Look Inside A PC-killing WIPO Treaty

mouthbeef writes "The Broadcast Treaty is a proposal from a WIPO Subcommittee that's supposedly about stopping 'signal theft.' But along the way, this proposal has turned into a huge, convoluted hairball that threatens to make the PC illegal, trash the public domain, break copyleft and put a Broadcast Flag on the Internet. The treaty negotiation process is unbelievably convoluted and hard-to-follow, and they've just wrapped up the latest round in Geneva. But for the first time, a really large group of "civil society" orgs were accredited to attend. Me and another EFF staffer and the Coordinator of the Union for the Public Domain created a heavily editorialized impressionistic transcript of the meeting (EFF mirror, UPD mirror), trying to untie the knots in the negotiation. This is the first time that a really exhaustive peek inside a WIPO treaty negotiation has ever been published -- get it while it's legal!"

Comments

The trouble with vague legislation

[freejung]

from Article 16, Alternative V:

2. In particular, effective legal remedies shall be provided against those who:
...
(iii) participate in the manufacture, importation, sale, or any other act that makes available a device or system capable of decrypting or helping to decrypt an encrypted program-carrying signal.

This is obviously insanely vague. Now, they might argue that obviously they didn't mean to outlaw PCs and televisions with this wording, and of course it wouldn't be interpreted that way. But that's not the point.

The point is, such vague and overly inculsive laws set a dangerous precedent. Later on, when somebody wants to outlaw some new form of decryption technology, all they have to do is point to the language of this law and say, "see, this is exactly the sort of thing it's talking about." Never mind that this language is so broad it could be applied to almost anything with circuitry.

The freedom you give up now, assuming the goodwill of the powers that be, is the freedom you won't have later when that goodwill runs out.

When computers are outlawed...

[Rick the Red]

When computers are outlawed, only 97% of the population will care. Or something like that.

Hell, I'll bet Time Warner is dancing for joy over this treaty, but wait until they come into CNN's headquarters and take away all the PCs and video monitors. And what will Disney say when ABC is shut down because nobody is allowed to watch it anymore?

I'd love to see the FBI enforce this one! If you thought our government was in Wall Street's pocket now, well, wait until they try to take all computers away from the Fortune 500 :-)

Need Open Hardware

[Ugmo]

Plans to build PC like computers from parts of other Consumer electronic devices are needed.

If the generic PC is outlawed and Microsoft is able to push through DRM encumbered hardware as a new standard, it might be a good idea to be able to open up an old Tivo-like DRM laden device, a console like the X-box or a HDTV and use the parts to make a PC.

I know that the Tivo and Xbox are really just computers today and they can be hacked, but in the future laws or manufacturers may make this more difficult. It would be great if we could build our own PC's from parts and circumvent stupid laws.

You may only encrypt your datas!!!!1

[sockonafish]

from Article 16, Alternative V:

2. In particular, effective legal remedies shall be provided against those who: ...
(iii) participate in the manufacture, importation, sale, or any other act that makes available a device or system capable of decrypting or helping to decrypt an encrypted program-carrying signal.


So while we may encrypt things, we will never under any circumstance be able to decrypt them. This would outlaw DVD players, too.

The UN charter (and US Constitution) need amendments outlawing illogical legislation.

What moron drafted this?

[pclminion]

participate in the manufacture, importation, sale, or any other act that makes available a device or system capable of decrypting or helping to decrypt an encrypted program-carrying signal

That doesn't just outlaw PCs, it outlaws everything. It outlaws the Earth, because on the Earth is a living system of organisms, one of which (homo sapiens) is capable of decrypting a program-carrying signal. Without the support system of the Earth, humans could not exist, therefore the Earth is "helping to decrypt."

I have to wonder how people, who are obviously incapable of drafting a treaty without accidentally outlawing all of existence, have ever reached such positions of legal authority...

Re:What moron drafted this?

[Lodragandraoidh]

WIPO is almost fully (91% I believe) funded by IP holding multinational corporations. Their charter states that their purpose is to bring IP protection standardization to the world - which translates to mean standardizing IP protections to best benefit thier primary funders.

Developing nations and public advocacy groups are being crushed as the IP juggernaut rolls on.

Re:This is actually an issue

[eaolson]

I once had a store owner get all over my case for taking photos inside her store. Apparently, those were proprietary photons I was recording. What I wonder is, would she have had a leg to stand on if I had taken the same photos from right outside her doorway? At what point do you own a photon, and at what point do you not?

I'm not sure either, and it's an interesting question. Now replace "inside her store" with "through her bedroom window using a zoom lens" and you might come away with a different opinion on who should be allowed to take photos where.

(Admittedly, store = semi-public place whereas bedroom = private, so it's not a perfect analogy.)

WIPO

[Seth Cohn]

Sadly, government corrupts, and world government corrupts absolutely.

For those of us in the United States, I strongly urge you to look at things like the Free State Project. (http://www.freestateproject.org)This isn't a bunch of wackos looking to move to Montana for another Waco holdout, it's made of people like you who will stand up, be active, and work within New Hampshire (already the best representative State with only 3000 people per Rep, as well as strongly libertarian minded) to reduce the size of government. It's our only hope, because the more they pass nonsense like this, the more you and your neighbors had better stand together...

If p2p becomes a crime, you want your neighbors to defend you when the thoughtcrime police show up. And don't kid yourselves, we are rapidly coming to that.... The day when you click on the wrong download button and the police knock on your door is already here.
Don't own a computer? Get sued by the RIAA
12 years old? Get sued by the RIAA
66 Years old and never used a computer? Yes, Get sued by the RIAA
Now just imagine the force of the WIPO, and 'the law' bolstering this nonsense...

Re:whatever

[Anonymous Coward]

> Look... whatever... nobody is going to ban PCs

No they are not going to ban PCs. What they can (and likely will) try to do next is to outlaw (or, more likely, severely limit the usage of) any software which can convert PC into "decryption device".

And yes, that will be broad enough to include Linux, compilers, debuggers, hex editors.....

Alternatively, they can (and are already trying to) push PC hardware in the direction which will make writing any software by a non-licensed, non-corporate programmer impossible..

So sleep well, there is nothing to worry about.

Re:Stop stealing the photons I'm emitting

[IvyMike]

Since when things flouresce, they emit photons, I was going to make a joke that I weara lot of DayGlo clothing with daylight fluorescent pigments. But then I ran across this fact on google:

Clothing: Nearly all laundry detergents contain a fluorescent dye that emits strongly in the blue when exposed to sunlight. The blue light counteracts the yellow tinge of old or incompletely cleaned clothing and thus makes clothes appear cleaner than they really are. The dye is designed to fluoresce in daylight.

You learn something new every day.

Not Your Friend!

[Nom du Keyboard]

Why do people -- at least those in relatively free countries -- keep thinking the United Nations is your friend? It's not!

And it hasn't been every since it quit trying to regulate how countries behaved, and started trying to regulate how the people within those countries behave!

There are a lot of rather repressed countries seeking to use this UN to regulate the entire world down to the lowest common denominator. So this should be no surprise to anyone.

Re:That else are the gonna do?

[ArsSineArtificio]

This is the foundation of a Republic (see the combo of the word represent and public?) Etymology and History are neat huh?

Yes, etymology is neat, when you get it right. "Republic" is from the Latin words "res publica", and means "things pertaining to the people" or "public business".

Re:lets see...

[RickHunter]

That makes the frigging human brain illegal in countries that ratify this treaty. I can decrypt "program-carrying signals" encoded with Caesar ciphers in my head.

Re:I wasn't really using my PC, anyway...

[mrogers]

Of course computers won't be made illegal, but general-purpose computers might. They'll point out that terrorists, the mafia, child pornographers, virus writers, pirates and hackers sometimes use encryption, so computers capable of encryption should be licensed. Banks will buy licenses, but you won't be able to show a legitimate need. Oh you'll still be able to buy a little TV-with-a-keyboard web appliance that can set up an HTTPS connection after checking that the server has a government certificate -- e-commerce is why the internet was invented, after all. And of course the appliance will be sealed and there will be draconian laws to stop you even talking about prising it open and trying to make it useful.

Re:whatever

[julesh]

These people have their own agenda, however they aren't stupid by any stretch (which they would have to be if these interpreted outcomes have any chance of happening; think about it, don't just react).

Have you ever tried drafting a treaty or legislation? It's quite tricky to get the details right. When you think you've got one aspect nailed down, you've totally missed something else.

I don't believe the original draftors of the DMCA _intended_ it to be used to silence people involved in legitimate cryptographic research, but because they failed to ensure it couldn't be, it has been.

I'm sure these people don't intend to outlaw PCs, and I'm equally certain that this particularly outrageous interpretation will be stamped on some time between now and when this treaty actually enters force... but that's not to say that software that performs decryption won't become illegal. A badly drafted law can be used by people as a sneaky attack on something that wasn't originally foreseen by its authors. In this case, I can see that:

1. DeCSS might be covered if the phrasing remains particularly bad. I'm pretty sure it is at the moment. Note that there are no 'significant alternative use' provisions or similar, as exist in the DMCA and EUCD.

2. Video signal synchronizers, used to restore the sync signal between a playback and a recording device, will almost certainly be covered unless a 'significant alternative use' clause is added. This hardware is essential for anyone trying to perform high quality duplication of video signals without spending huge amounts of money on it. Yes there are legitimate reasons you might want to duplicate video tapes.

3. This will probably render it illegal to sell the designs for those cable tv descrambling boxes. I don't know about you, but I strongly believe that no transfer of _information_ should be prohibited, except possibly where that information has come into your hands due to a priveleged position (this would cover the protection of national secrets in a manner similar to the UK official secrets act, among other things). Note that by information I'm
talking about distilled facts; this isn't an anti-copyright stance.

4. If future PCs are supplied with some kind of DRM monitor that prevents you from tampering with managed data, this treaty might prevent the sale of kits to remove it, or even the transfer of information on how to remove it.

You should also be aware

[GMFTatsujin]

By surfing Slashdot, you may be violating your listener's license agreement.

Give your ears a taste of Independant Librarian Dynamic Sean Kennedy the Sixth for a truly horrific scenario based on this kind of shinanegans. Then give him a little donation because, at the moment, his stories are still legal to freely record, broadcast, and disseminate.

Re:Free State Project

[Seth Cohn]

The goal is to find 20,000 people.
We're at nearly 6,000 people now.
The only way to we'll go from 6K to 20K in the next year or so is to tell more people about it, aka publicity, aka 'hawking it'.

If you have a better way to find 14K libertarian minded people, please speak up. In my mind, the slashdot crowd tends to be more libertarian, technology freedom/rights aware, and able-to-move due to portable job skills (aka the Internet crowd telecommuting). In other words, a good key demographic for people able to be part of this.

If you've heard about the FSP, you're already in the minority... we come across lots of interested people every day who still haven't heard of it yet.

Re:Thanks, Henry David Thoreau!

[Hatta]

The proper quote is:

"Under a government who imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is prison."

I strongly encourage everyone to read this essay. It is, IMNSHO, the most important statement on the relationship between man and the state ever written. Here are more gems:

This government never of itself furthured any enterprise but with the alacrity with which it got out of its way. It does not keep the country free. It does not settle the west. It does not educate. The character inherent in the American people has done all that has been accomplished; and would have done if the government had not sometimes gotten in its way. For government is an expediant, by which men would fain succeed in letting one another alone; and as has been said, when it is most expediant, the governed are most left alone by it"

Must the citizen ever for a moment, or in the least degree, resign his conscience to the legislator? Why has every man a conscience then?

The mass of men serve the state thus, not as men mainly, but as machines, with their bodies. They are the standing army, and the militia, jailers, constables, posse comitatus, etc. In most cases there is no free exercise whatever of the judgement or of the moral sense; but they put themselves on a level with wood and earth and stones; and wooden men can perhaps be manufactured that will serve the purpose as well. Such command no more respect than men of straw or a lump of dirt. They have the same sort of worth only as horses and dogs.

This one is particularly relevant today:

I hear of a convention to be held at Baltimore, or elsewhere, for the selection of a candidate for the Presidency, made up chiefly of editors, and men who are politicans by profession; but I think, what is it to any independant, intelligent, and respectable man what decision they may come to? Shall we not have the advantage of this wisdom and honesty nevertheless?

I've gotten carried away here, there's just too much, so I'll end with a bit from the last paragraph:

The progress from an absolute to a limited monarcy, from a limited monarcy to a democracy, is a progress toward a true respect for the individual... Is a democracy, such as we know it, the last improvement possible in government? Is it not possible to take a step further towards recognizing and organizing the rights of man? There will never be a really free and enlightened State, until the State comes to recognize the individual as a higher and independant power, from which its own power and authority are derived, and treats him accordingly.

Re:Brush up on those mad hardware hacking skills..

[Teancum]

That is the big question. Is computing technology going to have special restrictions that is legally required?

Do I need a lawyer while writing my software, and have that lawyer review my code to make sure that it doesn't violate patents, copyright, legal restrictions, etc.?

I dread the day that lawyers outnumber software developers in the typical software company. Some companies (SCO, for instance, but also Dolby Laboratories and a few more successful companies) are already in this situation.

I hope that Open Cores is successful. There already are some interesting developments there, and some of it is already working its way into industry, and this is the best hope that I know of that would allow you to build chips in your own garage. Forcing DRM into the realm of programmable logic chips would, IMHO, be going just a little too far and hamper the efforts of Electrical Engineers for even ordinary devices, but that would be an interesting topic by itself. For just a couple thousand dollars you can "fab" your own chips and at least in theory be able to build your own computer.

One problem that I see with chip design on this level is that the skills needed to do this are not easy to acquire, and there is a very steep learning curve. Still, I think over time you could have some chip manufacturers who are very friendly to open spec computers rather than the current propritary mess in the computer industry at the moment.

It would also be a sad day if amature computer designers and software developers would have the same problems that amature chemists currently face. Worse yet, amature nuclear engineers (think about that for a while).

A Global Level

[unixbugs]

All the bullshit laws the US passed in the last 5 years all rolled up into one. I say we pretend to play dead and follow along with all this crap until they think we are under complete control, which is the idea, and then we get UP.

This kind of thing is so hard to fight. You and everyone you know can write 10 letters a day to Congress about the consequences of stupid laws like this and your requests WILL FALL ON DEAF EARS.

WAKE UP FOLKS. You have no rights. Get over it or get with the program. This big agenda we see manifesting before us through corruption and perversion of legal systems and global governments, financial institutions, trade agreements, and all that happy shit is going to wear us down over time. We might as well end the suffering today by turning away and admitting defeat. Only then will thier true motives be apparent and only then can we fight. You cannot fight an enemy you cannot see, but you can fight them if you expose them for what they really are.

DAMN im in a bad mood now. Thanks ass hats.

Sincerely,

Sam

Entrepreneurship

[Brie and gherkins]

Is a continual process of creation and destruction driven by desire. The mercantile class is entirely dependent on the talent of those willing to engage in production/provision and the desire of buyers. There will either be a centralised highly regulated brontosaurus corporate dominance which disallows the endeavours of the small and protects long amassed interests, or there will be a distributed culture of provider/producer to customer. When you take my Universal Turing Machine, I will listen to the birds and watch trees grow instead. The law is doomed, because sophisticated society is unable to be covered by a single logical self consistent system.