Cyberspace squabbles overshadow copyright talks .
Elif Kaban
GENEVA 1996-12-06
In a gloomy Geneva conference centre built before the dawn of the Internet , groups of staid officials made a first stab on Friday at rewriting copyright laws for the digital age .
But critics at the first government-level meeting to revise copyright laws in 25 years said the officials and legislators might as well be trying to police the ether .
After four days of diplomatic wrangling over procedures , some 600 delegates from nations small and large got down to the nitty-gritty of setting the digital agenda for the first time .
Cyberspace squabbles overshadowed the debate on a stack of proposals covering literary and artistic works , the rights of performers and producers of music and producers of databases .
" If it goes on like this , we wo n't have enough time to finish all the discussions , " a frustrated Western delegate said . "
They announced they will start evening sessions next week . "
Attempts by copyright-based industries to ensure they get a cut from online works led to a storm of protests by Internet companies and critics who say the pacts would curb public access to online information from soccer results to stock prices .
" It 's not illegal to make photocopies of newspaper articles .
It 's fair use .
We can read sports statistics or stock prices .
But with the treaty , this kind of fact will be owned and subject to licensing , " said James Love , a consumer lobbyist heading the Washington-based Consumer Project on Technology .
" None of the treaties are ready to move .
These people do n't understand what they 're doing . "
At stake are billions of dollars and the future of the electronic information industry -- the coming medium for the distribution of music , films , literature , software and commerce .
Supporters of the three pacts say they are only an extension of existing intellectual property rights , covered by the century-old Berne Convention .
But an array of opponents from the network industry to consumer , scientific and academic groups say the pacts will give sweeping powers to entertainment and copyright-based industries .
A quick survey at the conference centre found few officials who had actually surfed the Internet .
Mongolia 's state copyright official , Gundegma Jargalshaihan , said apologetically that he had just arrived from Ulan Bator and was not aware of the details of the digital agenda .
" We do n't have money for Internet in Mongolia , " he added .
Alexander Bavykin , deputy legal chief at Russia 's foreign ministry , said Moscow had yet to formulate a policy on copyright in cybersppace .
He too had never browsed the Net .
" I 've never tried it and why should I ?
There are lots of other things in this life I have n't tried either , " he said .
A visit to the computer centre offering Internet services found a lone European official clicking away on his mouse .
" Internet is a potential cash cow for copyright-based industries and we need roadmaps on the information superhighway , " said Marc Pearl , vice-president of the Information Technology Association of America , a trade association of U.S. network companies opposing the treaties .
" But there are a lot of dinosaurs here .
People here do n't understand Internet technology .
Because they do n't understand technology , they fear the unknown . "
Before the Internet , those whose business was to protect copyrights knew where they stood .
Their enemies were tangible if elusive , such as the people who pirated music cassettes .
But the Internet , a global computer network where anything from music to software can be duplicated and distributed at the click of a computer mouse , has ripped up the rulebooks .
Network operators said the draft laws would hold them responsible for copyright infringements in the system and expose them to multi-billion-dollar liabilities .
" There are 500 million messages transmitted through the Internet everyday , " said Tim Casey of the U.S.-based MCI Communications Corporation . "
How can we control them all ? "