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Monday October 18, 2010 |
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Andres Guadamuz has an insightful
post on the likely impact of ACTA in the UK.
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Wednesday October 06, 2010 |
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One of the biggest stories over the three year negotiation of ACTA has
been the willingness of the U.S. to cave on the Internet
provisions.
When it first proposed the chapter, the U.S. was seeking new
intermediary liability requirements with three strikes and you're out
used as an example of an appropriate policy as well as language that
attempted to create a global DMCA. The draft
released today
is a far cry from that proposal with the intermediary liability
provisions largely removed and the DMCA digital lock provisions much
closer to the WIPO Internet treaty model. In its place, is a chapter that is best viewed as ACTA Ultra-Lite. For Canadians, this is
crucial since it now leaves an ACTA that is far more flexible than even
Bill C-32. In fact, the Canadian copyright bill now exceeds the
requirements under ACTA and could be amended in a manner that will
allow for greater balance on digital locks and still be ACTA compliant.It should also be noted that this chapter is still not concluded. The inclusion of trademarks in some provisions would seemingly require changes to U.S. law and has not acheived consensus. Further, a provision on enforcement procedures " including the unlawful use of means of widespread distribution for infringing purposes" has not received consensus support. With respect to what has been concluded:
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Tuesday October 05, 2010 |
The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement has always been the exception
to the general rule for international negotiations - closed
participation rather than open, secretive rather than transparent - so
it should come as no surprise that the negotiations have come to an end
in an unusual manner. The only thing that is absolutely clear is
that
there will be no further rounds of negotiation as the latest round in
Japan is being described as the final
round of talks. Other than that, the conclusion seems open to
considerable speculation and spin.
From the U.S. perspective, the negotiations are done and ACTA is nearly
a reality. USTR Ambassador Ron Kirk has been quoted
as saying that there are solutions to even the toughest issues and that
nearly all parties have agreed to them. Another U.S. official admitted
that there were still as many as six issues without agreement,
including two on border measures and another from the Internet chapter.
The EU has been even less supportive, with an official quoted
as saying "we've come a long way but we must still close the remaining
gaps without which there will be no agreement." Moreover, several
European Parliament Members are already calling
for a halt to the deal. Meanwhile, Japanese officials have acknowledged
that there are issues that require further discussion back home and
that "in that sense we haven’t gotten agreement."
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Friday October 01, 2010 |
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The Tokyo round of ACTA negotiations concluded earlier today with
countries saying
that they "resolved nearly all substantive issues and produced a
consolidated and largely finalized text." Earlier reports
from Reuters indicated that the latest round of ACTA negotiations in
Tokyo, Japan has failed to produce an agreement. That report
indicated
that there is still disagreement over scope, including geographical
indications and patents. A later report
indicated that there was a basic agreement.
It is not clear whether the first report was simply wrong or a matter
of interpretation. The final
statement
indicates that there will be no further rounds of negotiations, but
there are still some substantive issues that need to be addressed with
the countries promising to work expeditiously on them "with a view to
finalizing the text of the agreement as promptly as possible."
That
sounds like there was no deal, but the countries have decided to
declare victory anyway. The statement promises to release the
text shortly.Update: A further report from Reuters has the USTR claiming victory, stating that they "are almost across the finish line" and that "in principle, we have found solutions, even on the most difficult issues. Nearly all of the parties embraced those solutions." Nearly all parties apparently does not include the EU. A senior EU official is quoted as saying "we've come a long way but we must still close the remaining gaps without which there will be no agreement." acta, anti-counterfeiting trade agreement, Counterfeit, Counterfeiting, japan Slashdot, Digg, Del.icio.us, Newsfeeder, Reddit, StumbleUpon, TwitterTagsShareFriday October 01, 2010 |
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