WIPO Music Control Treaty Ratified

Greyfox writes: "Here's one that slipped through the cracks. The WIPO (You know, that unelected, unaccountable organization that lives in the Corporate back pockets) has ratified a anti-music piracy treaty which will go into effect on May 20. It apparently has anti-circumvention measures similar to the DMCA and will carry the force of law in the USA and other member countries." We had a more informative story about these two treaties a few months ago. The only new information is that the Phonograms and Performances Treaty now has enough signatures to go into effect in May.

Comments

Before its /.'ed...

[guiding_knight]

Here's the text:

A new international treaty aiming to protect musicians and the recording industry from Internet and digital piracy is set to go into effect in May, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) announced Thursday. The treaty, dubbed the WIPO Phonograms and Performances Treaty (WTTP), finally attained its needed number of ratifications with the addition of Honduras on Wednesday, and is now ready to go into full force on May 20.

According to the group, the WTTP provides a legal basis to prevent unauthorized use of musical works on digital networks. It is meant to work in conjunction with its sister treaty, the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WTO), which provides the same sort of protection for companies in the culture and information industries. The WTO is set to take effect on March 6.

Both treaties were adopted in 1996, WIPO said, but have just received the required number of signatories.

"Entry into force of these two key treaties represent a landmark in the history of international law of copyright and neighboring rights," WIPO Director General Kamil Idris said in a statement. "The stage is now set to offer more comprehensive protection for creators and creative enterprises in the digital environment."

Although the treaties provide a legal framework of rights, they do not overrule national laws. It remains to be seen how civil rights groups respond to the adoption of the treaties, however, given widespread grumbling in the U.S. over similar national legislation.

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act, passed by the U.S. Congress in 1998, has come under fire, particularly for its anticircumvention provisions which prohibit the disabling of copyright protection measures. The WTTP also contains anticircumvention provisions.

(/karmawhore) ;)

Re:Oh fooey....

[_Knots]

Uh, duh, the idea of Open Software may be fairly new, but it's certainly not *untested* (I test it every day by running Linux - works fine for me. If it doesn't for you, don't use it. Geesh, nobody said you had to. Now if only nobody said we *had* to use Microsoft [yes, I'm referring to job environments here]).

Most political theorists have simply rationalized their contemporary system - Burke, Hobbes, Aristotle, Plato, etc. They made good points sometimes in so doing, but still, they rationalized a lack of change. Rousseau, somebody on the other side, proscribed a new system which has never, as far as I am aware, been implemented except in microcosm. Marx, whom you were probably referring to, looked at the system around him, got a lot wrong, but got a lot of key things right - welcome to the humanities department. Marx has even been quoted as saying "I am not a Marxist" by which he meant that he did not wish to be associated with people who misinterpereted his ideas. He didn't intend the USSR, nor China, nor Cuba, you get the idea, to become communist - he intended Germany, an already industrialized, wealthy nation to become the first communist country - or a nation much like it. So of COURSE his theory failed, because it was not given the correct prerequisites. It's actually an impressive dillema of communism - the working classes in those countries that *could* go communist didn't and don't wish to. So it's untested and has remained so, despite the claims of "communistic" states, one never existed. Perhaps one never can, but don't knock that which has never been truly put into practice for a test run.

And about the treaty.... It makes next to no social sense for the megacorps to be forcing their views on the world. And economical..... only if you believe in trickledown economics. Which *has* been implemented - by the past nine Republican presidents.... and has been linked with nine downturns in the economy, each within six months of the president's assent to office.

So sorry to waste page space, but I feel better now. Thanks.