ID 07MADRID2128
SUBJECT USG REPRESENTATIVES REITERATE INTEREST IN WORKING
DATE 2007-11-19 09:09:00
CLASSIFICATION CONFIDENTIAL
ORIGIN Embassy Madrid
TEXT C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 06 MADRID 002128
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE FOR EB/TPP/IPE (JURBAN, JBOGER) AND EUR/WE (ESAMSON)
STATE PASS USTR (JGROVES, CWILSON)
STATE PASS COMMERCE (ITA - DCALVERT)
STATE PASS USPTO (MSHAPIRO)
STATE PASS U.S. COPYRIGHT OFFICE (MSKELTON)
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/15/2012
TAGS: ECON ETRD KIPR PGOV ADCO SP
SUBJECT: USG REPRESENTATIVES REITERATE INTEREST IN WORKING
WITH SPAIN ON COPYRIGHT ISSUES IN CONNECTION WITH NOVEMBER
7-8, 2007 MADRID CONFERENCE
REF: (A) MADRID 01807 (B) SECSTATE 107629
Classified By: Deputy Charge d'Affaires a.i., Hugo Llorens, for reasons
1.5 b and d.
¶1. (U) Summary: Associate Register of Copyrights David
Carson, U.S. Patent & Trademark Office Senior Counsel Michael
Shapiro and Deputy Chief of Mission Hugo Llorens used the
Spanish government organized Madrid November 7-8, 2007
"Conference on Intellectual Property Rights in the Digital
Environment" to reiterate to the Spanish government our
continuing interest in working with Spain on
copyright-related intellectual property rights (IPR) issues.
Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade Secretary of State
Francisco Ros expressed an interest in judge-to-judge
exchanges on IPR matters. The Spanish government's view
remains that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and content
providers should engage in self-regulation to limit internet
piracy. However, the government is considering mandating
that ISPs include in service contracts a provision that
service can be cut off if users infringe copyrights.
Moreover, the government is considering making a special
effort to encourage stakeholders to move quickly on an
internet notice system, leaving takedown for later. These
would be positive steps that would begin to address U.S.
concerns. Para 2 provides background. Paras 3-4 report on
the U.S.-Spain bilateral held on the margins of the
conference. Paras 5-6 report on the lunch DCM hosted in
connection with the conference. Paras 7-8 report on an
industry-government meeting held following the conference.
Para 9 summarizes highlights from the conference. Para 10
contains an Embassy concluding comment. End Summary
BACKGROUND
----------
¶2. (C) The Spanish government is aware that it came very
close to being watchlisted during the latest Special 301
process. This no doubt partly explained Secretary of State
Ros' desire to host the November 7-8 conference. His staff
made a point of inviting David Carson from the Copyright
Office to speak at the conference. The organizers also
invited representatives from the UK, France, South Korea and
the EU, as well as important local stakeholders. The
government is juggling sometimes conflicting objectives.
These objectives include, but are not necessarily limited to:
increasing broadband internet penetration, thereby benefiting
national champion Telefonica; limiting piracy both because
the Spanish government agrees with that objective and also to
keep Spain off the Special 301 watchlist; and containing the
possible political damage caused by consumer groups and
internet surfer ("internauta") groups. There are not many
Spaniards in the latter category, but they have a media
impact out of all proportion to their numbers. With
elections coming up in March 2008, the government is
sensitive to them.
U.S. - SPAIN BILATERAL
NOVEMBER 7, 2007
----------------------
¶3. (U) Participants: DCM Hugo Llorens, Associate Register of
Copyright David Carson, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
Senior Counsel Michael Shapiro and Economic Officer Carl
Schonander participated for the U.S. Ministry of Industry,
Tourism and Trade Secretary of State for Telecommunications
Francisco Ros was accompanied by Chief of Staff Juan Junquera
Temprano and Subdirector General for Information Society
Services Salvador Luis Soriano Maldonado.
¶4. (C) DCM said that the U.S. remained very interested in
working with Spain on combatting internet related copyright
piracy, and that the conference was a laudable initiative.
Ros emphasized that the problems discussed at the conference
were "important" and "difficult." He expressed pleasure that
the attendees were "first level." Ros said that the internet
had to accomodate different business models, including those
who favored traditional copyright protection and those who
were interested in other models. Junquera said that it was
very difficult to change the "mentality" of Spaniards with
respect to internet downloading even though the government
had conducted several anti-piracy campaigns. He also said
that legal instruments were available to rights-holders to
protect their their intellectual property. Carson emphasized
that the U.S. experience was that public awareness campaigns
MADRID 00002128 002 OF 006
had to be accompanied by the prospect of "personal
consequences" for those who engaged in internet piracy. Ros
said that Spanish law did, in fact, permit action against
internet pirates, although the law had not been used
adequately by rights-holders. He also explained that his
ministry's proposed notice and takedown legislation had been
struck down because the Council of State found that the
proper consultation procedures had not been followed.
