WASHINGTON—Verizon Communications Inc. is one of three dozen technology companies that have joined forces to oppose a plan to give broadcasters new intellectual property rights to audiovisual material.
Verizon, AT&T Corp., Dell Inc., Intel Corp., TiVo Inc. and others are lobbying against a “broadcast treaty” being considered by the United Nations’ World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The plan aims to protect broadcasters from piracy of digital content signals by creating a new class of intellectual property rights.
Proponents of the effort say the treaty is necessary to address cross-border signal piracy, where channels shown in one geographic market are pirated and rebroadcast in others without permission. The plan builds on the 1961 Rome Convention—which the United States declined to sign on to despite strong European backing—that gives broadcasters rights similar to copyrights.
But opponents say the plan goes too far and fails to fully address new broadcasting technologies such as cellular and broadband. What’s more, they claim the treaty may be unconstitutional.
“Verizon is in the process of rolling out an entirely new broadband offering to the public,” said Sarah Deutsch, vice president and associate general counsel of Verizon, at a press conference held by the consortium working against the treaty. “I think it’s an absurd idea to grant new IP rights to (broadcast) signals.”
The WIPO is scheduled to meet next week in Geneva, Switzerland, and may take steps to advance the plan to the full WIPO General Assembly by the end of the month.
