Miernik: I like my spam

Jan Macek is the first person I met who likes his spam. Why do you delete your spam he asked. I don't really know why. Anyway, please sent my future spam to Jan Macek please.

Everybody should have his spam.

Böhmische Dörfer on the rockets

The United States want to install their new rocket defense system in the Czech republic. The Russians are not excited.

"I doubt that the trajectories of the flight of Iranian and North Korean missiles will lead across the Czech Republic and Poland. The radar station in the Czech Republic can evidently watch the activity of the missile forces stationed in central Russia and of the Northern Fleet," [General] Popovkin said.

Installation at US bases in Germany would be an easier solution: reportedly 4500 kilometers. Cmp. that range with Praha-Leipzig.

Gema vs internet service business

It is a risk for a company to provide services to the internet when other companies and service providers don't understand the game. We watch now GEMA, the German music collective society, which goes after the Swiss rapidshare.com because content protected by copyright was hosted by them. Rapidshare is blamed by second hand media reports as a "piracy plattform". A quick look at their homepage will inform an uninitiated participant. e.g. a journalist, about the nature of their services. Rapidshare offers huge upload space for individuals, a virtual private upload space. We sometimes speak of an Internet harddisc. In the press release of GEMA it is correctly described as:

Deren Geschäftsmodell basiert darauf, Speicherkapazitäten zur Verfügung zu stellen, damit Nutzer beliebige Inhalte in diese Speicher einspeisen und anderen Nutzern öffentlich zugänglich machen können. ...Die nunmehr von dem Landgericht Köln erlassenen einstweiligen Verfügungen machen hingegen ganz klar deutlich, dass "die Tatsache, dass der Dienstbetreiber die Inhalte nicht selbst einstellt, sondern diese durch Nutzer hochgeladen werden" rechtlich nichts daran ändert, dass die Dienstbetreiber für die im Rahmen des Dienstes stattfindenden Urheberrechtsverletzungen haften.

Rough almost literal translation:
Their business model is based on making available storage space for user upload of content which is made available to other users. ... However, the recent preliminary injunctions imposed by Cologne district court stress that "the point, that service providers didn't provide the content themselves but by user upload" doesn't change anything from the legal side: service providers have to take account for copyright infringement in the course of their services.

Imagine a paper production company would be responsible for the illegal use of the paper for writing offensive texts. If the alledged teaching of the district court Köln is applied on a large scale that would be the end of internet services at large. In Germany so called "Mitstörerhaftung" imposes strong restrictions and risks on the development of German web companies.

WIPO Broadcasting non-thoughts

Just a non-comment on the non-paper No 2. Definitions, so I was told in University, must be worded in a way that you can insert them. Yes, it is the spirit of teutonic cruelty, we Germans start talks with definitions, we love and worship definitions. Our WIPO delegates discuss for years and then finally make up their minds about definitions.

(a) “broadcast” means the programme-carrying signal used for transmission by the broadcasting organization;
(b) “signal” means an electronically-generated carrier capable of transmitting programmes;
(c) “broadcasting” means the transmission by wireless means of broadcasts for the reception by the public;

Let's try that little non-exercise:

“broadcasting” means the transmission by wireless means of programme-carrying electronically-generated carriers capable of transmitting programmes used for transmission by the broadcasting organizations for the reception by the public;

Let's don't mind recursion, isn't it real beauty?

WIPO and scissors

In December I made a presentation at Eupaco-0 conference about developments on WIPO grounds. I explained UN diplomacy with a simple scheme: Rock, Scissors, Paper. The essence of diplomacy is to beat rock with paper. Scissors are missing on diplomatic grounds. In a democratic Parliament or in an Open Society it's simultanious RSP.

What ever you think about WIPO, the Broadcast meeting was very entertaining, from Gwen's notes:

Then next question will be, put forward earlier by delegations, what is exactly the broadcast? Should we define "the broadcast" and how should it be tackled?
Should we protect it?

Ah non! And a non-blog comments

Apparently, there was a "non-slide" presentation about the objectives of the proposed treaty. And some "non-conclusions."

Another Blog:

The chair did not want "too many to speak" but had to let India make its statement. ... People here are puzzled. If you only point to agreement (on or off the record it seems), the non-conclusions might end up very very short. Would that mean that this meeting did not really happen? Like a non-meeting?

Scissors beat paper. Don't forget that. The old proposal is dead and now became a zombie. Time to put forward an industry&civsoc alternative proposal together.

