Digital Rights Network

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.