Stop the broadcaster giveaway!

Filed in archive Commentary , Consumer Rights , Industry , International , Legal on June 1, 2006

Hollywood's insatiable power grab continues. The EFF has issued an Action Alert to stop the US and the world from giving unnecessary rights to rich corporate broadcasters. This giveaway takes the power away from the people and new and innovative companies, and reduces future consumer choice. Please join me to send the alert and be heard.

Here is more on The World Intellectual Property Organization's (WIPO) "Treaty on the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations".

"The United States delegation to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has been one of the strongest supporters of efforts to create a new intellectual property right for broadcasters and cablecasters through a new WIPO treaty. If adopted, the treaty would give broadcasters, cablecasters and potentially webcasting companies 50 years of copyright-like rights over anything they transmit, including public domain and Creative Commons-licensed works. It would also give broadcasters legal protection to use
technology to lock down content, giving them control over how you use broadcasts received by your television, radio and possibly personal computer as well as control over how those devices are designed and built.

The new treaty is likely to restrict your access to knowledge and culture, and it lets broadcasters make decisions that should be left in the hands of creators and the public. Furthermore, the treaty raises serious threats to innovation in Internet and home entertainment technologies. "