UNITED STATES: THANK YOU, MR. CHAIRMAN, AND THANK YOU, MR. Chairman for all of your hard work in preparing for this meeting, and the same sentiment, of course, to the Secretariat. And Deputy Director General Sylvie Forbin, welcome to the SCCR. We certainly get to have you with us as we continue our work.
On behalf of the U.S. Delegation, we have come prepared for this session of the SCCR to work on the Chairman’s draft consolidated text on definitions, objective protection and rights to be granted. It looks like a comprehensive framework for discussion.
We do note, however, that a few topics were mentioned at the last session of the SCCR, and we would invite the attention of the Chair and other Delegations, time permitting this week, to take a look at those topics as well.
I think you may have distributed a chart at the last session that noted beneficiaries of protection, the term of protection, technological protection measures, and rights management information, so these topics have not been discussed to date, and we thought that to begin to get a full picture of some of the provisions on the table, it might be opportune this week to discuss those as well. And there might well be others in the texts that have been reviewed by this committee in the past.
Finally, I would note that, as some in the room have perhaps heard already, the United States has recently gone through an election process, and I would also note that as we move through the orderly process of transition from one administration to another, we will know doubt be asked and will provide an analysis of the broadcasters treaty Agenda Item, taking into account, as comprehensive as we can, the traditions in legal conditions around the world and applicable laws at the national level with respect to broadcasting protection, the rapid and continuing changes in broadcasting technology, and, of course, the viewpoints of all stakeholders that are implicated in this treaty initiative.
If you find us, therefore, a little bit quieter at this session, it is because we are listening carefully as we undertake that stock-taking exercise on our part.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.