Earlier today, three European Parliament committees studying the
Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement - the Legal Affairs Committee
(JURI), the Committee for Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) and the
Committee for Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) - all voted
against implementing ACTA.
The rejection from all three committees confirms the lack of support
with the Parliament for ACTA. A final European Parliament vote is
expected in July with additional committee recommendations coming next
month.
The strength of the anti-ACTA movement within the European Parliament
is part of a broader backlash against secretive intellectual property
agreements that are either incorporated into broad trade agreements or
raise critical questions about prioritizing IP enforcement over
fundamental rights. This week the Dutch Parliament voted against
ratifying the
Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, a move that some experts say could effectively kill ACTA (which is a "mixed agreement") throughout
Europe. In
addition to the two anti-ACTA resolutions, the Dutch Parliament passed
a third resolution against similar treaties:
The House of Representatives,
- observes that treaties like ACTA
lead to a further formalization of copyrights rules on the
international level,
- observes that such treaties are
very difficult to modify and as a result can be an extra impediment for
future reforms of copyright law,
- observes that strict enforcement of
intellectual property on the internet is no solution for the ongoing
difficulties regarding copyright law and interferes with internet
freedom,
- requests the government to vote
against new similar treaties,
- requests the government to focus
the copyright policy on economic growth opportunities offered by the
internet through, amongst others things, new revenue models for legal
content.
The opposition to ACTA and ACTA-style treaties (which obviously include
the
Trans Pacific Partnership and bi-lateral agreements such as CETA) is
part of a growing international trend as elected officials and
independent policy officials around the world voice their objection to
these treaties.
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The Association of Professors of the University of Ottawa is urging the
University of Ottawa to reject the Access Copyright model licence. The
APUO states:
APUO urges the University of Ottawa
not to take the easier, but more costly step of paying an unaccountable
and non-transparent licensing agency. In the spirit of a school that is
poised to lead other Canadian universities by having become
internationally recognized as a top research institution, it behoves us
to listen to students and researchers who have voiced strong statements
against accepting the model licence. APUO stands in solidarity with
scholars and intellectuals who have recognized that this is a key
opportunity to play a leadership role by rejecting the model licence
and working toward better-managed solutions that are fair to our
students and faculty, at the same time recognizing our obligations to
rewarding the rights holders.
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