Shapiro recounted that a conference participant had said that
the cultural industry accounted for 4% of Spain's GDP and
that this should be kept in mind in framing internet piracy
policy. Ros reiterated that Spanish law provided for ways in
which rights-holders could protect their property, although
his Chief Staff added that the law was very "garantista,"
which in practice made it difficult for rights-holders to
protect their intellectual property. Shapiro suggested the
possibity of meetings between U.S. judges and Spanish judges
to compare experiences on how to deal with internet-related
piracy matters. Ros said he would talk to his Ministry of
Justice counterpart about this possibility. Soriano
mentioned that in the last two months, Spanish police had
shut down two internet portals and that the owners were being
prosecuted. (Note: Rights-holders typically have nothing but
praise for the police. Rights-holders' complaints center on
the judiciary, as well as a Justice Ministry "circular" to
prosecutors that effectively decriminalizes peer to peer file
sharing unless there is a commercial profit motive.) Ros
concluded by saying that his ministry would focus on judge to
judge meetings and more publicity campaigns.
DCM-HOSTED LUNCH
NOVEMBER 8, 2007
----------------
¶5. (U) Participants: Industry Ministry Subdirector General
Salvador Soriano, Industry Ministry Advisor for EU Trade
Policy Carmen Jordan Asensi, Promusicae Chairman and CEO
Antonio Guisasola, Federacion Antipiratera (FAP) Director
General Jose Manuel Tourne, Spanish General Society of
Authors and Publishers Corporate Relations Director Pedro
Farre Lopez, Microsoft Iberia Director Arnedo Txema, National
Association of Electronic and Telecommunications Industries
(AETIC) President D. Edmundo Fernandez participated from the
Spanish side. DCM Hugo LLorens was accompanied by Economic
Counselor James Dudley, David Carson, Michael Shapiro and
Carl Schonander.
¶6. (C) DCM opened by saying that the USG remained committed
to working with Spain to find ways to combat internet piracy,
and that he hoped the conference and the lunch would prove to
be two fora that contributed to achieving this goal. The
lunch exposed once again the divisions between the content
providers and the ISPs. The AETIC representative (AETIC
represents major ISPs such as Telefonica) emphasized that no
notice and takedown system for the internet could be
developed without "legal security." Content providers
complained that it was virtually impossible to obtain
information from ISPs on customers suspected of trafficking
in pirated property, and that ISPs were too slow to act
against internet piracy. Complaints from the content
providers were then directed to the Ministry of Industry,
Tourism and Trade representative, Salvador Soriano. He said
that the government remained committed to self-regulation
among the stakeholders. Soriano acknowledged, however, that
in the meantime a tremendous amount of piracy was taking
place on the internet. He suggested that the government and
stakeholders focus on developing a notice system for the
internet, leaving takedown for later.
CONFERENCE GENERATES MOMENTUM
IPR INDUSTRY - GOVERNMENT MEETING
NOVEMBER 13, 2007
---------------------------------
¶7. (C) Chief of Staff Juan Junquera Temprano and Subdirector
General Soriano met with FAP Director General Jose Manuel
Tourne and Promusicae President Antonio Guisasola on
11/13/07. (Note: EconOff received a read-out on this meeting
from Tourne.) Tourne said that Junquera had agreed to work
on the following measures:
a) An amendment to the 2002 Information Society Law in
Article 16.1 that would absolve ISPs of liability with
respect to rights-holders if they acted pursuant to voluntary
agreements with rights-holders. This would provide a measure
MADRID 00002128 003 OF 006
of legal security for ISPs with respect to lawsuits generated
by rights-holders, although presumably ISPs would still be
liable for "consumer" generated lawsuits. The point of this
legal amendment would be to encourage content provider-ISP
anti-piracy agreements.
b) Contracts between ISPs and customers would include a
clause stating that ISPs can suspend service to customers who
are found to be infringing copyrights.
c) A government-sponsored "urgent" negotiation on a notice
process, leaving takedown for later.
d) Assess the current "private copy" exception's negative
impact and make clear to the public that peer to peer
downloads are illegal.
e) Encourage sectoral meetings with a view to creating a
climate favoring the protection of content on the internet.
