[A2k] "a tough but commendable decision" plus: William New: WIPO Broadcasting Treaty Talks Break Down

[James Love]

http://www.keionline.org/index.php?option=3Dcom_jd-wp&Itemid=3D39

WIPO Casting Treaty | James Love
=93a tough but commendable decision=94
June 22nd, 2007

They go into session today at 10am to discuss how to report the
week=92s events to the WIPO General Assembly, so officially, nothing is
decided yet, but it appears as though WIPO will not be approving a
diplomatic conference. Jukka Liedes, who has apparently chaired the
WIPO copyright committee for all but two days over a twenty year
period, may try to find a way to keep this alive, but many delegates
are determined to move on to something else. One delegate said the
decision to end the negotiation =93was a tough but commendable
decision.=94 It was very tough because of the intense lobbying by the
aggressive and politically influential broadcasting industry, and it
was commendable, because the delegates faced up to the unresolved
differences that made a diplomatic conference an untimely and unwise
venture, for everyone. The statements by the United States and India
that led to the end of the negotiations were supported by a number of
other delegations, who were also frustrated by the increasingly
unrealistic efforts to find a consensus, or even a common
understanding on the objectives of the treaty. All of the civil
society NGOs were very pleased the negotiations came to an end, and
many of the lobbyists for the copyright industries were also in
agreement that a diplomatic conference was not a good idea, given the
range of issues still on the table. But today we will hear from
Jukka, the EU and others who want to keep this project going, and
I=92ll report more.


Next, William New's report on the negotiations:
-------------
http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/index.php?p=3D664&res=3D1024_ff&print=3D0

22 June 2007
WIPO Broadcasting Treaty Talks Break Down

By William New
World Intellectual Property Organization negotiations for a treaty on
rights for broadcasters broke down at the eleventh hour, according to
participating government officials. A high-level final treaty
negotiation scheduled for November will not take place, they said.

The outcome will not be official until Friday, however, when the
Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights resumes in a
plenary session. Government sources stopped short of calling the
treaty talks dead forever, saying that proponents might still propose
a way to resume the talks in the future.

Too many fundamental disagreements over proposed draft treaty text
made it clear that the committee would not be able to make a clear
recommendation to the September WIPO General Assembly that the high-
level negotiation, or diplomatic conference, should be held in
November as scheduled, participants in the closed-door negotiations
told Intellectual Property Watch.

At issue is a proposal to increase the rights of broadcasters and
cablecasters over their transmissions in order to prevent signal
theft, under discussion in the 18-22 June committee meeting. The 2006
WIPO General Assembly mandated that the committee narrow differences
on a 100-plus page proposal, SCCR 15/2, in order to proceed to the
November diplomatic conference. This was the final scheduled meeting
of the committee before the General Assembly makes its decision in
September.

The discussion stalled progressively as objections and alternatives
to language in the chair=92s unofficial draft treaty proposal piled up,
sources said. But it turned on a statement by the US delegation late
Thursday night that it could not see any way to resolve differences
in the time remaining. The US said that in the entire paper under
discussion they saw =93not a single area of agreement,=94 whether it was
new or years-old proposals, a US official said.

=93We weren=92t being pessimistic, we were being realistic,=94 the official
said, as it recognised the General Assembly=92s mandate could not be
fulfilled. =93We were confident that agreement on these key issues was
not within our grasp, even if we had additional days,=94 the official
said.

Several countries followed the United States, either opposing or
regretting the inability to hold the diplomatic conference, including
Brazil, India, Canada, Switzerland, Algeria (on behalf of the African
Group), Kenya, and Benin, according to one official.

=93There are some strongly held but widely divergent views,=94 the US
official said. Another factor was the recognition that technologies
have continually evolved since the start of the broadcasting
negotiation nearly 10 years ago, the official said.

