive agenda recommendation to the IGF that advocated 
for IGF attention to freedom of expression, privacy, and other civil 
liberties. I am a participant of the WSIS Patents, Copyrights, and 
Trademarks (PCT) Working Group and the WSIS Human Rights Caucus.

My experience at ICANN has led me to believe that we need serious reform 
with respect to Internet governance. The lack of a meaningful diversity 
of views at ICANN, particularly the lack of opportunity for 
participation from developing countries and from those who do not 
represent a particular commercial interest is very troubling. It is my 
hope that IGF can be a forum to push for real reform of Internet 
governance issues that is more in line with the global public interest, 
inclusive, and respectful of civil liberties.

My non-profit organization IP Justice is accredited as a “Permanent 
Observer” at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and I 
participate at WIPO meetings in Geneva approximately 7-8 times per year. 
In July 2005, I organized a “Group NGO Statement” that was signed on to 
by 138 public-interest NGOs from all corners of the world to support 
developing countries’ proposal for a “Development Agenda” and call for 
substantive reform at WIPO.

For seven years, I have advised international policy makers about the 
civil liberties implications of proposed or existing IP laws or other 
rules and technologies that impact digital freedom. I would be able to 
attend IGF meetings in Geneva and Athens and participate on IGF mailing 
lists.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can provide any further 
information. Thank you.

Robin Gross