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. [...] ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if it remains intact. To subscribe, visit http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------
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