[Upd-discuss] Dramatic Events at Close of 12th WIPO SCCR Meeting

[Rufus Pollock]

 From my posting at http://www.okfn.org/drn/node/10:

Dramatic events marked the close the 12th meeting of the Standing Committee on 
Copyright and Related Rights. The meeting was part of a continuing series 
dedicated to a proposed Broadcast Treaty (summary and analysis of the treay).

Debate over adoption of the Chair's (Jukka Liedes of Finland) conclusions 
stalled over the particular question of whether to have regional or 
interssessional meetings. This point may seem trivial but was in fact of 
crucial importance. This was because it was widely believed that regional 
meetings were the idea of the secratariat and a method by which they could 
force rapid adoption of the treaty in toto by undermining the strong 
interregional alliance centred on Brazil, India and Egypt who have been 
objecting to certain extreme IP provisions such as the presence of TPMs 
(Technological Protection Measures).

In a dramatic closing hour a dissenting group led by Brazil and India objected 
again and again to the Chair's and secretariat's attempt to push through the 
proposed conclusions. This dissenting group repeatedly made clear that the 
Chair's conclusions did not reflect their views on key matters. Discussion 
became particularly intense as deadline loomed and when the Chair appeared to 
discard out of hand a proposed alternative wording India raised the suggestion 
that the Chair's position was invalid for technical procedural reasons and 
therefore his conclusions carried no weight.

Finally, in an unprecedented move, the Chair called for a vote of hands on 
adoption of the Chair's conclusions. Five countries dissented (India, Brazil, 
Egypt, Argentina, Iran) and an (unannounced) but much larger group supported 
the Chair's text. The Chair, who had been prompted throughout by Rita Hayes of 
the secretariat, then gave a brief speech on the importance of majority voting 
which received applause from the floor (noticeably from those NGOs 
representing broadcasting organizations) which appeared to indicate he 
believed his conclusions had been adopted (though it was unclear what WIPO 
procedure was on this point). Thus it was on this note of division and 
confusion that the meeting ended.

I should also mention as a postscript the weird trashing of documents prepared 
by public interest NGOs. See the report by Cory Doctorow for more details.