[A2k] EFF Statement at WIPO SCCR16 on Broadcasting Treaty

[Gwen Hinze]

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[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION STATEMENT ON PROPOSED WIPO BROADCASTING TREATY
  16th SESSION OF THE SCCR, MARCH 12, 2008

Thank you Mr. Chair.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation remains concerned about the
proposed treaty because it would give broadcasters broad new
intellectual property rights over retransmissions after fixation of
signals, rather than providing measures against intentional signal
theft. So long as the treaty is not limited to signal protection, it
imperils the public's access to knowledge. The inclusion of legally
enforced technological protection measures is likely to override
national exceptions and limitations in copyright law that protect the
public interest and preclude access to public domain works. The
treaty will also harm competition and innovation by allowing
broadcasters and cablecasters to control the market for transmission
receiving devices, and because it contains an overbroad ban on
decryption devices. At a minimum, any treaty should include mandatory
exceptions that are at least equivalent in scope to those in the Rome
Convention and TRIPs. While TRIPs permits signatories to recognize
certain non-exclusive broadcasting rights, it does not condition
creation of exceptions on satisfaction of the three-step test and we
see no reason to constrain Member States' ability to do so in this
treaty. Most fundamentally, 10 years after discussions started, we
believe that no empirical evidence has been presented of problems
that might justify the need for a new rights-based treaty.

Meanwhile, exceptions and limitations, a topic of great interest to
many developing and developed countries, and of tremendous importance
to the visually impaired, libraries,  and education communities, has
had almost no substantial discussion in this Committee since it was
proposed by the honorable delegate of Chile in 2004. There is a high
level of urgency about finding solutions to deal with the pressing
problems faced by the visually impaired community, libraries and
online archives, and the teachers and students trying to harness the
potential of digital and cross-border education.

This week's discussions are being watched closely outside of Geneva.
Member States have been presented with a clear choice: they can start
on work to alleviate suffering for the world's citizens and tackle
the greatest challenge facing the global copyright regime today, or
they can reinvigorate discussions on a treaty that, as currently
drafted, would protect broadcasters' and cablecasters' investments
but cause considerable harm to consumers, citizen broadcasting on the
Internet, competition and innovation.

Thank you for your consideration.