Episode 5: A Huge Threat to How the Internet Functions Now

Most treaties are negotiated behind closed doors with no text made available until after a deal has been reached. Yet there is a treaty with enormous implications for the Internet, copyright, and broadcasting that has been hidden in plain sight for the better part of two decades. This week, the World Intellectual Property Organization resumes discussions in Geneva on a proposed Broadcasting Treaty. To introduce WIPO, the proposed treaty, and its implications, Jamie Love of Knowledge Ecology International joins this week’s LawBytes podcast. Love warns that the treaty could extend the term of copyright for broadcast content, create a wedge between broadcasters and Internet streaming services, and even result in new restrictions on the use of streaming video.

The podcast can be downloaded here and is embedded below. Subscribe to the podcast via Apple Podcast, Google Play, Spotify or the RSS feed. Updates on the podcast on Twitter at @Lawbytespod.

Episode Notes:

KEI Broadcasting Treaty archives
WIPO Broadcasting Treaty brief

Credits:

House of Commons, June 12, 2013
WIPO, Stevie Wonder Congratulates UN Delegates on Entry into Force of Marrakesh Treaty
WIPO, SCCR 37th Session
WIPO, Canada Joins Three Key WIPO Trademark Treaties