IP: COPYRIGHT HOLDERS VS. TELECOMS: Edupage, May 16, 2001

[David Farber <dave@farber.net>]

>COPYRIGHT HOLDERS VS. TELECOMS
>The United States and several other countries will meet in the
>Hague next month to discuss a treaty that would require U.S.
>jurisdictions to uphold rulings made in foreign courts. Critics
>are decrying the Hague Convention on Jurisdiction and Foreign
>Judgments, which was first planned 10 years ago, as potentially
>damaging because of the global nature of the Internet. ISPs and
>other telecommunications providers are among the companies
>worried that the treaty would open them up to a rash of lawsuits
>brought from around the world because of illegally shared
>material sent through their networks. However, copyright
>enforcers in Hollywood see the treaty as an opportunity to shut
>down the global piracy of music and videos. Although the
>convention allows for exemptions based on issues that conflict
>with a country's intrinsic values, the American Civil Liberties
>Union warns that passage of the treaty would infringe on U.S.
>free speech laws. Other experts, such as David Chiu of the
>Global Internet Liberty Campaign, said the treaty would allow
>private parties to seek out foreign courts sympathetic to their
>lawsuits.
>(Washington Post, 16 May 2001)



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