[Hague-jur-commercial-law] Techdaily story on prep for Hague Meeting April 21-28, 2004

[Manon Ress]

04-16-2003

E-Commerce: Nations Seek Breakthrough On Disputed Jurisdiction Treaty

Officials from dozens of nations will gather next week in the Netherlands
to continue negotiations for a treaty on jurisdiction and enforcement of
court decisions related to online business-to-business (B2B)
disputes.

The international delegations, which include members of business and
nonprofit groups, will meet in The Hague from April 21 to April 27. The
U.S. delegation, led by Jeffrey Kovar of the State Department, will
include eight members in all. A final coordinating meeting of the U.S.
delegation was held on Friday via conference call.

The negotiation began in 1999 and was significantly narrowed last year to
focus on clauses specifying which courts will have jurisdiction over
disputes arising in B2B contracts. The narrowing helped restore optimism
to a negotiation that at times has appeared to be teetering on failure,
yet several difficult issues remain for negotiators next week.

Sticky issues to come include provisions on intellectual property and the
standards for invalidating B2B agreements and deeming judgments
unenforceable, a source close to the negotiations said. Officials also
will tackle the difference in political systems and damages for broken
contracts, the source said.

Negotiators next week will work through the draft text, first to fill
holes and then to address tough issues as they can, the source said. The
Hague Conference on Private International Law, which is overseeing the
negotiation, has expressed hope that the meeting will generate sufficient
progress to lead to a text for a full-scale international negotiation
early in 2005.

Next week's agenda begins with a report on a late March meeting in
Washington on the intellectual property aspects of the draft treaty.
Foreign negotiators from China, the European Union, Japan and the United
Kingdom attended the meeting, according to a participant.

After three days of talks, negotiators in Washington emerged with several
changes to the draft text, according to a participant. Among the changes
was a clarification that the convention is neutral on "interim measures of
protection," which, for example, allow copyright holders to temporarily
stop allegedly infringing activity.

Another concern that may surface is the possibility that the choice of
court included in form contracts, such as those clicked on to download
software, will be fully recognized and judgments enforced as a result of
the treaty. The concern is that the person clicking on the contract did
not negotiate it and would be held to a court in another country. The
Consumer Project on Technology (CPT) has recommended the exclusion of
non-negotiated contracts or more flexibility to escape an unfair choice of
court or resulting judgment.

CPT also seeks to ensure that the convention does not change global policy
on trade in copyrighted and patented goods, especially related to the
first-sale doctrine and parallel trade, or re-importation, of medicines.
The group does not want a contract that prevents U.S. consumers from
buying pharmaceuticals reimported from Canada, for instance. And the group
is further concerned that the draft convention could harm competition or
impede the transfer of technology.


By William New
 
National Journal's Technology Daily

   
   


-- 
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