[Ecommerce] AFP on WIPO Broadcast/Webcast treaty

[Jeff Williams]

James and all,

  It is fairly clear that Ivins is jerking everyone's chain in order
to not obviously offend any SIG or stakeholders/users given
his comments.

  INEGroup-EU does not support said particulars in this
proposed treaty...

James Love wrote:

> Technology - AFP
> Broadcasters want new power to fight piracy but advocacy groups cry foul
> Mon Nov 10, 1:24 AM ET
>
> GENEVA (AFP) - The news clip of Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s
> statue falling or the re-run of a movie classic such as "Stagecoach" may
> be given extra protection from piracy in a move that advocacy groups say
> will hamper people's right to enjoy television and the Internet.
>
>         AFP/File Photo
>
> Authors and musicians are also worried this proposed broadcaster treaty
> will create unfair rights for anyone who simply transmits their hard work.
>
> But the broadcasters argue that they need more international muscle to
> fight the illicit copying of their output, and deserve greater rewards
> for the money and time they invest in airing programmes.
>
> "In this day and age of digitalisation there is inadequate protection
> against the unfair and unauthorised exploitation of broadcast signals,"
> said Benjamin Ivins, a senior associate and general counsel for the US
> National Association of Broadcasters (NAB).
>
> Broadcasters have certain international protection under the Rome
> Convention passed in 1961.
>
> "But it lacks protection on cable retransmission which is now one of the
> most usual ways to broadcast material," explained Tom Rivers, a legal
> advisor to the Association for Commercial Television in Europe, which
> has 22 members including News Corp's British Sky Broadcasting.
>
> "Also, there is no protection for the exploitation of broadcast material
> in the digital environment," he said.
>
> Over the past six years members of the World Intellectual Property
> Organisation (WIPO), including the United States, European Union (news -
> web sites) and Japan have offered proposals for a new treaty to update
> broadcasters' rights.
>
> And, in what some described as the first sign of real progress, WIPO
> states agreed at a meeting earlier this week to regroup in June, by
> which time they hope to have a single draft of the treaty.
>
> This should lead to a conference by mid-2005 in which the new rules may
> be finalised -- an alarming prospect for many non-governmental
> organisations (NGOs) that strongly oppose the idea.
>
> "The treaty restricts the ability to record music and films," declared
> James Love, a director at US advocacy group Consumer Project on Technology.
>
> "It is an unwanted layer on top of copyright," he told a news conference
> after attending the two-day broadcaster meeting at WIPO headquarters in
> Geneva.
>
> The proposals under discussion would give a new 50-year right over
> material in the public domain -- such as news clips or the broadcast of
> a classic movie, he and fellow activist Cory Doctorow, director of a
> second NGO, Electronic Frontier Foundation, explained.
>
> They may also support the technology that encrypts broadcasts to stop
> people from recording a TV show at home and watching it at a friend's
> house, they told reporters.
>
> And, because the definition of a broadcaster is unclear, the treaty
> could grant protection to web-casters, generating a whole new class of
> right holders.
>
> "It should never become a treaty, we are totally opposed," Love said.
>
> But NAB's Ivins dismissed their fears as "totally wrong."
>
> True, the rules would give broadcasters a 50-year right over the actual
> broadcast of a movie that is no longer protected by copyright, but
> anyone could make their own copy from the original version for
> commercial reproduction.
>
> As for restricting home entertainment, Ivins said that copyright laws
> typically contain an exception for personal use.
>
> And, while the United States had suggested extending the scope of the
> treaty to include broadcasts over the Internet, it was just a proposal,
> he reasoned.
>
> The WIPO discussions have also unnerved artists and the film and music
> industry who want assurances that any new broadcaster-protection would
> not conflict with their existing copyright.
>
> "The rights are in no way designed to affect content," said Ivins.
>
> On the contrary, they would boost protection for everyone while also
> recognising the broadcaster's "time, effort and financial contribution."
>
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Regards,
--
Jeffrey A. Williams
Spokesman for INEGroup LLA. - (Over 134k members/stakeholders strong!)
"Be precise in the use of words and expect precision from others" -
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