VZCZCXRO1518
RR RUEHIK
DE RUEHMD #1137/01 3311219
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 271219Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY MADRID
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1493
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUEHLA/AMCONSUL BARCELONA 4234
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MADRID 001137 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/WE, EEB/CIP, EEB/TPP/IPE 
STATE PASS USTR FOR D.WEINER 
STATE PASS U.S. COPYRIGHT OFFICE FOR M.WOODS AND M.PALLANTE 
COMMERCE FOR 4212/DON CALVERT 
COMMERCE ALSO FOR NTIA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECPS KIPR SP
SUBJECT: SPAIN: THIRD ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL FORUM ON DIGITAL 
CONTENT (FICOD), NOVEMBER 16-18, MADRID 
 
REF: A. MADRID 1115 
     ¶B. MADRID 1088 
 
MADRID 00001137  001.3 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  Summary: The GOS-hosted International Forum on Digital 
Content (FICOD 2009) was a great success, with excellent 
turnout, high-quality presentations, and an enthusiastic 
audience.  The opening remarks by Deputy Administrator Anna 
Gomez of NTIA were well-received, and Forum organizers 
greatly appreciated her participation.  Post also wishes to 
express its gratitude to Deputy Administrator Gomez and to 
those at State and Commerce who helped make it possible. 
Septel will report on the intellectual property rights 
aspects of FICOD, including the participation of U.S. 
Copyright Office senior counsel Michele Woods and of MPAA 
Chairman and CEO Dan Glickman.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) Spain's Ministry of Industry, Tourism, and Trade 
(MITYC), Secretariat of State for Telecommunications and the 
Information Society (SETSI), hosted the third annual 
International Forum on Digital Content (FICOD), November 
16-18.  Co-sponsors included red.es (the government's 
Internet development agency), the Ministry of Culture, the 
Madrid municipal government, Telefonica, BBVA, and Plan E 
(the GOS economic recovery/infrastructure plan).  SETSI 
designated the United States the featured country for this 
year's event.  Anna Gomez, Deputy Administrator of the 
National Telecommunications and Information Administration 
(NTIA), delivered the opening remarks at FICOD's inaugural 
event, followed by Minister of Culture Angeles Gonzalez-Sinde 
and MITYC Minister Miguel Sebastian. 
 
¶3. (U) Gomez discussed the priority the Obama administration 
places on development of Information and Communications 
Technologies (ICT) as a vehicle for modernizing the world's 
economy and promoting sustained prosperity.  She also 
highlighted the importance of a full and free exchange of 
information on the Internet, and outlined President Obama's 
innovation plan.  She stated that the U.S. looks forward to 
working with Spain on ICT issues during Spain's upcoming EU 
Presidency.  Her remarks were very well-received and her 
participation much appreciated by the audience and the Forum 
organizers. 
 
¶4. (U) Culture Minister Gonzalez-Sinde spoke about the 
importance of the Internet as a vehicle for communicating 
culture and making it available to the citizenry.  She also 
referred to the new Inter-Ministerial Commission formed in 
October to recommend measures to deter Internet piracy, and 
reiterated the government's commitment (see ref B) not to 
punish or sanction individual users who download copyrighted 
material without authorization.  Finally, she announced the 
government's plan to support the "macro website" soon to be 
introduced by the Coalition of Creators and Content 
Industries to make more content legally available online. 
(See septel for more information on IPR and Internet piracy 
issues discussed in a series of roundtables organized as part 
of FICOD.) 
 
¶5. (U) Minister Sebastian took the opportunity to announce a 
new GOS policy: as of January 2011, the universal telecoms 
service package to which all consumers are entitled by law 
will include broadband Internet access at a minimum speed of 
1 megabyte per second (mbps).  While the vast majority of 
Spaniards who have Internet service already have broadband 
access far in excess of that speed (ref A), the new 
regulation will require telecom companies to expand and 
upgrade their networks to enable them to serve rural areas, 
and is expected eventually to help bring Spain's broadband 
access and prices closer to those of its European neighbors. 
That said, the Internet Service Providers' (ISP) association, 
Redtel, is on record as opposing the initiative over the 
question of who - the companies or the government - will pay 
the costs of providing the service.  Accordingly, the new 
policy adds another issue of contention between the 
government and the telecoms/ISPs.  Sebastian also spoke of 
the development of new business models for marketing content 
on the Internet and closed his remarks with a strong 
statement on the centrality of effective IPR protection to 
the growth of the information society. 
 
¶6. (U) Following the inauguration, American actor/producer 
Kevin Spacey delivered a speech on the Internet's value as a 
tool to improve education, followed by an interview in which 
Spacey showed off his abundant comic talents while making 
 
MADRID 00001137  002.3 OF 002 
 
 
serious points on the relationship between new ICT 
technologies and the arts world, especially film. 
 
¶7.  (U) The subsequent two and a half days included 29 
roundtables, 100 workshops, 33 special events, and an 
exhibition hall with 24 booths, including several operated by 
U.S. companies.  Many of the events can be viewed in English 
or Spanish on the Forum's website, 
http://www.ficod2009.es/ficod.  One of the special events was 
a digital book fair.  There was also an OECD-sponsored 
workshop on Common Challenges and Shared Solutions: Good 
Governance in Information Society Strategies," at which 
Secretary of State for Telecommunications and the Information 
Society Francisco Ros presented Plan Avanza, the GOS 5-year 
strategy for developing the ICT sector.  NTIA Deputy 
Administrator Gomez delivered brief remarks at the workshop 
on what the U.S. can learn from Spain's experience.  The OECD 
presented preliminary results of its review of Plan Avanza. 
 
¶8. (U) FICOD was well-attended; according to organizer 
red.es, some 8000 participants registered, double last year's 
total.  The audience appeared engaged and enthusiastic.  The 
overall quality of presentations and roundtables was high. 
 
¶9. (U) Comment: This is the most important event of the year 
for Spanish SETSI officials who play a key role in responding 
to USG Internet piracy concerns.  Deputy Administrator 
Gomez's participation was greatly appreciated by those 
officials.  Post wishes to thank Deputy Administrator Gomez 
and to express its appreciation to the several employees of 
the Departments of State and Commerce who worked to make her 
visit possible.  End Comment. 
CHACON