¶8. (C) Comment: In principle these measures are positive.
However, we have seen the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and
Trade promise action to the content industry in the past and
then fold when faced with opposition. Indeed, Tourne
received an 11/14/07 phone call from Junquera saying that
Senate approval would be difficult to obtain for the first
measure. Rights-holders and the government have agreed on a
low key approach for now. However, if the government wants
to do something serious to protect content on the internet,
it will have to withstand some criticism.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM
THE CONFERENCE
---------------
¶9. (U) For those who are interested in a conference agenda,
please contact Carl Schonander at SchonanderCE@state.gov.
Conference highlights follow below.
Secretary of State
SIPDIS
for Telecommunications
Francisco Ros
----------------------
Ros opened the conference. He spent a lot of time talking
about the vast quantities of information on the internet.
The Secretary of State emphasized the need for
self-regulation among the stakeholders. He called for
internet regulation which respected different business
models, including a model based on traditional copyright law.
Douglas Lippoldt
Directorate for
Science, Technology
and Industry, OECD
-------------------
Lippoldt mentioned the OECD's emphasis on fostering
innovation and shared tentative empirical findings suggesting
a positive relationship between protection for IPRs and the
flow of FDI.
Michael Keplinger
Deputy Director General
WIPO
-----------------------
Keplinger went through the fundamental tenets of the internet
treaties and mentioned that WIPO has posted a guide to the
treaties on its website. He said WIPO was committed to
creating an IPR "culture".
Tilman Luder
Unit Chief
DG Internal
Market and Services
European Commission
-------------------
Luder said that his Commissioner, Charles McGreevy, firmly
believed that "less is more" and that the EU was therefore
currently in an "evaluation mode" with respect to IPR
legislation in Europe. He spent quite a bit of time
reviewing a number of European cases that have to do with
MADRID 00002128 004 OF 006
defining what a reproduction is. He said that the Commission
was reviewing how effective ISPs were in preventing their
services from being abused to commit copyright policy
violations.
Helen Montluc
Head of Intellectual
Property Office
Ministry of Culture
France
--------------------
Montluc said that President Sarkozy was interested in
reducing internet piracy. The head of France's biggest music
retailer, FNAC, was working with stakeholders on proposals.
Montluc acknowledged that peer to peer file sharing caused
"grave damages". She said that peer to peer file sharing
must be curbed. The French government is considering whether
to reform the criminal code to provide for "proportional
sanctions" more along the lines of traffic fines, rather than
the maximum of three years in jail and/or a euros 300,000
fine that the law currently permits.
David Carson
Associate Register
U.S. Copyright Office
---------------------
Carson gave two presentations focusing on the main provisions
of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) and ISP
liability. He reviewed other legislation affecting ISP
liability and the Napster and Grokster cases. Carson
emphasized that consumers must believe that there will be
consequences for illegal downloading if piracy is to be
stemmed. He also suggested that because ISPs are now getting
into the content business, their traditional reluctance to
accomodate rights-holders' concerns may be receding.
Pedro Farre
Corporate Relations Director
Society of Authors and Editors
(SGAE)
------------------------------
Farre made an impassioned plea for understanding that
"content is king" on the internet, i.e. without content
nobody would buy internet services. He noted that cultural
industries represented 4% of Spain's GDP. Farre complained
that the government was not doing enough to stop internet
piracy. He said that the copyright levies that SGAE collects
on the sales of blank CDs and some electronic devices were
only a "palliative" compared with the losses his members were
suffering as a result of piracy.
Barbaro Navarro
Antipiracy Director
NBC Universal Spain
-------------------
Navarro shared information on successful anti-piracy
publicity campaigns in the UK.
Txema Arnedo
IP Development Director
Microsoft Spain
and Vice President
Business Software
Alliance (BSA)
Spain
-----------------------
Arnedo said that Spain's software piracy rate of 46% compared
unfavorably with 20% in the U.S.
Georg Herrnleben
Director for Central and
Eastern Europe, BSA
------------------------
Herrnleben said that the software piracy rate in Spain in
2006 was 10% higher than the EU average, 12% higher than the
western European average, 11% higher than the world average,
and 25% higher than the U.S. average. Herrnleben attributed
this to the fact that small and medium sized businesses are
dominant in Spain, and that they do not take software
MADRID 00002128 005 OF 006
seriously. He also said that retailers, eager to sell
computers, often loaded machines with free software to entice
customers. However, the BSA representative mentioned that
the Spanish government had conducted with BSA awareness
campaigns, and that the police had been cooperative.
