[Ecommerce] [Fwd: [Broadcast-discuss] Notes from Day 3 Now Available]

[Manon Ress]

Dear colleagues,

Find below UPD comments and the verbatim notes about the last day of the
Wipo standing commitee on copyright and related rights in Geneva.

My take on it is somewhat different:

Good news:
1)limitations and exceptions for the visually impaired, the libraries and
educators will be on the next SCCR agenda (maybe June 2005?).  I hope the
range of stakeholders will somehow become broader?  What about private use
for example?
2) the performers and other content holders (CISAC and IFPI for example
among the 14 signatories of a statement) expressed "loud and clear" that
they are not against the proposed treaty but against almost everything in
it...except TPMs. The content owners do see the problems with giving the
casters competing rights (but there's some tricky conflicts among them
since some of them are both content owners and casters)
3) There were more public interests groups and even though there were
almost no time for us to speak out, no coffee breaks to exchange
information with delegates, our papers were found two days in a row in the
trash, we managed to make our points somehow and got many good vibes from
delegates who welcomed our input.

Bad news:
1)TPMs got more support from delegates.
2) there's a dangerous proposal to have "flexibility" regarding the
inclusion of webcasters.  3 options are on the table: the US way:  to give
them same rights as broadcasters, the EU way, rights to the "simulcasters"
or webcasters linked to webcasters would get rights, and the "no inclusion
and thus no new rights for webcasters"(all other countries).  There will
be reservations or "options" for countries to chose what they want to give
their casters.  I'm not sure how that would help them fight signal piracy
on a global internet but maybe the point for them is just to get into the
exclusive rights status?  Then it will be up to the US to push the new
norm?
3) Because they have to speed up the process, delegations agreed on
possible regional meetings but the Chair would not agree to the additional
possibility of having an open intersessional intergovernmental meeting
(open to NGOs)and in Geneva.  The opposition on this subject was quite
surprising.  The rational for the good proposal to have intergovernmental
meeting in Geneva was that the controversial issues are cross regions more
than regional (most countries in same regions shared their opposition to
giving exclusive rights to webcasters.
4) Because of this "disagreement" between the chair (who did not want to
change anything in HIS conslusions but wanted the committee to "join in",
the day ended with harsh words and a vote that did not seem quite right.
I thought WIPO was a consensual organizations.  Maybe they'll start voting
regularly and in other committee now?

that would be interesting to watch.
Manon

---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: [Broadcast-discuss] Notes from Day 3 Now Available
From:    davidt@public-domain.org
Date:    Fri, November 19, 2004 12:15 pm
To:      broadcast-discuss@lists.essential.org
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.public-domain.org/node/view/66

The end of this session was truly amazing. Brazil made a strong push
against including suggestions for regional conferences. They pointed out
that the method suggested by the chair departed from the written
recommendations from the previous meeting. A number of countries agreed,
and India suggested alternative language.

Serbia objected on a point of order that India should not have been able
to make a substantive point on a previous point of order. India then
argued that the rules of procedure had been violated in the past, as when
the chair was elected for back-to-back sessions. India suggested that the
personal views of one member (the chair) should not be included in the
report of a committee that was supposed to operate by committee.

Zambia intervened, and the chair then took a show of hands on whether his
conclusions should go into the committee report. The majority were in
favor of including the recommendations. The chair then gave a short speech
on democracy and enthusiastic applause from the back of the room ensued.

This summary doesn't do justice to the drama -- be sure to read the last
1/3 of Day 3's notes.

David
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