[A2k] EFF Statement at WIPO SCCR16 on CR E and L

[Gwen Hinze]

--
[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]

ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION STATEMENT PRESENTED TO THE 16th
SESSION OF THE SCCR, MARCH 10-12, 2008

Thank you Mr. Chairman, and congratulations to you and the Vice
Chairs on your election.

I speak on behalf of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and its
12,000 members in support of the proposal put forward by the
honorable delegate of Chile, and sponsored by Brazil, Nicaragua and
Uruguay.

New information and communication technologies offer the possibility,
for the first time in human history, of providing the world's
citizens with access to the published knowledge of humankind. In
Europe, the United States, and Egypt projects are currently underway
to digitize the cultural heritage collections of the world's great
libraries. Project Gutenberg's team of volunteers has made more
24,000 works in the public domain in the U.S. available on the
Internet. Another  group of creators using collaborative software
technology has been publishing the world's most global and
comprehensive encyclopedia, Wikipedia (www.wikipedia.org).

Any student who has access to the Internet anywhere in the world can
now watch university lectures on content hosting platforms such as
YouTube, and download freely available university lectures for their
mobile phones. Students in developing countries and with access to
the Internet can participate in online degree programs across
borders. Teachers use search engines to find materials to create
locally-relevant curricula to educate entire communities that have no
access to books.

Each of these educational projects face obstacles under the current
international copyright regime. First, because different countries
have varying copyright exceptions and limitations, students and
teachers who want to use digital copyrighted information obtained
from outside of their country cannot be sure that they can do so
legally. Second, educators, libraries, archives and other producers
and providers of information face uncertainty about what information
they can digitize, and make available without fear of legal liability
because of the lack of internationally harmonized exceptions and
limitations, territorial limits of copyright, and uncertainty about
the application of private international law on the Internet.

It is essential that the international copyright regime provides an
environment conducive to education, human development and technology
innovation.. EFF firmly believes that a mandatory set of minimum
exceptions and limitations is required to facilitate digital
education and the building of internationally accessible digital
libraries. This also requires analysis of the impact of TPM legal
regimes on existing exceptions and limitations and technology
innovation, and tailored liability limitations for network
intermediaries.

We support the Chilean delegation's proposal for WIPO to convene an
Open Forum with representatives from the technology industry,
educators, libraries, research and academic communities, to analyze
the implications of harmonized copyright exceptions and limitations
for digital education and innovation.

EFF also supports the calls for WIPO to commission a study of the
range of limitations and exceptions provisions for educational
purposes that exist in Member States' national laws. We believe it is
also necessary for WIPO to conduct an empirical survey from the point
of view of educators, of the impact of current copyright laws on
their ability to provide quality education. This survey could allow
Member States to understand the particular needs of educators and
students that are not being met by the current copyright regime,
underline the urgency of finding solutions to ensure the future of
cross-border  and digital education, and help identify areas of
consensus for inclusion in an international instrument on minimum
exceptions and limitations.

Thank you for your consideration.