Robin Gross
Encyclopedia
Robin Gross is founder and Executive Director of IP Justice
, an international civil liberties organization that promotes balanced intellectual property law and defends freedom of expression.
"Robin Gross, JD"
Robin Gross has represented the Non-Commercial Users Constituency (NCUC) on the ICANN
GNSO Policy Council since 2005, and she is a member of the Advisory Group to the United Nations Internet Governance Forum (IGF).
Robin Gross also runs a boutique law firm Imagine Law in San Francisco that handles entertainment, intellectual property, and cyberspace legal issues of a transactional nature
In 2005, Robin Gross taught international copyright law at Santa Clara University School of Law
, where she served on SCU's High Technology Legal Advisory Board from 2004-2006.
Robin Gross began her legal career as the first intellectual property
(IP) attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation
in 1999.
She launched EFF's work on intellectual property issues and was the director of its Campaign for Audiovisual Free Expression. She defended in court 2600 Magazine, Norwegian Jon Johansen, and other people that published the DeCSS
code, challenging the anti-circumvention provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act
(DMCA) as unconstitutional. She led the legal team who eventually won in the California Supreme Court upholding the right of Web publishers to post DeCSS against bogus trade secret claims.
While at EFF, she defended Streamcast (maker of Morpheus
P2P
software) in a precedent setting case over the legality of P2P file-sharing software. In another DMCA case, she defended Princeton
scientists' right to publish technical information describing the weaknesses in the recording industry's technology to control digital music. She successfully represented ReplayTV
owners (including the founder of Craigslist) against Hollywood's claims that their use of digital VCRs was illegal.
Gross and IP Justice are active at the World Intellectual Property Organization
(WIPO) and participate in meetings related to the "Development Agenda". In July 2005, she organized a campaign of over 138 international public interest NGOs to support the proposal for a "Development Agenda" at WIPO. IP Justice is also active on issues regarding WIPO's proposed Broadcasting (& Webcasting) Treaty.
In 2004, she organized an international campaign of over 50 civil liberties groups to reform the European Union
's Intellectual property Rights Enforcement Directive
. The CODE Campaign was successful in removing the directive's ban on technical devices that bypass IP holders' restrictions, and got the criminal provisions deleted from the final directive.
At the World Summit on the Information Society
(WSIS) in Geneva
in 2003, she gave a keynote speech at the World Forum on Communications Rights and argued that in an information society, communication rights are human rights.
Later in 2004 she went to Chile
where she advised Latin American policy makers on how to implement the US-Chile Free Trade Agreement's IP chapter as harmlessly as possible and also went to Geneva to attend meetings to reform WIPO.
At WSIS in Tunis
in 2005, she addressed the WSIS plenary and called for reform of over-zealous intellectual property rights laws. She also chaired two panel discussions on the topics of the "World Intellectual Property Organization" and "P2P and Digital Rights".
She has been active against the IP Chapter of the Free Trade Area of the Americas Treaty, and WIPO's proposed Broadcasting Treaty and is also engaged in the ICANN
Non-Commercial User's Constituency.
In 2004, Managing Intellectual Property Magazine named Robin Gross one of the "Top 100 Most Influential People in Intellectual Property in the World".
IP Justice
IP Justice is an international civil liberties organization that promotes balanced intellectual property laws and freedom of expression in a digital world.IP Justice was founded in 2002 by cyber-rights attorney Robin Gross...
, an international civil liberties organization that promotes balanced intellectual property law and defends freedom of expression.
"Robin Gross, JD"
Robin Gross has represented the Non-Commercial Users Constituency (NCUC) on the ICANN
ICANN
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is a non-profit corporation headquartered in Marina del Rey, California, United States, that was created on September 18, 1998, and incorporated on September 30, 1998 to oversee a number of Internet-related tasks previously performed directly...
GNSO Policy Council since 2005, and she is a member of the Advisory Group to the United Nations Internet Governance Forum (IGF).
Robin Gross also runs a boutique law firm Imagine Law in San Francisco that handles entertainment, intellectual property, and cyberspace legal issues of a transactional nature
In 2005, Robin Gross taught international copyright law at Santa Clara University School of Law
Santa Clara University School of Law
The Santa Clara University School of Law is the law school of Santa Clara University, a Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California, in the Silicon Valley region. The School of Law was founded in 1911...
, where she served on SCU's High Technology Legal Advisory Board from 2004-2006.
Robin Gross began her legal career as the first intellectual property
Intellectual property
Intellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...
(IP) attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation
Electronic Frontier Foundation
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is an international non-profit digital rights advocacy and legal organization based in the United States...
in 1999.
She launched EFF's work on intellectual property issues and was the director of its Campaign for Audiovisual Free Expression. She defended in court 2600 Magazine, Norwegian Jon Johansen, and other people that published the DeCSS
DeCSS
DeCSS is a computer program capable of decrypting content on a commercially produced DVD video disc. Before the release of DeCSS, there was no way for computers running a Linux-based operating system to play video DVDs....
code, challenging the anti-circumvention provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act
Digital Millennium Copyright Act
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act is a United States copyright law that implements two 1996 treaties of the World Intellectual Property Organization . It criminalizes production and dissemination of technology, devices, or services intended to circumvent measures that control access to...
(DMCA) as unconstitutional. She led the legal team who eventually won in the California Supreme Court upholding the right of Web publishers to post DeCSS against bogus trade secret claims.
While at EFF, she defended Streamcast (maker of Morpheus
Morpheus (computer program)
Morpheus was a file sharing and searching peer-to-peer client for Microsoft Windows, developed and distributed by the company StreamCast, that originally used the Opennap protocol, but later supported many different peer-to-peer protocols...
P2P
Peer-to-peer file sharing
P2P or Peer-to-peer file sharing allows users to download files such as music, movies, and games using a P2P software client that searches for other connected computers. The "peers" are computer systems connected to each other through internet. Thus, the only requirements for a computer to join...
software) in a precedent setting case over the legality of P2P file-sharing software. In another DMCA case, she defended Princeton
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
scientists' right to publish technical information describing the weaknesses in the recording industry's technology to control digital music. She successfully represented ReplayTV
ReplayTV
ReplayTV is a brand of digital video recorder , a term synonymous with personal video recorder . It is a consumer video device which allows users to capture television programming to internal hard disk storage for later viewing...
owners (including the founder of Craigslist) against Hollywood's claims that their use of digital VCRs was illegal.
Gross and IP Justice are active at the World Intellectual Property Organization
World Intellectual Property Organization
The World Intellectual Property Organization is one of the 17 specialized agencies of the United Nations. WIPO was created in 1967 "to encourage creative activity, to promote the protection of intellectual property throughout the world"....
(WIPO) and participate in meetings related to the "Development Agenda". In July 2005, she organized a campaign of over 138 international public interest NGOs to support the proposal for a "Development Agenda" at WIPO. IP Justice is also active on issues regarding WIPO's proposed Broadcasting (& Webcasting) Treaty.
In 2004, she organized an international campaign of over 50 civil liberties groups to reform the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
's Intellectual property Rights Enforcement Directive
Directive on the enforcement of intellectual property rights
Directive 2004/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on the enforcement of intellectual property rights is a European Union directive in the field of intellectual property law, made under the internal market provisions of the Treaty of Rome...
. The CODE Campaign was successful in removing the directive's ban on technical devices that bypass IP holders' restrictions, and got the criminal provisions deleted from the final directive.
At the World Summit on the Information Society
World Summit on the Information Society
The World Summit on the Information Society was a pair of United Nations-sponsored conferences about information, communication and, in broad terms, the information society that took place in 2003 in Geneva and in 2005 in Tunis...
(WSIS) in Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
in 2003, she gave a keynote speech at the World Forum on Communications Rights and argued that in an information society, communication rights are human rights.
Later in 2004 she went to Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
where she advised Latin American policy makers on how to implement the US-Chile Free Trade Agreement's IP chapter as harmlessly as possible and also went to Geneva to attend meetings to reform WIPO.
At WSIS in Tunis
Tunis
Tunis is the capital of both the Tunisian Republic and the Tunis Governorate. It is Tunisia's largest city, with a population of 728,453 as of 2004; the greater metropolitan area holds some 2,412,500 inhabitants....
in 2005, she addressed the WSIS plenary and called for reform of over-zealous intellectual property rights laws. She also chaired two panel discussions on the topics of the "World Intellectual Property Organization" and "P2P and Digital Rights".
She has been active against the IP Chapter of the Free Trade Area of the Americas Treaty, and WIPO's proposed Broadcasting Treaty and is also engaged in the ICANN
ICANN
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is a non-profit corporation headquartered in Marina del Rey, California, United States, that was created on September 18, 1998, and incorporated on September 30, 1998 to oversee a number of Internet-related tasks previously performed directly...
Non-Commercial User's Constituency.
In 2004, Managing Intellectual Property Magazine named Robin Gross one of the "Top 100 Most Influential People in Intellectual Property in the World".