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[tom poe <tompoe AT amihost.com>]

http://www.sacbee.com/24hour/world/story/1032150p-7243834c.html
Back in UNESCO, U.S. faces debate over Hollywood's spread
By PETER FORD, Christian Science Monitor
Last Updated 5:51 p.m. PDT Sunday, October 19, 2003
" Talks are starting on a United Nations treaty designed to help
countries protect their native cultures in the face of what many
characterize as the homogenizing effect of Hollywood. It's the kind of
pact that Washington sees as likely to hamper free trade and free
expression - as well as hurt profits."

"The U.N. convention on cultural diversity, championed by Canada and
France at the head of some 60 European and developing countries, would
take cultural goods, such as films, plays, and music, out of the realm
of trade negotiations. It would exempt them from free-trade rules, allow
governments to protect and support their cultural industries, and
enshrine the "cultural exception" that European nations have defended in
international law."