Thierry Desurmont
Vice President
SACEM
France
-----------------
Desurmont called peer to peer file sharing "hugely
detrimental". He emphasized that nothing could be done about
the problem without real ISP collaboration. He said the EU's
2000 E-commerce directive needs to be "reopened" because it
does not impose effective responsibility on ISPs.
Luis Javier Martinez
Director of Pixbox
Distribution Platform
Telefonica
---------------------
Martinez acknowledged that content providers (Martinez was a
former Walt Disney executive before taking his current
position at Telefonica) had been slow to pass on some of the
savings that the new technologies made possible to consumers,
thereby contributing to engendering a consumer backlash
against content providers. However, he insisted that the
current culture of "gratis total" (totally free product over
the internet) was not sustainable.
Antonio Guisasola
President
Promusicae
-----------------
Guisasolo noted that in 2006 there was only euros 22 million
worth of legal internet music sales in Spain, and that 87% of
those sales were in the cell phone market. He said this was
because cell phone P2P file sharing does not work so
consumers were compelled to go the legal route for music.
Guisasola said that the big French music retailer, FNAC, did
no internet busines in Spain because internet piracy levels
were too high.
Victor Domingo
President
Internet Users
Association (AI)
Spain
----------------
Domingo said he wanted to issue a "declaration of innocence"
on behalf of internet users. He rejected the notion of
illegal internet downloads, saying that the levy system
compensates creators. Besides, judges had consistently ruled
in favor of internet users. He rejected the notion that
consumers believed in totally free content and referred to
the relatively high prices Spanish consumers pay for internet
service connections.
Juan Junquera Temprano
Chief of Staff to
Secretary of State for
SIPDIS
Telecommunications
Francisco Ros
Ministry of Industry, Tourism
and Trade
-----------------------------
Temprano made it very clear that the levy system did not
compensate for peer to peer file sharing. (Note and Comment:
The levy system theoretically exists to compensate
rights-holders for the private copies that consumers are
allowed to make in Spain. However, the copy has to be from a
legally acquired product. Material obtained through peer to
peer file sharing is not legally acquired so by definition it
is not a copy and therefore outside the levy system.
Temprano's statement was important because there is a
tremendous amount of damaging misinformation in Spain about
the levy system. End Note and Comment)
Jose Manuel Tourne
MADRID 00002128 006 OF 006
Director General
Antipiracy Federaton (FAP)
--------------------------
Tourne said that certain aspects of Spanish law had created a
"perfect storm" for the copyright-based industries. Notably,
he said that the "effective knowledge" requirement, i.e. a
court order rather than information provided by a
rights-holder, for ISPs to act against infringers puts
an undue burden on the movie and music industries. Tourne
said that in the UK, Germany and France, the law permitted
rights-holders to provide "effective knowledge" to
rights-holders. In Italy, "effective knowledge" is not
defined according to Tourne. The FAP representative said
that within the EU, Finland has a functioning notice and
takedown system.
Edmundo Fernandez
Electronics and
Environment Director
(AETIC)
--------------------
Fernandez, representing ISPs, said his organization remained
willing to discuss internet issues with rights-holders.
However, he said that AETIC demanded "legal security" for its
members.
COMMENT
-------
¶10. (C) Clearly, there are limits as to what can be achieved
between now and Spain's national elections, which will be
held in March 2008. However, we will be consulting closely
with industry and the government to see what can be done.
Certainly the kinds of actions described in para. 8 would be
welcome. Embassy appreciates David Carson's and Michael
Shapiro's participation in the bilateral and conference as
they helped highlight the USG's intense interest in internet
piracy. While the GOS will continue to cite political limits
on what it can achieve, the government is aware that it needs
to show some progress for Special 301 purposes.
