[A2k] CCIA Intervention on Broadcasting and Audiovisual Agenda Items at SCCR 19

[Nick Ashton-Hart]

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Here's the Statement of the Computer and Communications Industry
Association (www.ccianet.org) on the SCCR agenda item on L&Es for the
visually impaired, which I had the honour to deliver on Dec. 15th:

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Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for an opportunity to be heard on these two
important agenda items.

Mr. Chairman, CCIA has been active in the discussions related to the
Broadcasting treaty for many years now.

In all that time, we have repeatedly asked two simple questions of the
advocates of a treaty:

1)    What misuse of broadcasts cannot be resolved through enforcement
of the rights in the underlying programmes, and which would therefore
require additional protection of signals at the international level?

2)    Why are provisions designed to protect signals, such as one finds
in the Brussels Satellite Convention, insufficient? Why is a regime of
rights the only method of protection acceptable to broadcasters?

With respect to the first question, Mr. Chairman, we've heard for years
in this chamber of rampant piracy of broadcasts -- however, the examples
given relate to the use of fixations of programmes that are the object
of broadcasts, not the broadcast signals themselves.

With respect to the second question, here the answers are either
unpersuasive (such as "we wish to enforce our own rights, instead of
those of others" or "why should everyone else get rights and not us?")
or non-existent.

We understand that some may have concerns related to broadcasts of live
sporting events.  If this needs discussion, that would be a very
different thing from what we have heard to date, though we note that we
have yet to hear a clamour for international protection of this kind
from those immediately concerned.

Mr. Chairman, finally, aside from the lack of any reasonable
justification in fact for any rights at all, let alone broad new rights,
we have detected no change in the political landscape on this issue.
There is no consensus -- or anything close to a consensus, on the object
of protection, scope of protection, or even who the beneficiaries are to
be.

Mr. Chairman, someday there may actually be a real problem that cannot
be solved by the use of present legal protections. Someday is not today,
it is probably not tomorrow, and it is very likely not even next year or
the year after.

With respect to the audiovisual question, Mr. Chairman, CCIA does not
presently have a position -- however, we are looking at this issue
internally, and in doing so, I feel sure we will take close account of
the advice of the Assistant Director-General yesterday regarding how to
proceed and on the philosophical basis for doing so. It would be easy,
Mr. Chairman, to look at this question in isolation from all others
under discussion in this house and to respond on that basis. I am sure
that CCIA will, as we routinely do, take a strategic view and consider
this issue on its merits, but also in the broader context of all the
issues being discussed at the SCCR.

Thank you Mr. Chairman once again for your kind indulgence.

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Regards,



Nick Ashton-Hart

Consensus Optimus sarl

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