[Ecommerce] Request for comments for FTAA draft See Chapter on IP, Section 3: Copyright and related Rights

[Manon Anne Ress]

Dear Colleagues,

I attended a USTR/Business "event" yesterday where I heard about our 
"state of the art" FTAA treaty (meaning high level of IPR protection). 
So, I am sending you this reminder:

The second draft consolidated texts of the Free Trade Area of the 
Americas Agreement (FTAA) have been publicly released and posted on the 
USTR website (http://www.ustr.gov) and on the official FTAA website
(http://www.ftaa-alca.org). The texts are available in the four
official languages of the FTAA: English, Spanish, French, and
Portuguese. The interagency Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) is
requesting written comments from the public on the second draft
consolidated texts of the FTAA Agreement.
Public comments should be received by Friday, January 31, 2003.
More info on the federal register notice 
http://www.ustr.gov/fr/2002/december.htm
http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/28dec20010800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2002/02-32746.htm

Chapter on IP, Section 3: Copyright and related Rights.

The draft is mostly in bracket.  It includes "term of protection" 
(Article 10) where the "choice" is 1) the Berne (50 years) or 2)life and 
70 or 120 years for unauthorized work, performance or phonogram.

Also controversial in the US, Article 22, about "obligations concerning 
technological measures".  Again you have a choice:  the level of 
protection of the Berne Convention or:

[21.1. 	In order to provide adequate legal protection and effective 
legal remedies against the circumvention of effective technological 
measures that are used by authors, by performers, by producers of 
phonograms and their successors in interest in connection with the 
exercise of their rights and that restrict unauthorized acts in respect 
of their works, performances and phonograms, each Party shall provide 
that any person who
a)	knowingly, or having reasonable grounds to know, circumvents without 
authority any effective technological measure; or
b)	manufactures, imports, distributes, offers to the public, provides or 
otherwise traffics in devices, products or components or offers to the 
public or provides services, which:
i)	are promoted, advertised or marketed for the purpose of circumvention 
of any effective technological measure, or
ii)	have only a limited commercially significant purpose or use other 
than to circumvent any effective technological measure, or
iii)	are primarily designed, produced, adapted or performed for the 
purpose of enabling or facilitating the circumvention of any effective 
technological measure; shall be guilty of an offense, and shall be 
liable, upon the suit of any injured party, to relief by way of damages, 
injunction, accounts or otherwise.
a)	The prohibition referred to in Article 21.1.b prohibits circumvention 
of technological measures and does not require an affirmative response 
to such measures. This Article does not require that the design of, or 
the design and selection of parts and components for, a consumer 
electronics, telecommunications or computing product provide for a 
response to any particular technological measure. This does not provide 
a defense to a claim of violation of Article 21.1.b.
b)	Each Party shall provide that a violation of the law implementing the 
provisions of this Article is independent of any infringement that might 
occur under the Party’s law on copyright and related rights.]

Next section in the long draft (TRIPS has 6 article on Copyright, FTAA 
has 23) is: [Section 4. Protection of {Expressions of] Folklore]

I hope you do not get discourage and send comments!

For questions you might want to contact Jesse M. Feder, Office of Policy 
and International Affairs, U.S. Copyright Office
For USTR it's Kira Alvarez, Tel. (202) 395-6864 Fax. (202) 395-3891 
Email: kalvarez@ustr.gov




-- 
Manon Anne Ress
Consumer Project on Technology
www.cptech.org
PO Box 19367, Washington, DC 20036
manon.ress@cptech.org, voice: 1.202.387.8030, fax: 1.202.234.5176