[A2k] More press on Broadcasting treaty

[Manon Ress]

Sept 8, 2006

Television
Broadcasting Treaty Talks Face Deeper Divisions
by William New, for Technology Daily

      Years of negotiations over a proposed treaty on international
rights for broadcasters will come to a head next week, as members of
the World Intellectual Property Organization appear near a breaking
point on the increasingly polarized issue.
      The WIPO copyright committee is under pressure to craft a
workable draft during its Sept. 11-13 meeting in order to submit it
to the Sept. 25 WIPO assembly.
      The proposed treaty is intended to give broadcasters the same
rights that performers and copyright holders have under a pair of
1996 so-called WIPO Internet treaties, and it would grant stronger
and longer protection of broadcast signals. But opponents see major
problems, including possible new rights for broadcasters, the
possible application of the treaty to Internet broadcasts, and a
negative impact on consumers.
      The line between opposition and support for the treaty has
hardened in recent months, with U.S. broadcasters and copyright
holders opposing technology providers and consumer groups. Developing
countries also are split.
      No new proposals on the treaty appear to have been submitted
for next week's meeting, but the United States has a lengthy paper
explaining its proposal for protecting Internet broadcasts, which it
terms "netcasting." At the last committee meeting in May, officials
agreed to strip the U.S. proposal for webcasting from the traditional
broadcasting and cable that are covered in the 1961 Rome Treaty that
the new treaty would update.
      But some are concerned that draft references to signals carried
on "computer networks" reflect a European Union proposal to protect
simulcasting, the simultaneous broadcast of signals over the
Internet, and could lead to re-inclusion of the U.S. webcasting
proposal.
      Proponents, led by the National Association of Broadcasters and
other nations' broadcasting industries -- and apparently by the U.S.
content industries as well -- claim they need protection from signal
theft. The dispute claims that the treaty would grant them new rights
and say it is critical for the survival of the broadcasting industry.
      Nearly 40 companies and groups issued a statement of opposition
this week. AT&T, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Intel and Verizon
Communications joined forces with the Consumer Project on Technology,
Electronic Frontier Foundation and Public Knowledge. Many of the
signers also spoke at a Patent and Trademark Office treaty roundtable
on Tuesday.
      The opponents said the treaty is unjustified, but if it moves
forward, it should abandon its rights-based orientation, have strong
limitations and exceptions, prevent increased control of broadcasters
over signals in the home or personal environment, remove the threat
of liability for network intermediaries, and drop references to
computer networks.
      Manon Ress of CP Tech said, "What we might see next week is the
beginning of a third WIPO 'Internet treaty,' this one not only
unnecessary but harmful to the current freedoms to use information
and a threat to creative communities and innovative technology
companies' commercialization."
      She added, "Clearly for this session, again the fundamental
question will be, 'Why would we want to make the Internet more like
TV?'"


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Manon Anne Ress
manon.ress@cptech.org,
www.cptech.org

Consumer Project on Technology
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Consumer Project on Technology
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Tel: +41 22 791 6727

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