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EU Commissioner-Designate Kroes on ACTA: “They Have To Move To Our Side”

EU commissioner-designate for the Digital Agenda, Neelie Kroes, appeared yesterday in hearings on her priorities in the coming years.  ACTA was discussed during the hearings, with Kroes indicating that the EU plans to stand firm in the negotiations and that the U.S. (and presumably Canada) will have to agree to their terms:

"No text has been agreed yet. There has been a first proposal tabled by the U.S.  For the Commission the objective of the negotiations is that our international partners guarantee the same level of protection of IP rights as the EU currently applies…there will be no harmonization via the backdoor.  We stick to the line they have to move to our side and that's it."

6 Comments

  1. You have to see the DeGucht hearing
    You have to see the DeGucht hearing, videos are somewhere available in a Microsoft protocol and format on the European Parliament’s website.

  2. “They Have To Move To Our Side”
    Well, there goes any slim change of these being negotiations.

    I’m starting to think that a country should declare war over ACTA, if only to see the corporate reactions.

  3. A terrifying prospect
    The corporations might actually hire armies so as to show up to enforce their opinions as law.

    Don’t laugh. This is the post-Blackwater age.

  4. Where are the canadian providers?
    Why aren’t Bell, Rogers, Shaw and Telus out there standing up for their customers?
    I can’t see them actually wanting to roll out deep packet inspection so that they can actively start losing subscribers to satisfy Hollywood.

  5. DeGucht hearing ??? says:

    Summary of hearing of Karel de Gucht – Trade
    http://www.europarl.europa.eu/hearings/press_service/product.htm?ref=20100111IPR67119&secondRef=0&language=EN

    Counterfeiting

    Following several questions about measures to combat counterfeiting, the Commissioner-designate promised to do everything possible to conclude a good Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement.

    I also found some Sound recording of the hearing: ftp://ftpeps01.europarl.eu.int/epavradio/hearings/20100112_de_gucht/

    If you know wich MEP asked question about ACTA or Counterfeiting this page can help you locate the relevant part of the hearing: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/pdf/hearings/script_hearing_degucht.pdf