[A2k] xCasting Treaty and Sports

[James Love]

I have been suggesting to a number of persons that people consider a
push to shrink the xCasting treaty into something for sports.   Most
of the testimony in support of the treaty from developing countries
focused on the issue of sports broadcasts, which outside of the US
are often not protected by copyright.  There is a lot of money in
sports broadcasting, and we would be happy to see a sports
broadcasting protocol come out of WIPO, if it means we don't do the
larger treaty.  The broadcasters would get something that was
actually valuable, and probably more interesting to them than a
signal piracy treaty (which they claim they need but they don't
really need, given all of the other legal mechanisms including
copyright that can address most piracy issues), and which would
address the one legitimate issue I have seen raised by the broadcasters.

A treaty only about sports is likely to have a more focused consumer
constituency too, which would be useful too.

jamie

---------------------------------
James Love, CPTech / www.cptech.org / mailto:james.love@cptech.org /
tel. +1.202.332.2670 / mobile +1.202.361.3040

"If everyone thinks the same: No one thinks."  Bill Walton