Page 97 - Communication Commerce and Power The Political Economy of America and the Direct Broadcast Satellite

86 Communication, Commerce and Power

In 1972, the Soviet Union presented a draft convention to the UN
General Assembly reiterating its official position on DBS. Four points
were emphasized:
• state sovereignty as a supreme principle;
• transmissions into another country without prior consent must be
prohibited;
• countries in which the transmission systems are located are legally
responsible for those transmissions; and
• the right to counteract illegal transmissions both in one's own
country and in outer space entails the right to use any means
available. 47
The US delegation again responded with assurances that while no
plan existed in either the American public or private sectors to launch
a commercial or state-controlled DBS service, rather than restricting
future developments through prior consent regulations, the UN
instead should encourage its potentially beneficial utilization. 48 Fol-
lowing this debate, the Soviets submitted a final draft to the General
Assembly. After removing the prior consent provision, the UN Gen-
eral Assembly passed the Soviet resolution, titled 'Convention on
Principles Governing the Use by States of Artificial Satellites for
Direct Television Broadcasting,' with just one dissenting vote - that
of the United States. 49
But again, unlike a treaty, resolutions alone do not constitute
international law. Among the five UN space-related treaties, only
50
the Outer Space Treaty (OST) is directly relevant to DBS. Although
the OST does not mention DBS by name, its preamble refers to UN
General Assembly Resolution 110(1I). This particular Resolution con-
demns 'propaganda designed or likely to provoke or encourage any
threat to peace.' And although treaty preambles unlike treaty com-
ments are not in themselves binding, Article 31 of the Vienna Con-
vention on the Law of Treaties, adopted in 1969, states that the
preamble constitutes a source of information as to the intent of treaty
signatories. 51 Nevertheless, it remains unclear what is meant by
'propaganda.' 52
Article I of the OST states that the use of outer space must be
pursued 'for the benefit and in the interests of all countries.' However,
this paragraph also indicates that equality of access rather than just
use is essential. Article II states that outer space is not susceptible to
appropriations by nation states. Indirectly, therefore, the OST pre-
scribes that the geosynchronous orbit is to be treated like any other