LLORENS
HEADER VZCZCXRO9689
RR RUEHAG RUEHROV
DE RUEHMD #2128/01 3230903
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 190903Z NOV 07
FM AMEMBASSY MADRID
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3815
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
XTAGS: XTAGECON, XTAGETRD, XTAGKIPR, XTAGPGOV, XTAGADCO, XTAGSP 07MADRID2128
TAGS ADCO ECON ETRD KIPR PGOV SP
ADDED 2010-12-21 12:12:00
STAMP 2010-12-21 23:16:08
VOTE_POINTS 9
VOTE_COUNT 1
VOTE_RATING 9000
PRIORITY RR
TWEETS 3
MANUAL N
SITELINK
ISNEW N
FINGERPRINT1 253e44c301057cc636572c8c113e6638
ID 09MADRID417
SUBJECT INTERNET PIRACY IN SPAIN: SUSPENSION OF
DATE 2009-04-28 06:06:00
CLASSIFICATION UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
ORIGIN Embassy Madrid
TEXT UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MADRID 000417
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR EEB/TPP/IPE AND EUR/WE
STATE PASS USTR JGROVES AND DWEINER
STATE PASS COPYRIGHT OFFICE
USDOC FOR 4332/DCALVERT
USDOC ALSO FOR USPTO
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON ETRD KIPR ECPS SP
SUBJECT: INTERNET PIRACY IN SPAIN: SUSPENSION OF
PRIVATE-SECTOR NEGOTIATIONS
REF: A. MADRID 410
¶B. MADRID 397
¶C. MADRID 224 AND PREVIOUS
MADRID 00000417 001.2 OF 003
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY
SUMMARY
-------
¶1. (SBU) On April 17, negotiations between the association
of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) ("Redtel") and the
Coalition of Creators and Content Industries ("Coalition")
were suspended. The parties had been meeting regularly for
almost a year in an attempt to negotiate an agreement on
combating internet piracy. According to Coalition sources,
Redtel advised that it could not accept the Coalition's
latest proposal and did not see any point in negotiating
further. The government, which had been pressing the parties
to reach an agreement that it hoped would serve as a basis
for legislative and regulatory reform, asked each side to
send its proposal in the hopes of identifying a solution that
would bridge the differences between the two sides. However,
the proposal submitted by Redtel was four months old and did
not recognize more recently negotiated points of agreement.
The government is analyzing the proposals and must decide
whether to try to broker an agreement or to develop and
implement its own initiative independent of service and
content providers' positions. End Summary.
MOVING TOWARDS A GRADUATED RESPONSE SYSTEM
¶2. (SBU) Per ref C, the GOS has long believed that any
"graduated response" regime or other package of measures to
dissuade internet users from unauthorized file-sharing and
punish repeat offenders will be politically controversial,
and has pinned its hopes on the private-sector negotiations.
Senior government officials had pressed the presidents of
Redtel and the Coalition to submit their agreement by
December 31, and then by March 4. After the parties missed
both deadlines, the government reportedly expressed the
intention to form a Working Group to develop its own
solutions. This was apparently an attempt to pressure the
parties to conclude a voluntary agreement rather than have
the government impose its will.
¶3. (SBU) As might be expected, the parties have approached
the negotiations from vastly different perspectives. Redtel,
whose members represent four major telecommunications
companies - Telefonica, Vodaphone, ONO, and Orange - is
mostly interested in the "business model" aspects of the
agreement, in which content providers would agree to make
some content available online, which the ISPs could market.
This poses a problem for the U.S.-based Motion Picture
Association of America (MPAA - perhaps the most influential
Coalition member), which argues that it can agree to general
statements about the desirability of online legal content but
cannot, for U.S. anti-trust reasons, enter into business
negotiations with Redtel on behalf of its members, which are
individually considering online distribution deals.
THE DEAL THAT WAS ON THE TABLE
¶4. (SBU) With respect to dissuasive measures, before the
negotiations were suspended, the parties had reportedly
agreed to a watered-down version of the graduated response
regime currently under consideration in the French
legislature. The parties would agree to ask the government
to create a national commission to receive complaints about
illicit websites and downloading activity and send warning
letters. However, the government believes it could probably
send only about 1000 such letters per month. Websites that
post IPR-infringing content would receive only one warning
before being blocked; Coalition president Aldo Olcese
believes that some 70 sites account for 80 percent of all
infringing content and that their takedown would go a long
way towards solving the problem. With respect to individual
users who download infringing content, Redtel is on board
with sending them two warning letters but insists that any
agreement explicitly rule out suspension of internet access
as a sanction for repeat offenders. Representatives of the
film and music industries accept that account suspension
should be a rarely used last resort in extreme cases but have
not agreed to eliminate it as an option. Redtel also
MADRID 00000417 002.2 OF 003
believes that fines should be the only sanction for offenders
who ignore the first two warning letters. Its negotiators
argue that such technical measures as posting reminder
warnings on individual internet accounts or reducing
bandwidth are too difficult and costly to implement or too
interventionist. Content providers insist, however, that the
agreement include the possibility of some technical measures,
even if the specific details are left to be worked out later.
