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Subject: IP: Hague Convention, Intellectual Property Control
> >Date: Thu, 06 Sep 2001 21:33:21 -0400 >To: dave@farber.net >From: Dave Burstein <daveb@dslprime.com> >Subject: Hague Convention, Intellectual Property Control > >Dave > >About to quietly slip through, The Hague Treaty is important because it >will enforce in dozens of countries laws many of us question constantly: >DMCA, arbitrary contracts, extraordinarily strong protections for >corporate rights, foreign jurisdiction even if the laws conflict, the >ability to sue half a world away under different law. Because it's being >done with little publicity, even a few individuals can have a significant >impact. That's why Jamie Love, Richard Stallman, and I are testifying in >DC next Tuesday, alongside the MPAA, AT&T and the usual suspects. (below) > >The best discussion of the issues, and what to do, is at > >http://www.cptech.org/ecom/jurisdiction/hague.html > >The American Library Association urged U.S. negotiators "to remove >intellectual property cases, including copyright cases, from the scope of >the draft." > >I wrote this note to the other panelists, after Richard Stallman got the >speaker's program as an attachment, and replied "You sent the attachment >in Microsoft Word format, a secret proprietary format, so I cannot read >it. If you send me the text in ASCII, HTML, or PDF, then I could read it." >My additional thoughts: Just as we should not implicitly force the use of >U.S./Microsoft software, neither should Americans have imposed on them >foreign laws. In particular, I as a writer do not want to fear court >proceedings if my work, not considered libelous under U.S. law, is >unacceptable in Singapore, Croatia, or Spain. They don't have >the precedents of Times vs. Sullivan, or the rule of "absence of malice", >and the practicalities of defending myself would have a severe chilling >effect. >> >>The corollary is that we should not impose our laws, about which we have >>major disagreements, on other nations. I'm an author, and want to collect >>royalties. But I don't think protecting my royalties requires imposing on >>other nations policies they disagree with. In particular, if Brazil wants >>to set the price of textbooks at a figure that allows poor children to go >>to school, or Sweden believes in streaming radio without additional >>royalties beyond those already paid by the radio station, that should be >>their right. In this country, we have strong disagreements about many of >>these issues, and in a decade may choose to reverse some of the >>legislation. For example, the Chief Technologist of the FCC, Dave Farber, >>calls the DMCA "one of the worst laws I have ever seen. It will have a >>chilling effect on research around the world." While many on this panel >>disagree with that point of view, the absence of national consensus is >>clear. How then America insist it be incorporated into international law? >>Similarly, our likely royalty rates on streaming music will make Internet >>Radio generally impractical as a mass medium in a country as rich as the >>United States. It is clearly not right in many other nations. >> >> Rights need to be weighed. I believe the lowering the price of >> schoolbooks in a poor nation is a noble government effort; my publisher, >> Wiley, probably disagrees. I place the efficiency of the public library, >> where books - now electronic - are available to all higher than my own >> royalties. Honorable people can disagree with my opinions; they should >> not be imposed on nations by fiat. >> >> We do not want to become again "ugly Americans." We will pay a price >> for extending our rules around the world that is much greater than the >> incremental royalties. We will pay a second price, chilling freedom of >> speech in America, as well. >> >> Dave Burstein >>PUBLIC HEARING ON >>DRAFT CONVENTION ON JURISDICTION AND FOREIGN JUDGMENTS IN CIVIL AND >>COMMERICAL MATTERS >> >>September 11, 2001 >>9:30 a.m. 5:00 p.m. >>Patent Theater, Crystal Park 2 >>2121 Crystal Drive, 2nd Floor >>Arlington, Virginia >> >>SCHEDULE >> >> >>9:30 Opening Remarks >> Robert L. Stoll, Administrator for External Affairs >> >> Jennifer Lucas >> Attorney Advisor >> >>10:00 Marc E. Hankin >>American Bar Association Intellectual Property Law Section Committee On >>Draft Hague Convention >> >>10:15 Judith Sapp >> International Trademark Association (INTA) >> >>10:30 James Love >> Consumer Project on Technology >> >>10:45 Michael Sondow >> International Congress of Independent Internet Users >> Ltd. (ICIIU) >> >>11:00 Kathryn A. Kleiman >> Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) >> >>11:15 Sarah B. Deutsch >> Verizon Communications >> >>11:30 Ed Black >> Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) >> >>11:45 Barbara Wellbery >> Yahoo! >> >>12:00 1:00 Lunch Break >> >>1:00 Alan Kasper >> American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) >>Patent and Trademark Section >> >>1:15 Judith Saffer >> American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) >>Copyright Section >> >>1:30 Dave Burstein >> DSL Prime >> >>1:45 Mark Bohannon >> Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) >> >>2:00 Emery Simon >> Business Software Alliance (BSA) >> >>2:15 Richard Stallman >> Free Software Foundation >> >>2:30 Break >> >>2:45 Laura Kaster >> AT&T >> >>3:00 Shira Perlmutter >> AOL Time Warner Inc. >> >>3:15 Troy Dow >> Motion Picture Association of America >> >>3:30 Vergil Bushnell >> Computer Science Student, University of Maryland >> >>Special Correspondent, The Personal Computer Show, WBAI-99.5FM, 8 p.m. >>Wednesdays >>Three time winner of Best Radio Show from the Computer Press Association; >>Editor,DSL Prime; Co-author with Jennie Bourne of "DSL: A Wiley Tech >>Brief" forthcoming >>"The power of the printing press belongs solely to those who own the >>presses" A.J. Leibling - >>The Internet is the cheapest printing press ever invented For archives see: http://www.interesting-people.org/
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