India made reference to the negotiation not proceeding =93by any means
necessary,=94 which also was one of the more contested phrases in the
chair=92s draft text. =93We strived and struggled but could not reach
consensus,=94 said an Indian official, adding that this left the group
with the decision =93this diplomatic conference won=92t take place.=94

The committee recommendation to the assembly on how to proceed could
be highly contested on Friday, officials said. One participant said
Chair Jukka Liedes of Finland, who has led the talks for 10 years,
has been creative in the past at keeping the negotiation alive
despite adversity. =93He has a very fertile mind,=94 the participant said.

10 Years and Still Divided

The unsuccessful outcome of key talks Thursday at the World Trade
Organization down the street also rippled through the hallways of
WIPO but officials said there was no direct link. If you asked five
officials coming out of the closed-door negotiations at midday
Thursday, you got five different answers on whether they are likely
to proceed to a final treaty negotiation later in the year. But
continued disagreements during the day, captured in two unofficial
draft papers, led delegations to declare they could not recommend
proceeding.

This week=92s draft =93non-papers=94 should be posted here soon.

It has been difficult to gauge progress this week on the high-profile
treaty proposal. The week=92s discussions have focused on a document
that has not yet been officially recognised, a 10-page non-paper from
the meeting chair, who said he based it on consultations with members.

The final day of the weeklong meeting was set aside for a preparatory
committee meeting to work out procedures for the November diplomatic
conference.

New versions of paper finally emerged on Thursday showing that
members had added many alternatives to the chair=92s version of the
provisions. Members said there was also concern about the chair=92s
discretion in handling proposals from governments. Europe was seen as
the strongest proponent for the treaty.

The members overruled the chair and chose to proceed this week on an
article-by-article approach. During the week, a number of new
proposals were suggested to change language of the non-paper to the
point where some officials said it would be difficult to recommend to
the General Assembly that a treaty is in sight.

=93In addition to having a lot of proposals you have a lot of
directions,=94 said one participating official. =93They are not merely
divergent, they are adding new things to the treaty. That makes it
difficult to find one single goal to go to.=94

Heading into the second late-night session in a row, key provisions
remained to be addressed, including technological protection
measures, which could be used by broadcasting companies to control
access to content.

Also to be dealt with are three paragraphs being referred to by some
as =91public interest=92 provisions, which would highlight a need to
balance broadcasters=92 rights with public interests, promote access to
knowledge, prevent anti-competitive practices, and safeguard cultural
diversity.

These three paragraphs were moved by the chair into the preamble of
the treaty, and a key disagreement is over whether they should remain
there. Supporters of moving them back to the main text appeared to
include Brazil, Chile, India, Venezuela and the African Group,
sources said. The United States, Switzerland, Japan and Colombia have
said they want them to stay in the preamble, they said.

Proposed modifications included a dozen possible changes to the basic
definitions alone. Other suggestions were limits on the scope of the
treaty, removal of references to computer networks, exclusive rights,
and an apparent carve-out offered by the United States for sports
broadcasters.

Meeting Closed to Stakeholders

Intergovernmental and non-governmental groups were removed from the
room after the second day. Chairman Liedes, who missed the second day
to attend to business back home in Finland, told Intellectual
Property Watch the meeting was moved to informal status to add
=93flexibility=94 for negotiators.

That action filled the expansive WIPO lobby with lobbyists from a
wide range of countries and disciplines, such as broadcasting, film,
music, telecommunications, professional sports, online media, high
technology, and many public interest groups. Representatives were on
hand from some of the world=92s biggest companies.

Ten nongovernmental groups from a variety of global regions issued a
joint statement on 20 June calling on delegates to stop the
negotiation and reject the treaty proposal. =93After more than 9 years
of discussions, efforts to find a treaty formulation that deals with
piracy of broadcast signals, but which does not harm copyright owners
and the legitimate users of broadcasts have failed,=94 they said.

William New may be reached at wnew@ip-watch.ch.


----------------------------------------------
James Packard Love
Knowledge Ecology International
mailto:james.love@keionline.org
tel. +1.202.332.2670 / U.S. mobile+1.202.361.3040, Geneva mobile
+41.76.413.6584

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