[Ecommerce] (IP-Watch) Rita Hayes on DRM and casters' treaty at OECD

[Manon Ress]

http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/index.php?p=3D211&res=3D1024_ff&print=3D0

2/2/2006

Top WIPO Copyright Official Promotes DRMs, Stresses Cooperation

posted by William New @ 12:29 pm

ROME - The top official for copyright issues at the World
Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) this week told a gathering
of experts that standards are needed to protect content online, and
stressed cooperation among institutions and others in the field.

=93Our work together is gaining increasing importance and increasing
urgency,=94 said Rita Hayes, deputy director for copyright and related
rights at the UN World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).

Speaking at an 30-31 January event sponsored by the Organisation for
Economic Cooperation and Development, Hayes called for greater
cooperation.

OECD officials also stressed cooperation. Secretary-General Donald
Johnston highlighted the OECD=92s involvement in digital content,
including in education, e-government, and science. He said the OECD=92s
role is as analyst, and said that it informs governments in their
decision-making.

Hugo Parr, chairman of the OECD committee on information technology
policy told Intellectual Property Watch that there is no threat to
WIPO of the OECD moving into the area.

=93International organisations should take care not to duplicate work,=94
he said. =93I think the OECD is broad enough and has a broad enough
mandate in terms of total economic perspective of its member nations
that it has interest in IPR as one factor of the economy, among many.
But I don=92t see it becoming a competitor to WIPO, for instance.=94 Parr
said the OECD=92s expertise lies in =93assisting governments with
analysis and policy recommendations.=94

Hayes also emphasised the importance of intellectual property.
=93Intellectual property has moved to centre stage,=94 Hayes said, noting
its increasing role in the economies of many nations. Intellectual
property, though it is intangible, is the basis for entire
industries, she said.

Hayes said estimates are that intellectual property accounted for US
$3 trillion in global trade last year, and that is expected to double
to more than US$6 trillion by 2020. The creative industries are
growing faster than any other sector, she added.

There are many different views about copyright protection, she said,
but everyone shares a common interest in content, which is the
=93currency =85 across the Internet.=94 =93Without attractive and innovativ=
e
content, the Internet would be a barren landscape,=94 she said.

Hayes said WIPO stresses the importance of intellectual property
protection, and named three key factors to be pursued. These are to
establish an inclusive and sound legal framework, efficient
enforcement regimes, and an intellectual property environment that
encourages the development of creative industries.

On the legal framework, WIPO is focused on getting nations=92 adherence
to its 1996 treaties related to the Internet, the WIPO Copyright
Treaty and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty, she said.
Hayes promoted digital rights management, and said further work is
needed, such as in developing standardisation and helping with
interoperability of systems, and in reducing legal obstacles.

=93Without a common approach to DRM standards, key issues regarding
compatibility between digital devices and copyright-protected digital
content will remain unresolved,=94 she said in her prepared remarks.
=93This would be an obstacle to increasing the legal availability of
copyrighted content on the Internet.=94

WIPO also is considering =93ways to address the interplay between
limitations and exceptions and DRM-protected content =96 particularly
in regard to accessibility issues,=94 she added.

Michael Geist, University of Ottawa law proferssor, highlighted in
his blog after the event that it is the content industry view that
interoperability among electronic gadgets is the problem with DRMs.
This, he said, runs contrary to the consumer or user view that DRMs
get in the way of their use of technologies.

Hayes also touted the negotiation at WIPO for a treaty on the rights
of broadcasters. Some later speakers criticised the idea as outdated
because it reinforces an older broadcast-driven thinking about
content, and also because it would potentially give new, unnecessary
rights to broadcasters.

Hayes highlighted several principles behind WIPO. The organisation is
member-driven; has a legal framework that strikes a balance between
the needs of stakeholders (reflected by the recent inclusion of
exceptions and limitations for education and disabilities in the
agenda of the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related
Rights); is flexible; and is focused on IP protection.

A key issue facing WIPO is the debate over expansion of its
development agenda. Hayes mentioned that there has been a =93meaningful
discussion=94 on development. But she did not discuss the development
agenda. Instead, she mentioned the digital divide, noting that as of
2005, there were over 640 million people online, but only 1.5 percent
of the African population is online compared with 67 percent in the
United States.

Strong partnerships and cooperation will be critical for the future,
she concluded.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. All of the
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widescale, free, non-commercial reproduction and translation.

William New, the author of this post, may be reached at wnew@ip-
watch.ch.
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************************************************
Manon Anne Ress
manon.ress@cptech.org,
www.cptech.org

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