[WSIS CS-Plenary] [Fwd: [Ecommerce] UNESCO Report on Cultural Diversity Convention is out...]

Fri Mar 11 10:35:21 GMT 2005

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [Ecommerce] UNESCO Report on Cultural Diversity Convention is
out...
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 14:32:41 -0500
From: Manon Ress <manon.ress at cptech.org>
To: Ecommerce at lists.essential.org
CC: fwellings at freepress.net, Thiru Balasubramaniam <thiru at cptech.org>

...but maybe not quite ready for prime time?

The Preliminary Report of the Director-General containing Preliminary
Drafts of a Convention (March 2005) is on UNESCO site.

See: Preliminary Report of the Director-General containing two
Preliminary Drafts of a Convention
Document Type 	Rapport
File 1 	CLT-2005-CONF-203-CLD-4-Eng.pdf
Publication Date 	03 Mar 2005
http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-URL_ID=25926&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

This document has been sent out to Member States exactly 7 months before
the  next session of the General Conference (3-21 October 2005) to be
within the legal timetable to move toward a Convention. Some people
wonder why there's so much rushing here. it does not seem quite ready
for prime time.

The document includes the DG's preliminary report recording what has
taken place since 2003.  It will also includes 2 appendices but for now
you can only read appendix 1 which is the "composite text".  The draft
convention is in 3 parts that are at different stages of completion.
The Preamble was not examined at the Experts Meeting (Jan 31-Feb 11) and
has not been changed.  In Paris, the Plenary authorized the Chair to
draft a "consolidated document" which will come later as Appendix 2.

Part I has over 100 footnotes and many brackets, Part II has new
articles, Part III includes comments from the plenary.

Nothing has changed for the better regarding the push to make this
convention originally ABOUT THE PROTECTION OF CULTURAL DIVERSITY into
yet another international agreement to strengthen intellectual property
rights enforcement.

See for example page 26 New paragraph 3:
[States Parties] footnote 101 shall ensure [intellectual property rights
are [fully respected and enforced] according to existing international
instruments to which States are parties, particularly through the
development [or strengthening] of measures against piracy. footnote 102

footnote 102: Consistency in references to intellectual property rights
in the Preamble and in the text of the Convention must be ensures in the
text if this article is maintained. A question was raised as to the
concept of "piracy".

Only one question?  well, let's hope there will be more questions
regarding the 16 mentions of the need to protect or even strengthen
intellectual property while the proposed text does not mention ANYWHERE
the need to protect access to knowledge or the public domain. Let's hope
this imbalance is "corrected", before we rush into a convention that
would be inconsistent with both the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights and the UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity.

Did I mention that the US is back (after 19 years of absence) into
UNESCO? just in time for this convention.
Frannie Wellings (Free Press) is trying to organize a meeting with the
State Department in Washington, DC about this.  Let her
(fwellings at freepress.net) know if you would be interested in attending
such a meeting.

Manon

More at:
http://www.cptech.org/unesco/
  http://www.mediatrademonitor.org/
	CRIS Statement:
http://www.mediatrademonitor.org/node/view/180
Libraries:
http://www.mediatrademonitor.org/node/view/182
INCD
http://www.mediatrademonitor.org/node/view/185
CRIS +
http://www.mediatrademonitor.org/node/view/175

http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-URL_ID=25926&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
--
Manon Anne Ress
manon.ress at cptech.org,
www.cptech.org

Consumer Project on Technology in Washington, DC PO Box 19367,
Washington, DC 20036, USA Tel.:  +1.202.387.8030, fax: +1.202.234.5176

Consumer Project on Technology in Geneva, 1 Route des  Morillons, CP
2100, 1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland. Tel: +41 22 791 6727

Consumer Project on Technology in London, 24 Highbury Crescent, London,
N5 1RX, UK. Tel:+44(0)207 226 6663 ex 252. Mob:+44(0)790 386 4642. Fax:
+44(0)207 354 0607

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-- 
Manon Anne Ress
manon.ress at cptech.org,
www.cptech.org

Consumer Project on Technology in Washington, DC PO Box 19367,
Washington, DC 20036, USA Tel.:  +1.202.387.8030, fax: +1.202.234.5176

Consumer Project on Technology in Geneva, 1 Route des  Morillons, CP
2100, 1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland. Tel: +41 22 791 6727

Consumer Project on Technology in London, 24 Highbury Crescent, London,
N5 1RX, UK. Tel:+44(0)207 226 6663 ex 252. Mob:+44(0)790 386 4642. Fax:
+44(0)207 354 0607