The ACTA negotiating countries have released a joint statement on the key issues under discussion. The document, which is presumably an attempt at transparency, is consistent with the various leaks regarding the content of the treaty, including the treaty structure, a de minimus provision, and the Internet provisions such as […]
Post Tagged with: "anti-counterfeiting trade agreement"
The ACTA Threat: My Talk on Everything You Need To Know About ACTA, But Didn’t Know To Ask
Last week I participated in a conference at American University, Washington College of Law called Beyond TRIPS: The Current Push for Greater International Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights. Webcasts of the two panels are available online (my panel on TRIPs and ACTA; a second panel on U.S. efforts to increase […]
NZ and Australian ACTA Criticism Mounts
Criticism of ACTA in Australia and New Zealand continues to mount with a steady stream of articles complaining that assurances that ACTA would be limited to commercial piracy "are turning to dust."
ACTA Threatens Made-in-Canada Copyright Policy
Last week Canadian officials travelled to Seoul for the latest round of closed-door negotiations on an international treaty called the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). Battling commercial counterfeiting would seem like a good idea, but leaks have revealed that ACTA – which has been conducted with unprecedented secrecy – is really about copyright, rather than counterfeiting.
My weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) notes that from the moment the talks began last year, observers noted the approach was far different from virtually any other international treaty negotiation. Rather than negotiating in an international venue such as the United Nations and opening the door to any interested countries, ACTA partners consisted of a small group of countries (Canada, United States, European Union, Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Morocco, and Singapore) meeting in secret and opposed broadening the process. The substance of the treaty was also accorded the highest level of secrecy. Draft documents were not released to the public and even the locations of negotiations were often kept under wraps. In fact, the U.S. government refused to disclose information about the treaty on national security grounds.
Public Knowledge & KEI Public Letter on ACTA
Public Knowledge and KEI have released a public letter expressing concern with the substance of ACTA.