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Monday February 08, 2010 |
The European Commission has posted a response to one of the many questions raised by members of the European Parliament about ACTA. The EC seeks to pacify the ACTA concerns by arguing that the treaty will be limited in scope and is targeted at commercial activities:
The Commission can inform the Honourable Member that the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) will be in line with the body of EU legislation, which fully respects fundamental rights and freedoms and civil liberties, such as the protection of personal data. This includes the Intellectual Property Rights' relevant aspects of the Telecoms package.
ACTA should not contain measures restricting end-users’ access to the internet that would not be appropriate, proportionate and necessary within a democratic society and without a prior, fair and impartial procedure.
It is the Commission's view that ACTA is about tackling large scale illegal activity, often pursued by criminal organisations, that is causing a devastating impact on growth and employment in Europe and may have serious risks to the health and safety of consumers. It is not about limiting civil liberties or harassing consumers. Slashdot, Digg, Del.icio.us, Newsfeeder, Reddit, StumbleUpon, TwitterTagsShareMonday February 08, 2010 |
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Monday February 08, 2010 |
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The New York Times has a feature story on ACTA today that includes comments from an EU official rejecting a single solution to Internet issues as well as comments from a Swedish official calling for the release of the draft text. Slashdot, Digg, Del.icio.us, Newsfeeder, Reddit, StumbleUpon, TwitterTagsShareMonday February 08, 2010 |
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Monday February 08, 2010 |
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Finnish Member of the European Parliament Heidi Hautala has added her voice to the concerns over ACTA, calling for greater transparency. Slashdot, Digg, Del.icio.us, Newsfeeder, Reddit, StumbleUpon, TwitterTagsShareMonday February 08, 2010 |
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Friday February 05, 2010 |
Faced with mounting criticism over ACTA secrecy, officials from both the U.S. and the EU are speaking out. In a letter to the editor at the Financial Times, the USTR's Stanford McCoy rejects the transparency concerns, claiming:
"Far from keeping them secret, governments participating in these negotiations have sought public comments, released a summary of issues under discussion, and enhanced public engagement."
Meanwhile, an EU official told EurActiv.com that media reports have oversimplified ACTA and that information has been provided to the European Parliament "whenever possible." The EU official declined to be named due to a non-disclosure agreement.
Slashdot, Digg, Del.icio.us, Newsfeeder, Reddit, StumbleUpon, TwitterTagsShareFriday February 05, 2010 |
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