¶5. (SBU) According to Olcese, Redtel had agreed to the legal
and regulatory aspects of the agreement. To reduce the
burden on the government, these would be minimal: The parties
would ask the government to amend the 2002 Law on Information
Society Services and Electronic Commerce (LSSI) to create the
government body to implement the graduated response regime,
and to some provisions regulating that law. They would also
propose amendments to the law governing civil procedure to
remove some of the obstacles that impede rights-holders from
pursuing civil remedies against internet pirates. There are
conflicting accounts as to whether the parties would also
call on the government to amend the Prosecutor General's 2002
Circular that currently makes it almost impossible to obtain
criminal convictions in digital piracy cases. However,
according to Coalition sources, the proposal Redtel sent to
the government includes none of the legislative or regulatory
provisions, focusing almost entirely on business model issues
and minimizing the legal and technical elements.
GOVERNMENT PONDERS NEXT STEPS
¶6. (SBU) According to Salvador Soriano, Deputy Director for
Information Society Services in the Ministry of Industry,
Tourism, and Trade, the government is disappointed to learn
that negotiations have failed. It is currently studying each
side's proposal to see if there are enough areas of agreement
to provide a basis for government action. Carlos Guervos,
acting Deputy Director for Intellectual Property at the
Ministry of Culture, characterized the breakdown as a small
hurdle. He said the Culture Ministry is determined that
there will be new regulations to address internet piracy; it
would be easier if they were based on a private-sector
agreement, but if that is not possible, the government will
develop its own solution.
¶7. (SBU) Leading members of the Coalition hope that the
government, eager to avoid embarrassment given how much it
has riding on a successful negotiation, will persuade Redtel
to return to the table with a more forthcoming attitude. The
status quo - a legal regime that makes it almost impossible
for content providers to enforce their rights and a
prevailing public belief that P2P file-sharing is or should
be legal - is unsustainable for content providers but
advantageous for Internet Service Providers. Redtel members
and their parent companies state that they will obey any law
or regulation that the government enacts but have been
reluctant to undertake any voluntary measures for fear of
alienating their client base. Pedro Farre, government
affairs director for the General Society of Authors and
Publishers (SGAE), explains Redtel's withdrawal from
negotiations as "a piece of theater." The recent campaign by
the Internet Users' Association ("Internautas") to drive out
the new Minister of Culture (ref B), he explained, enables
Redtel members to argue that anyone who agrees to restrict
internet use in any way will be the object of overwhelming
popular wrath. (Comment: The alleged fear of the Internautas
seems exaggerated to us, as they have not proven able to
mobilize significant numbers for any event.)
COMMENT
¶8. (SBU) Even if this impasse is overcome, there may be more
bumps in the road ahead. In March, the parties were
reportedly close to a deal, with only MPAA holding out,
preferring no deal at all to what it considered an inadequate
offer. Other stakeholders, believing that an agreement
without the participation of MPAA would lack credibility,
prevailed upon the Association to continue to negotiate.
There continue to be disagreements within both the Coalition
- especially between the film and music industry groups and
copyright management societies like SGAE - and Redtel,
between Telefonica and smaller ISPs. This time it is Redtel
that prefers no deal to one that it believes will bring major
headaches.
MADRID 00000417 003.2 OF 003
¶9. (SBU) This impasse offers the government an opportunity
to exercise leadership, but it remains unclear whether the
government will work actively to help the parties overcome
their differences, or propose a solution of its own, or take
no action. One school of thought is that the government
would like to defer this issue until after European
Parliament elections in June. Coalition members are hopeful
that anti-piracy legislation will pass soon in France,
possibly influencing the calculations of Redtel and the
government. Post will use our upcoming meeting to inform the
GOS of its Special 301 status to emphasize the importance we
attach to GOS action. End Comment.
