The World Intellectual Property Organization has failed to come up with new international standards to protect electronic copyrights. According to William New of Intellectual Property Watch, broadcasters and cablecasters are trying to prevent signal theft but are encountering wildly divergent viewpoints. The United States delegation said there was not even one area where it could find any agreement.
One point of divergence was said to be whether traditional copyright safeguards should be extended to the Internet and other new delivery platforms. According to the Associated Press, European representatives believe that the transmitter of programming should have rights over anything content put on their platform, regardless of its source, which is encountering stiff resistance from companies said to include Intel Corp. and Verizon. It remains to be seen if any progress can be made prior to a treaty negotiation scheduled for November.