Just like you

Ich höre gerade zufällig
Soldier's Radio News - Army news as it happens, produced daily by Soldier's Radio & Television und die Radiomacher erklären für Doofe den Sinn der Präsenz in Afganistan. US-Soldaten sind wohl eine imaginäre Zielgruppe. Von dieser Sprache wird man ganz gaga.

WIPO Broadcast Treaty funeral process

A very well written Broadcast Treaty background article from Jamie Love of Cptech targeted at a wide audience. James Love's communication is an insightful affirmation of my earlier thought: The BCT is dead but - It sounds absurd at first sight - these NGO's involved cannot really need a dead BCT they tried to kill, bold face highlighting from me:

If WIPO can find an exit strategy from this marathon negotiation, it will have to do something else. Chile has asked the SCCR to consider a treaty that provides for minimum safeguards (limitations and exceptions to rights) for uses of copyrighted works, particularly for libraries, schools and the handicapped, and 16 countries have called for a broader treaty on access to knowledge -- quite different directions than the current treaty proposal.

Lol. Reminds me of Ghana. Funerals there become great parties. Now the US delegation and their death certificate:

At a minimum, we believe this means agreement on the scope of protection providing broadcasters with what they need to protect against signal piracy while not undermining the rights of the underlying content holders or the public interest.

that is they want to kill the previous approach and focus on signals which is a good sign and in resignated tone:

Since the beginning of our discussions at WIPO on this issue of protection for broadcasters, the United States has scaled back its ambition for the treaty as reflected by the withdrawal of its own proposal which proposed, ... protection for netcasting organizations. The United States believes that flexibility in this process is required of all member states in order to achieve an agreement that will enjoy consensus. However, an agreement without identifiable benefits for broadcasting and cablecasting organizations will be a pointless exercise, ...

Finnish WIPO Diplomacy for the slow learner

Howard Knopf comments on the Jukka Liedes non-papers:

It's not clear why delegates are convening in Geneva to be handed brief documents that could presumably have seen sent out earlier by e-mail. Delegations need time to analyze and need instructions.

It is very clear why and he gave the answer himself.

WIPO: Broadcast Treaty and Berserker proposals

When the king is killed a Berserker runs mad and kills everyone else. It seems as if the funeral SCCR meeting for the WIPO Broadcast Treaty started with a Berserker proposal by the Finnish chair. IP-Watch, known for nice unbiased semi-diplomatic translations of WIPO byzantinism puts it like this:

[Jukka Liedes] said there appears to be agreement to narrow the focus of the treaty, and expressed optimism about the outcome. If not, he signalled that he would be prepared to abandon the project after many years of leadership.

After slow or no move meetings and a soft landing finally radical change proposals. Of course delegations were not prepared and probably proposals extent their mandate. So the purpose of the move is understood: Liedes wants delegations to continue WIPO discussions and avoid the death of the project right now. For those NGOs which made a lot of fuzz about the broadcast treaty that could be beneficial. BCT became a strong fundraiser for lobbying activities and many emerging web-companies support NGO lobbying in Geneve. Another x years BCT negotiation round and on top of the debate the 1961 Rome Convention would vanish into thin air for free. Not to mention Brazil's attempts to turn WIPO into an IP-Unesco would gain even more support. Comments of the chair hint into that direction:

He noted that he is now also responsible for significant access to knowledge projects in Finland.

That is an elite joke. Access to knowledge, a phrase coined and made popular by Jamie Love's cptech who also presented a A2K treaty draft. Far away from the current BC Treaty proposal which does not even regulate fair dealing provisions.

But let's have a quick look at the non-paper:

Contracting Parties shall provide for adequate and effective legal protection against unauthorized
(i) decryption of an encrypted broadcast;
(ii) manufacture, importation, sale or any other act that makes available a device or system capable of decrypting an encrypted broadcast; and
(iii) removal or alteration of any electronic information relevant for the protection of the broadcasting organizations.

As we can easily observe the non-paper proposal is very premature.
ii) translates into a governmental permission/authorization for production and sale of decoder hardware. Note that "unauthorized" extends to ii)

So a hot draft with loopholes which would require more discussions. Delegations would find out by surprise the differences between crypto keys and crypto tools/methods. WIPO diplomats would continue to show leadership. I imagine future BCT negotiations would get 'webcasted'... who knows. What does WIPO like more than administering treaties? Discussions.

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