[A2k] ars technica: WIPO broadcast treaty abandons rights-based approach

[Thiru Balasubramaniam]

<>

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061003-7891.html

WIPO broadcast treaty abandons rights-based approach<>**

10/3/2006 11:59:51 AM, by Nate Anderson <mailto:nate@arstechnica.com>

The new broadcasting treaty being worked on at the World Intellectual
Property Organization (WIPO) raised major concerns among groups
concerned that it would give US broadcasters a new intellectual property
right over their signal, separate from the copyright on whatever
programming they broadcast (Europe has already had such rights for
decades). Instead, many nonprofits argued for a "signal-based" approach
that would simply criminalize the piracy of broadcast signals at an
international level and give broadcasters the means to stop such piracy.

At the just-concluded WIPO General Assembly, the signal-based group won
a major victory. After a contentious meeting
<http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060913-7732.html> of the
standing committee on copyright a few weeks back, it looked like the
approach was to be rights-based, with a diplomatic conference to take
place early next year. That plan has now been scrapped.

Instead, WIPO will hold two more meetings of the standing committee
before the diplomatic conference, which is now scheduled to take place
from November 19 to December 7, 2007. In addition, the discussions will
focus on a signal-based approach that should make it easier for
broadcasters to halt piracy without adding another rights holder to the
already complex process of securing permission to use content.

Webcasting, once a part of the treaty, was broken out and placed on a
separate path earlier this year, and the General Assembly upheld that
decision.

The reaction in the activist community was ecstatic. The EFF
<http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/004930.php> was "mighty chuffed,"
while Thiru Balasubramaniam of the Consumer Project on Technology said,
"CPTech welcomes the Decision of the WIPO General Assembly to pursue a
signal-based approach in this Treaty in lieu of granting dangerous new
entitlements to broadcasters. As we made clear to the WIPO General
Assembly, convening a Diplomatic Conference at this stage would have
been premature."

Nothing's final until the treaty is signed, but the news is encouraging
to those trying to make a difference on the international level, and
indicates that WIPO is not simply a rubber-stamp group for deep-pocketed
industries.