CHACON
HEADER VZCZCXRO0516
PP RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLZ RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHMD #0417/01 1180633
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 280633Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY MADRID
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0553
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUEHLA/AMCONSUL BARCELONA 3964
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
XTAGS: XTAGECON, XTAGETRD, XTAGKIPR, XTAGECPS, XTAGSP 09MADRID417
TAGS ECON ETRD KIPR ECPS SP
ADDED 2010-12-22 12:12:00
STAMP 2010-12-23 11:20:29
VOTE_POINTS 7
VOTE_COUNT 1
VOTE_RATING 7000
PRIORITY PP
TWEETS 0
MANUAL N
SITELINK
ISNEW N
FINGERPRINT1 a922350502570cadb29bbf23966cd72b
ID 10MADRID174
SUBJECT SPAIN: AMBASSADOR'S MEETING WITH MINISTER OF
DATE 2010-02-12 15:03:00
CLASSIFICATION UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
ORIGIN Embassy Madrid
TEXT UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MADRID 000174
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR EUR/WE, EUR/OHI, EEB/TPP/IPE, L/PD
STATE ALSO FOR ECA AND EUR/PPD (L.MCMANIS)
STATE PASS USTR FOR D.WEINER AND J.GROVES
STATE ALSO PASS U.S. COPYRIGHT OFFICE FOR M.WOODS AND
M.PALLANTE
COMMERCE FOR 4212/DON CALVERT
COMMERCE ALSO FOR USTPO
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ETRD KIPR PGOV PREL PHUM SCUL SP
SUBJECT: SPAIN: AMBASSADOR'S MEETING WITH MINISTER OF
CULTURE ANGELES GONZALEZ-SINDE
REF: A. BARCELONA 15
¶B. 09 MADRID 1161
MADRID 00000174 001.3 OF 003
SUMMARY:
¶1. (SBU) Ambassador met February 10 with Minister of Culture
Angeles Gonzalez Sinde to discuss bilateral cooperation on
cultural issues, intellectual property rights and draft
legislation that would enhance the government's ability to
combat digital piracy, and the Holocaust-related claim by
AMCIT Claude Cassirer on a State-owned painting in Madrid's
Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum. The Minister reiterated the
government's request that the Embassy continue to engage with
the political opposition on draft legislation for shutting
down pirate websites. With respect to the Cassirer claim,
Ministry officials says the Spanish state is prohibited from
giving away property or offering compensation, but the
Ambassador asked the Minister to look at some different
options to resolve the matter in a more satisfactory fashion.
End Summary.
CULTURAL COOPERATION
¶2. (U) The Minister was accompanied by her Chief of Staff,
Javier Bonilla, and Director General (DG) for Cultural Policy
and Industries Guillermo Corral van Damme. Ambassador
Solomont began by listing the various cultural events he has
participated in since his recent arrival. The Ambassador
also mentioned the partnership between the Boston-based
Berklee School of Music and Spain's General Society of
Authors and Publishers (SGAE) in developing a cultural center
and music university in Valencia, which he characterized as
an "ambitious project." The Ambassador also thanked the
Minister for her work on the Fulbright grantee selection
boards and her speech at the November 2009 event celebrating
the 50th anniversary of the first Spanish grants awarded
under the program. Finally, he mentioned that the Boston
Museum of Fine Arts plans to lend a John Singer Sargent
painting, which was influenced by the Velazquez masterpiece
"Las Meninas," to the Prado, and he hoped the Minister could
attend a reception for the Boston delegation in March.
IPR PROTECTION AND ANTI-PIRACY MEASURES
¶3. (SBU) Ambassador Solomont said he had heard a great deal
about Spain's Internet piracy problem, from MPAA CEO Glickman
and others, and asked where things stand with the
government's legislative proposal (ref B) on shutting down or
blocking pirate websites. Minister Gonzalez-Sinde replied
that everything the government tries to do in this area is
big news, since attempts to regulate Internet activity are of
intense interest to young people, the media, and companies
like Google. The government's proposal, she said, is quite
reasonable and even modest. The government has pledged not
to move aggressively against citizens and individual users as
has been proposed in France and the UK, but its initiative is
nonetheless controversial. Many politicians, she averred,
have little information or understanding of the issue. Even
those who recognize the damage that Internet piracy does to
cultural industries have not been helpful.
¶4. (SBU) At the same time, the Minister said there has been a
lot of progress and an open public debate on the issues
surrounding Internet piracy since she came into office last
April. There are still populist demands for "free culture"
on the Internet, but these are being taken less seriously in
the media. The Internet is shaking up traditional modes of
cultural distribution, she said. Increased use of the e-book
is sensitizing authors and influential media owners to the
piracy problem.
¶5. (SBU) The Congressional debate over the government's draft
law will be complicated, and this is where the Minister said
the Ambassador can help. The Government believes it is
making progress with Deputies from the ruling Spanish
Socialist Workers Party (PSOE), but is concerned about the
opposition Populist Party (PP). The Ambassador noted he had
raised the issue in his initial meeting with PP leader
Mariano Rajoy and had told him how important the issue is to
the USG and private industry. Gonzalez-Sinde pointed out
that if the government does not solve this problem now, it
MADRID 00000174 002.3 OF 003
could become an issue in the next presidential campaign.
Should the PP come back to power, it will have to deal with
this issue, because the current situation is unsustainable
over time. (Comment: As reported septel, DG Corral told
econoffs recently that the government faces opposition from
some members of the ruling party, and he asked us to make our
views known to legislators from the regional Convergencia i
Unio (Cataluna) and Partido Nacional Vasco (Basque Country)
blocs.)
