FC: Hollywood lauds Hague treaty, free software fans slam it

From: Declan McCullagh (declanat_private)
Date: Wed May 16 2001 - 07:33:31 PDT

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    Robin Miller has a longer writeup that focuses on U.S. exporting domestic
    laws such as the DMCA:
    http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=01/05/15/2138208&mode=nocomment
    
    ---
    
    http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,43820,00.html
    
       Worldwide Copyrights a Quagmire?
       By Declan McCullagh (declanat_private)
       2:00 a.m. May 16, 2001 PDT
       
       WASHINGTON -- Richard Stallman has a simple message for the U.S.
       government about a proposed copyright treaty: Don't even think about
       signing it.
       
       Stallman, the bearded, irascible creator of GNU Emacs and a spokesman
       for the free software movement, showed up at a U.S. Copyright Office
       roundtable on Tuesday to warn that the draft measure would imperil
       American programmers by encouraging frivolous software patents.
       
       "It appears disastrous for program developers," Stallman said. "Many
       countries have laws about what kinds of software can be developed....
       Everything relating to information should be taken out of this
       convention."
       
       The treaty in question is a heretofore obscure proposal known as the
       Hague Convention, which European nations generally support, but the
       U.S. State Department has criticized. If countries agree to the
       convention, they'd be required to enforce judgments in certain type of
       civil lawsuits brought in another jurisdiction.
       
       That prospect lightens the hearts of entertainment lobbyists, who fear
       increasingly widespread piracy and the possibility of Napster clones
       arising in countries that don't have laws restricting online
       file-sharing.
    
       Currently the Hague Convention includes copyright offenses in a
       section that Stallman, Internet providers, and consumer groups are
       lobbying to remove. Stallman, for instance, claims countries that are
       even more permissive about awarding software patents could sue U.S.
       programmers for violating them -- and thereby wreak havoc on the free
       software movement.
    
       [...]
    
    
    
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