[A2k] WIPO Statement on IGF: expects Broadcast Treaty to be adopted in 2007

[Robin Gross]

WIPO's "Inside View" column in IP-Watch is basically a nauseating
PR-piece about how great WIPO is, but this sentence really got me:
"The expected adoption in 2007 of the broadcasting treaty would further
consolidate this framework."

WIPO has yet to convince the Member States to adopt this dangerous
treaty, but it is taking for granted that it will. What a short memory:
WIPO's Diplomatic Conference to create A/V rights failed only 5-6 years ago=
!

http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/index.php?p=3D447&res=3D1024_ff&print=3D0
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Statement of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO),
Geneva, Switzerland

Internet Governance Forum (IGF) Athens, Greece, October 30 to November
2, 2006

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) welcomes the
convening of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) stemming from the World
Summit on the Information Society. WIPO has taken an active part in all
stages of the WSIS and sees this new global initiative as a concrete
step to build and further develop international understanding on a range
of issues.

Continued and sustainable growth of the Information Society depends upon
an environment of trust and security. Intellectual property (lP) plays a
key, if complex, role to encourage creativity, innovation, fostering
economic growth in both developed and developing countries. To
policy-makers and regulators, the challenge today is to preserve the
incentive to create new works and use new technologies to distribute
them to users in the face of the huge competitive threat from illicit
use of technology by infringers.

The increasing importance of intellectual property does not necessarily
refer to new international rules. Indeed, the international standard for
copyright in the digital environment is largely in place already, thanks
to the adoption in 1996 of the WIPO Internet Treaties. which have
provided legal responses to the challenges of the new digital
technologies. The expected adoption in 2007 of the broadcasting treaty
would further consolidate this framework.

This rather means that both lP owners and users need to have confidence
that their rights and needs will be observed and that they can properly
exercise and exploit intellectual property rules in the new environment.
New licensing schemes and rights management models, the increasing
development of collaborative initiatives for creating, transmitting and
sharing creative content on line, the relationship of intellectual
property and technology in areas such as standards and digital rights
management (DRM), are examples of these initiatives on the exercise and
enforcement of ri!!hts and their connection to teehnology.

Both individual creators and the creative industries have a great
interest in seeing that access to content can take place for as many
users and in as many formats as possible. Accessibility, usability,
portability are new benchmarks by means of which creative content can be
enjoyed continuously. Interoperability will increasingly play a key role
in the development of efficient ICT standards and in ensuring that users
fully reap the advantages of an interactive environment. This also puts
a new emphasis on limitations and exceptions to copyright and user
rights in areas such as freedom of expression and access to information.
Interoperability of ICT standards will need to be further promoted
especially in areas such as digital rights management (DRM), as a way to
avoid fragmentation of the online cultural market and as a way to bridge
the digital divide and the technological gap in developing countries.

Striking the right balance between rights and public policy goals has
been one of the continuous objectiyes of our member states in
negotiating international norms and laws under WIPO=92s auspices. Recent
member states proposals to introduce in the proposed broadcasting
treaty, public interest clauses relating to the defense of competition,
the protection of cultural diversity and access to knowledge reflect
that concern.

This balance will continue to be pursued at the international level,
while striving to empower all countries to take advantage of the
flexibilities that haye been provided in the international legal system
and continuously taking into account the development dimension of
intellectual property as currently reflected in the ongoing discussions
relating to a WIPO development agenda.

The Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) was proposed by
WIPO and has become accepted as an international standard for resolviing
domain name disputes. It is designed specifically to discourage and
resolve the abusiye registration of trademarks as domain names disputes.
WIPO=92s experience shows that these are heavily concentrated in the .com
domain, but attention must also be paid to the establishment of robust
preventive mechanisms against abusive registration in new generic top
level domains (gTLDs). The UDRP=92s popularity stems from its
cost-eftectiveness, the predictability of the process and swift
enforcement of the results. Frequent users of the UDRP include the
entertainment industry, pharmaceutical companies. IT firms and a
significant munber of small-to-medium-sized businesses who favor the
UDRP over traditional litigation, because they consider it to be a far
quicker and cheaper way of protecting their trademark rights against
cybersquatting.

The Internet Domain Name System (DNS) raises a number of challenges for
the protection of intellectual property, which, due to the global nature
of the Internet, call for an international approach. WIPO has addressed
these challenges since 1998 by developing specific solutions., most
notably in the First and Second WIPO Internet Domain Name Processes. In
particular, the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center (Center) provides
trademark owners with an efficient international mechanism to deal with
the bad-faith registration and use of domain names corresponding to
their trademark rights.

The UDRP was adopted by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and
Numbers (ICANN) on the basis of recommendations made by WIPO in the
First WIPO Internet Domain Name Process. WIPO UDRP proceedings have so
far involved parties from 131 countries and been conducted in 12
different languages. WlPO has made numerous contributions to help ensure
fair and transparent UDRP procedures.

On a policy level, the Center has used its domain name dispute
resolution experience in a report on the IP aspects of introducing
gTLDs. This report, which had been prepared at the request of ICANN,
recommends the establishment of a uniform mechanism designed to prevent
the abusive registration of domain names during the introduction of new
gTLDs. Such a preventive mechanism would be in addition to the curative
relief option provided by the UDRP.

The Second WIPO Internet Domain Name Process concerned the relationship
between domain names and fivee types of identifiers other than
trademarks that had not been addressed in the First WIPO Internet Domain
Name Process, namely, International Nonproprietary Names for
pharmaceutical substances (INNs), the names and acronyms of
international intergovernmental organizations (lGOs), personal names,
geographical identifiers and trade names.

The IGF forum is addressing the implications for policymakers of a world
where value lies increasingly in intellcctual rather than physical
capital, and where access to knowledge is critical to many spheres of
human activity, including human development. Through norm setting,
technical assistance, capacity building, technology transfer, WlPO=92 s
whole range of activities are aimed at buiIding the necessary confidence
to support and enhance the Iegitimate economic, cultural and social
aspirations of all countries.