[Infowarrior] - WIPO: Broadcasting/ Webcasting Treaty Hits the Fast Track

[Richard Forno]

Blogging WIPO: The Broadcasting/ Webcasting Treaty Hits the Fast Track -
SCCR 14, Day 1
May 02, 2006
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/004619.php

The U.N. World Intellectual Property Organization's Standing Committee on
Copyright and Related Rights Committee meets this week to discuss the latest
redraft of the contentious new Broadcasting Treaty. The treaty would give
broadcasters, cablecasters, and potentially webcasters, broad new 50 year
rights to control transmissions over the Internet, irrespective of the
copyright status of the transmitted material. It also requires countries to
provide legal protection for broadcaster technological protection measures
that will require Broadcast Flag-like technology mandates.

As we¹ve noted elsewhere, EFF believes that these new rights will stifle
innovation, create a new layer of liability for Internet intermediaries,
impair consumers¹ existing rights, restrict the public's access to knowledge
and culture, and change the nature of the Internet as a communication
medium. Many of these concerns could be addressed by limiting the scope of
the treaty to its intended purpose -- signal theft. Unfortunately the new
draft doesn't remove any of our concerns, but only deepens them..

Webcasting is now back in the treaty, after spending last year in a separate
"working paper" because the majority of countries opposed its inclusion in
2004. Despite many counties' opposition again in 2005, it¹s been included in
the treaty as a non-mandatory Appendix. Countries that sign the treaty have
the option ­ at any time -- to grant webcasters the same exclusive rights
given to broadcasters and cablecasters by depositing a notice with WIPO.

At the same time, some of the key proposals to balance the impact of the new
treaty have been removed from the new draft treaty text (the Draft Basic
Proposal) and relegated to a new separate "Working Paper". For instance, the
alternative that the treaty not include the contentious Technological
Protection Measure obligations is not in the Draft Basic Proposal, but has
been sidelined to the Draft Working Paper. Brazil and Chile's exceptions
proposals (including exceptions for national competition regulation and
temporary reproductions of broadcast works that are crucial for digital
technology innovation) have also been cast off to the Draft Working Paper.

The WIPO Committee Chair's decision to create two separate documents, rather
than a consolidated draft proposal including all views, has been highly
controversial. As expected, many countries were not pleased with the implied
sleight of hand involved in categorizing countries' proposals as "core" (in
the Draft Basic Proposal) or "alternatives" (in the Draft Working Paper).
It's particularly troubling that some items, such as webcasting, that have
been consistently rejected by the majority of Member States, have made it
into the Draft Basic Proposal -- so selection for the Draft Basic Proposal
was clearly not based on majority support. Many Member States voiced
concerns about transparency when they took the floor. India, South Africa,
Brazil, Iran, and Uruguay stated that their views had not been taken into
account in the draft treaty.

And there's also little consensus on substantive issues. Many Member States
clearly disagree with including webcasting in the treaty. Several Member
States, including Thailand (on behalf of the Asia Group), Argentina,
Jamaica, Nigeria, Colombia and Peru, also expressed concern about the
potential for broadcaster technological protection measures to impair
exceptions and limitations and restrict access to public domain materials.

The draft treaty is now officially on the fast track. The draft that emerges
from this meeting will form the basis for convening a 2007 intergovernmental
Diplomatic Conference when the WIPO General Assembly votes in September.
That means this week is the last chance for WIPO member countries to act to
protect Internet innovation and the public's access to knowledge.

As usual, we'll be blogging developments from Geneva. The NGO Coalition's
notes of Day 1 are after the jump.

http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/004619.php