From: adm.service@sverige.net (Birgitta ) Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology Subject: Howard Coble's letters to Sweden Date: Sat, 19 Sep 1998 21:40:25 GMT -------- The Honorable Birgitta Dahl This is the text of the two letters sent by Howard Coble to the Swedish Government and Parliament in March 1998 Copies of the actual letters is posted to alt.binaries.scientology /Bid of Sweden ---------------- The Honorable Birgitta Dahl Speaker of the Rikstag Stockholm, Sweden 100 12 March 5, 1998 Dear Speaker Dahl: As Chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee responsible for matters pertaining to intellectual property protection, I am very concerned with the growing disturbance in U.S. -Swedish relations being caused by the Swedish Parliament's insistence in making publicly available unpublished copyrighted material owned by the Religious Technology Center, a United States citizen. 1 am especially troubled that this policy has continued on even after the Swedish Cabinet, on recommendation from the Foreign Minister, decided in October of last year to seal the material under Sweden's Secrecy Act. This decision was based on a determination that making the material public was disturbing Sweden's relations with the United States. Let me assure you now, the decision of the Cabinet was quite correct. In the strongest terms possible, 1 want to convey to you the notion that when a Swedish governmental entity makes publicly available copyright material owned by United States citizens, Sweden's relationship with the United States is harmed. The decision of the Cabinet to seal the material to prevent such harm was therefore a very wise decision. Furthermore, as you know, the constitutional grounds to seal the material based on Sweden's Secrecy Act were upheld by the Administrative Court of Appeals in Stockholm. There is no doubt that Parliament's policy of continuing to make the material publicly available will only serve to continue to harm the U.S.-Swedish relationship. For the sake of relations between the United States and Sweden, 1 urge you to follow the decisions of the Cabinet and the Administrative Appeals Court and seal the material. Let me also assure you that the United States will not stand idly by while the intellectual property rights of its citizens are violated, and 1 have requested of the United States Trade Representative to take whatever action necessary to assure that Sweden provides adequate and effective protection to U.S. intellectual property. Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. Sincerely, HOWARD COBLE CHAIRMAN Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual Property -------------------------------------- The Honorable Laila Freivalds Minister of Justice Government of Sweden March 5, 1998 Rosenbad Stockholm, Sweden 10333 Dear Minister: As Chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee responsible for matters pertaining to intellectual property protection, I am very concerned with the growing disturbance in U.S.- Swedish relations being caused by certain Swedish government entities continued refusal to seal unpublished copyrighted materials owned by the Religious Technology Center (RTC), a United States citizen. Your Parliament and the Administrative Department of the Stockholm District Court are still making available to anyone in the world these unpublished works which are specifically protected by the TRIPs agreement. It has been over a year since Sweden was first notified that such action constituted a violation of Sweden's obligations to the United States as a signatory to the TRIPs agreement. Unfortunately, the harm to U.S.- Swedish relations will only increase as long as these actions continue. While my fellow members of Congress and I were encouraged by the decisions of the Swedish Cabinet and Chancellor of Justice in October of last year to seal the RTC material in their possession, this positive step by Sweden was negated and continues to be negated, by the fact the Swedish Parliament and the Administrative Department of the Stockholm District Court are still making the RTC material publicly available. Sweden, therefore, is still clearly in violation of its obligations under international copyright law. In April of last year, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) put Sweden on the Special 301 Watch List for its failure to provide adequate and effective protection of intellectual property owned by United States citizens. Sweden was cited because "Swedish law permits official institutions such as Government Ministries and the Parliament to provide copies to the public of documents that are filed with them, even though such documents are may be unpublished and protected by copyright law." Since the U.S. Government considers respect for intellectual property rights a significant factor affecting the relationship between the United States and foreign nations, placing a foreign nation on the Watch List is done only after careful consideration. however, once a country is put on the Watch le United States Government fully expects the offending country to take such remedial action that will bring it into full compliance with the TRIPs agreement. The fact that Sweden is still not in compliance with TRIPs almost a year after being put on the Watch List is extremely troubling. Such non-compliance necessitates stronger measures be directed at Sweden, and I have requested the United States Trade Representative to take stronger measures and do whatever is necessary to assure that Sweden provides adequate and effective protection to U.S. intellectual property. Further deterioration of U.S.- Sweden relations over this matter is inevitable and though regrettable, it is also unavoidable given our duty to protect the intellectual property rights of American citizens. Therefore, I urge the Swedish Govermnent to do whatever is necessary to put an end to this growing confrontation between our two nations. Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. Sincerely, HOWARD COBLE CHAIRMAN Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual Property ======== Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology Subject: Re: Howard Coble's letters to Sweden From: adm.service@sverige.net (Birgitta ) Date: Sun, 20 Sep 1998 09:37:54 GMT -------- On Sun, 20 Sep 1998 07:19:07 GMT, tilman@berlin.snafu.de (Tilman Hausherr) wrote: >In <36042268.1848228@news.sverige.net>, adm.service@sverige.net >(Birgitta ) wrote: > >>even though such documents are may be unpublished and protected by > >was this written so? "are may be" ? or is it a typo? it was written so. Bid