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In the News

February 2011

A decade of Wikipedia

Wikipedia, the free multilingual encyclopedia that has become an accepted part of daily life for the on-line community celebrated its 10th birthday on January 15, this year. In a decade it has become the fifth most visited site in the world offering instant and free access to some 17 million articles. Dubbed “the poster child of collaboration” and representing the regularly updated collective knowledge of hundreds of thousands of people, it has changed the way we access information on the Internet and contribute to its creation. It departs from the traditional style of compiling encyclopedias in favor of an open collaborative editing model.

Wikipedia was founded by Larry Sanger and Jimmy Wales in 2001. Its name was coined by Mr. Sanger and blends the Hawaiian word “wiki” meaning “quick” with “encyclopedia”. Mr. Wales has described Wikipedia as "an effort to create and distribute a free encyclopedia of the highest possible quality to every single person on the planet in their own language." It currently exists in 262 language versions. According to Mr. Wales, "Wikipedia is a public resource created and maintained by hundreds of thousands of volunteers, relied on by over 400 million people and paid for by half a million donors. It's truly user-created, supported and maintained.” The site is managed by the Wikimedia Foundation a U.S.-based nonprofit charitable organization.

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Radiohead approves release of bootleg DVD

The pioneering indie rock band, Radiohead, recently approved the release of an “official bootleg” DVD of their impromptu and unrecorded Haiti benefit concert in Hollywood’s Henry Fonda Theatre in 2010, according to a BBC news report dated 10 January 2011. For the past year, fans have been putting together a DVD compilation of footage shot by 14 people at the concert. The band agreed to the DVD’s release on condition that proceeds went to Oxfam’s emergency fund. The film was made available online over the holiday period and so far has raised over US$11,500. A spokesperson for Oxfam said, “We are thrilled to have the support of Radiohead and their smart and motivated fans to help us raise much needed funds for our work in Haiti.”

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Consumer Electronics Show 2011 packed with gadgetry

The Consumer Electronics Association’s 2011 CES, the world’s largest consumer electronics tradeshow, Las Vegas, USA, January 6 to 9, saw the launch of more than 80 tablet PCs as well as wireless 4G LTE, connected home technologies1, smart appliances and electric vehicles. The event attracted over 2,700 technology companies across global industries, over 140,000 industry professionals and over 30,000 international attendees. “The 2011 International CES was a phenomenal worldwide event that spanned global industries including technology, automotive and entertainment markets,” said Gary Shapiro, CEA’s President and CEO. “This global technology gathering” he noted, “featured more innovation, more news, more social media buzz and more international attendance than any other show in CES history.”

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Miners sign deal to protect their IP rights

The 33 miners trapped underground for 70 days in Chile’s Atacama desert in 2010 recently signed an agreement with the Chilean law firms Carey y Cía and Remberto Valdés Abogados y Consultores for the protection, licensing and sale of the IP rights over their experience in the San José mine.

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1  Where all home appliances are on a single network.
 

The WIPO Magazine is intended to help broaden public understanding of intellectual property and of WIPO’s work, and is not an official document of WIPO. The designations employed and the presentation of material throughout this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of WIPO concerning the legal status of any country, territory or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. This publication is not intended to reflect the views of the Member States or the WIPO Secretariat. The mention of specific companies or products of manufacturers does not imply that they are endorsed or recommended by WIPO in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned.