The North American broadcasters represented by Erica Edler
>> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Nava represents broadcasters in North America, Canada, the United States and Mexico. I would like to thank the Chairman for his consolidated text which has served to focus discussions on some of the key issues on a new treaty for broadcasters.
I have spoken many times in this forum on the urgent need to update the international framework for the protection of broadcast signals and I will not repeat those submissions here today.
Rather, I would like to make a few general comments on sections 2 and section 3 of the Chairman’s paper. In respect of the object of protection, the first paragraph refers to the protection for broadcasts with a clarification that it should not in any way cover underlying content.
To this end, there may be merit in the protection made this morning by the United States to substitute the term, broadcast signals in order to make this point clearer.
In respect of subsection 3, broadcasters agree that the appropriate wording should be transmission and not retransmission for the reasons explained by the Chair and by other delegations.
In subsection 3, the expression by any means is of the utmost importance to broadcasters operating in today’s communications environment. The failure to protect broadcast signals when they are simulcast over the Internet would create an enormous loophole which would undermine the protection for broadcast signals.
Jumping ahead to section 3, in anticipation that there may be not another opportunity to speak, I would like just to make note of the fact that broadcasters support this approach set forward in alternative A. Broadcasters can accept a streamlined and narrowly focused protection for broadcasters, but it must be effective to protect against piracy and unauthorized exploitation of signals.
Alternative B in our view does not provide the basis for meaningful and effective protection. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
>> CHAIR: Thank you very much for your detailed views.
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