The book explores the WIPO journey so far and looks at how relevant the
treaties are in contemporary world after 25 years of their existence. It
revisits the WIPO Diplomatic Conference, narrates briefly how the
Internet Treaties came into being, describes all the developments
germane to the Internet Treaties over the last twenty-five years and
examines at length how well these treaties withstood the creative gales
of destruction having a bearing on the production, distribution and
consumption of digital content. The retrospective consists of two parts.
The first part looks back at the conference, its course of events, its
negotiation dynamics, the doctrinal differences and sharply conflicting
economic interests underlying the stands taken by the main parties to
negotiations and the national and transnational interest groups that
sought to influence the negotiation process and outcomes. The second
part reflects on the outcomes and assesses with the wisdom of hindsight,
how appropriate the outcomes were and how well they withstood the
passage of time. This second aspect is the main focus of this book. The
retrospective is limited to the digital agenda of DipCon; but for the
digital agenda, the DipCon is convened so soon and the Internet Treaties
concluded so fast. The book provides rich material for researchers
studying the WIPO journey and also the practitioners by throwing light
on discussions that led to a treaty that has in general withstood the
trials of time.
