[A2k] (Associated Press) UN Agency:Broadcast Rights Treaty To Be Negotiated Next Year

[Thiru Balasubramaniam]

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UN Agency:Broadcast Rights Treaty To Be Negotiated Next Year

Thursday September 14th, 2006 / 21h15

GENEVA (AP)--A new proposal for an international agreement to protect
broadcasting rights will be negotiated during a conference next year,
the World Intellectual Property Organization said Thursday.

The proposed treaty, which aims among other things to prevent
broadcasting and cable signals being stolen and retransmitted elsewhere,
was approved by a key committee of the U.N. agency on Wednesday despite
objections from some states and non-governmental organizations.

WIPO Director General Kamil Idris said the "positive spirit" of the
discussions "will further strengthen consensus on these issues in the
months leading up to the diplomatic conference," which is scheduled to
take place from July 11 to Aug. 1, 2007.

WIPO Deputy Director General Rita Hayes called the meeting "a tremendous
success" after 8 years of work, and said a lot of the contentious issues
could be resolved. She said the majority of member states had decided
not to include webcasting - one of the most controversial issues - in
this treaty.

But Thiru Balasubramaniam, of the Washington-based Consumer Project on
Technology, said many states had voiced objections about the procedures
of the meeting as well as to some of the content in the treaty proposal.
He said that during the meeting, the chair had "steamrollered states'
objections." Balasubramaniam said the scope of the protection wasn't clear.

A coalition of representatives from electronics and telecommunication
companies, including Dell, Intel and Sony, as well as consumer rights
organizations, said in a joint statement ahead of the WIPO meeting that
they weren't convinced such a treaty was needed and that the most
important intellectual property issues were already addressed under
existing law.

The WIPO General Assembly from Sept. 25 to Oct. 3 has still to formally
convene the diplomatic conference. A two-day meeting in January should
enable member states to further clarify contentious issues, WIPO said in
a statement.

Thursday September 14th, 2006 / 21h15