News

Groups Voice Concern With ACTA Provisions

Ten civil liberties and library groups have written to the USTR to express concern over ACTA provisions.

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March 23, 2010 Comments are Disabled News

The EU ACTA Consultation: European Commission vs. European Parliament

The European Commission hosted a fascinating consultation on ACTA today.  Luc Devigne, the lead European negotiator, opened with a brief presentation and proceeded to field questions for over an hour.  The full consultation video is available online.  The discussion touched on many issues including Devigne arguing that the WTO consistently blocked any attempt to address IP enforcement issues and stating that the treaty is limited to enforcement and not new substantive provisions (this assumes that anti-circumvention rules are a matter of enforcement, not substance).

The two big issues of the day, however, were three strikes and the European Parliament ACTA resolution. On three strikes, Devigne repeatedly stated that the EU was bound by EU law and that it was not supporting any inclusion of three strikes in ACTA.  In fact, Devigne went further in claiming that no one had even proposed the possibility of three strikes.  This despite the fact that a memo produced by his own department stated:

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March 22, 2010 6 comments News

NZ ACTA Meeting Agenda Leaks: Time for Crime, Not Much For Transparency

The draft agenda for the upcoming New Zealand ACTA meeting has leaked along with information on negotiating venue and other logistical details.  The agenda commits a full day for each of border measures, Internet enforcement, criminal measures, and civil enforcement.  The final day – the meeting is a record five […]

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March 22, 2010 5 comments News

Benkler on Network Open Access

Yochai Benkler has an excellent op-ed in the NY Times on the need for a strong commitment to open access to facilitate broadband competition.  A podcast of Benkler's keynote address at the recent University of Ottawa conference is available here.

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March 22, 2010 1 comment News

B.C. Opens Door to Online Eyeglass Sales

The B.C. government has passed legislation that deregulates the sales of eyeglasses and contacts. The move comes in response to court battle between the College of Opticians of BC and Coastal Contacts, an online eyeglass seller.

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March 22, 2010 5 comments News