[Ecommerce] Meeting June 16 on non negotiated contract and the Hague( Deadline for registration June 13 3pm)

[Manon Anne Ress]

Sorry for crossposting this.  FYI Miriam Nisbet (ALA) has posted this on 
another list.  I added the notice in cut and paste (to avoid bad attachment)
QUOTE
"If you have not signed up to attend the meeting next Monday, June 16, 
on the draft Hague convention, please do so.  We need people to give 
their views to the U.S. Delegation.  Because the meeting room is small, 
you need to register very quickly.

Briefly, the current draft Hague Convention on jurisdiction and
judgments would apply only to cases in which business and commercial
parties have chosen a forum in their contract (so called "B2B
contracts").  The draft convention would thus provide for the
enforceability of such "choice of court" agreements (including those
governing copyrighted materials, such as software) and the
enforceability of judgments resulting from courts designated in such
agreements.  Terms in non-negotiated contracts and licenses, which allow
the licensor to designate in advance which court will hear the parties'
disputes, remain a significant and controversial issue for many groups,
including libraries and small businesses. If you need more information
about the issues, please let me know.

The notice asks for written comments.  I'm trying to clarify the
deadline for those comments - will let you know what I find out.  Miriam
(Mac)

Miriam M. Nisbet
Legislative Counsel
American Library Association
1301 Pennsylvania Ave. NW - #403
Washington, D.C. 20004-1701
Voice:  202-628-8410, x. 202,
         or 800-941-8478, x. 202
Fax:     202-628-8419
e-mail:  mnisbet@alawash.org
http://www.ala.org/washoff

MEETING NOTICE

SECRETARY OF STATE'S ADVISORY COMMITTEE
ON PRIVATE INTERNATIONAL LAW

STUDY GROUP ON INTERNATIONAL JURISDICTION AND JUDGMENTS

JUNE 16, 2003

	There will be a public meeting of the Study Group on International 
Jurisdiction and Judgments of the Secretary of State's Advisory 
Committee on Private International Law, on Monday June 16, from 9:00am 
to 12:30pm at 1300 I Street NW, Suite 400 West, Washington DC. 
Registration will be from 9:00 to 9:30am, with the business meeting 
beginning promptly at 9:30am.

	The Hague Conference on Private International Law has prepared a new 
draft of a convention on jurisdiction and the enforcement of judgments 
that would apply only to cases in which business and commercial parties 
have chosen a forum in their contract.  The draft convention would 
provide for the enforceability of such choice of court agreements and 
the enforceability of judgments resulting from courts designated in such 
agreements.

The Department of State has been asked to inform the Hague Conference by 
early July whether the United States would support convening 
international negotiations on the basis of the new draft 
business-business choice of court convention.  It would mean putting 
aside the more wide-ranging draft convention on jurisdiction and the 
enforcement of judgments that has been the subject of negotiations at 
the Hague Conference for more than a decade.

	The purpose of the meeting is to hear the views of the private sector 
on the draft choice of court convention and the possibility of 
initiating a new round of negotiations on the basis of this text.  A 
copy of the new draft and other documents relevant to the project may be 
found on the web site of the Hague Conference (www.hcch.net), or may be 
requested from Cherise Reid, Office of the Legal Adviser, telephone 
202-776-8420, email reidcherised@ms.state.gov.

	The Advisory Committee meeting is open to the public up to the capacity 
of the meeting room.  Interested persons are invited to attend and to 
express their views.  Persons who wish to have their views considered 
may also submit written comments.  Written comments should be submitted 
by email to Jeffrey Kovar at kovarj@ms.state.gov.  All comments received 
will be made available to the public by request to Mr. Kovar via email 
or by telephone (202-776-8342).

	Persons interested in attending the meeting should inform Aaliya K. 
Bokhari.  Interested persons should provide name, affiliation, postal 
and email addresses, and telephone/telefax numbers to Ms. Bokhari by 
phone (202-515-2431), fax (202-289-7983) or email 
(aaliya.k.bokhari@verizon.com), no later than 3pm on Friday June 13. 
Persons desiring to participate by teleconference should so inform Ms. 
Bokhari, who will provide call-in information.

	Any other questions or comments should be addressed to the undersigned.




Jeffrey D. Kovar
Assistant Legal Adviser
for Private International Law
U.S. Department of State



-- 
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