¶6. (SBU) Ambassador said the USG wants to see the legislation
move forward in Congress and not be weakened in the amendment
process. He also noted that the music industry in particular
does not believe the government's proposal will solve the
problem, to which the Minister replied that the Government
has committed to trying this approach first, and if it
doesn't prove effective, they will come back with additional
and perhaps stronger measures. The music industry is
important to Spain, she said, because it helps promote the
Spanish language in Latin America and also in the United
States.
¶7. (U) On another issue, the Minister raised the draft law
being considered by the Catalan regional legislature that
would require that foreign films be dubbed or subtitled into
the Catalan language (ref A). She placed the issue in the
context of requirements that television networks finance and
broadcast Spanish and European films, and said it was also
related to the transition of televisions and films from
analog to digital format. She said the Catalan regional
government (Generalitat) is responding to public interest in
promoting the language and sees these other initiatives as
unnatural and unbalanced. It is trying to push back, but its
attempt to require that more films be shown in Catalan is
risky, as major studios and distributors oppose it. So do
movie house owners, who cite low demand because, in their
experience, even Catalan speakers prefer to see movies in
Spanish. Gonzalez-Sinde was not certain whether the regional
Parliament would pass the law in its current session.
CASSIRER CLAIM
¶8. (SBU) The Ambassador raised the claim of AMCIT Claude
Cassirer to a Camille Pissarro painting that is currently
part of the Thyssen Museum's permanent collection. The
Ambassador noted that Spain had participated in the 1998
Washington Conference on Nazi Confiscated Art and in last
year's Prague Conference. Spain had signed the Declarations
of Principles but was in the position of possessing a
painting that the Nazis had forced its original owner to
sell. He cited a German government letter stating that the
compensation the owner had received from Germany for the
painting's original disappearance did not extinguish the
family's claim to restitution or compensation. Ambassador
hoped the GOS would facilitate face-to-face negotiations on
compensation, as opposed to "moral recognition."
Acknowledging that the claimant has a lawsuit against Spain
and the Thyssen Foundation before the 9th Circuit Court of
Appeals, Ambassador asked what prevented the GOS from playing
a stronger hand outside the legal process.
¶9. (SBU) Minister Gonzalez-Sinde replied that lawyers for the
MFA and the Museum have advised that Spain is legally barred
from returning the painting or paying compensation. She
offered to speak again to FM Moratinos to see if anything can
be done. DG Corral pointed out that Spain had acquired the
painting legally and in good faith and had no involvement in
the transaction in which a Nazi art dealer coerced the
painting from its owner. The Thyssen Foundation manages the
collection that includes the painting, but the State owns it.
There is no legal way for the State to surrender its
property absent a judicial order, he said, and the government
could be sued if it tried. The State is legally bound to
protect its property, even at times against its own will.
¶10. (SBU) Spain is sensitive to the family's claim, Corral
said, but does not believe it can legally negotiate
compensation. It might, however, be able to make gestures to
the family and to the Los Angeles Jewish community. The
government could, for example, organize and fund travel to
Spain and cultural exchanges to promote mutual understanding
MADRID 00000174 003.3 OF 003
and appreciation while giving due recognition to the Cassirer
family.
¶11. (SBU) Ambassador suggested that the GOS try to come up
with creative solutions. At the same time, he undertook to
convey the GOS concerns to Cassirer's attorneys and to ask
them to offer a series of options for the government to
consider. If there appear to be viable options, they could
serve as a basis for direct negotiations. Post will follow
up with EUR/OHI.
SOLOMONT
HEADER VZCZCXRO2664
PP RUEHIK
DE RUEHMD #0174/01 0431525
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 121525Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY MADRID
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1928
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUEHLA/AMCONSUL BARCELONA 4356
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
XTAGS: XTAGETRD, XTAGKIPR, XTAGPGOV, XTAGPREL, XTAGPHUM, XTAGSCUL, XTAGSP 10MADRID174
TAGS ETRD KIPR PGOV PHUM PREL SCUL SP
ADDED 2010-12-08 23:11:00
STAMP 2010-12-09 12:08:45
VOTE_POINTS 9
VOTE_COUNT 1
VOTE_RATING 9000
PRIORITY PP
TWEETS 2
MANUAL N
SITELINK
ISNEW N
FINGERPRINT1 25ab2ae4ae882bbd670f8c3c8a5232b8
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario