The New Zealand round of ACTA negotiations concluded earlier today with participants promising to release the draft text next week. This obviously represents a major new development that reflects the mounting global pressure for greater transparency that built in the weeks leading up to the negotiations. The joint statement also […]
Canadian Heritage Memorandum, December 8, 2020, ATIP A-2020-00498
Bill C-10
U.S. Government Study: Counterfeiting and Piracy Data Unreliable
For several years, I have written about the lack of reliability of data on counterfeiting. The RCMP cited data without any factual basis, while other groups regularly made claims without support, such as reports from the Ontario Chamber of Commerce and the Conference Board of Canada. Of course, this phenomenon was not limited to Canada. The US Patent and Trademark Office relied on the same data to claim 7 – 8 % of world trade is counterfeit, while a report from the first Global Congress on Counterfeiting, which led to ACTA, pointed to FBI data it said showed counterfeiting at US$200 – 250 billion per year.
This week a report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office concludes that estimates such as these are not reliable and cannot be substantiated to a data source. The U.S. GAO was required by Congress to try to quantify the impact of counterfeit and pirated goods. While concluding that counterfeiting exists and is a problem, the GAO could not find reliable data. Its review of commonly cited claims:
Consumer Electronics Association on ACTA
Consumer Electronics Association head Gary Shapiro writes on ACTA, warning that it is the most dangerous global trade agreement you've never heard of.
The Truth About ACTA: My PublicACTA Keynote Address
As I posted over the weekend, I had the pleasure of participating in the PublicACTA conference in Wellington, New Zealand. The Wellington Declaration is a must-read, as is the extensive media coverage that ACTA has received over the past 48 hours in New Zealand (NZ PC World, National Business Review, […]
Talks on Secret Copyright Treaty Spring a Leak
Appeared in the Toronto Star on April 12, 2010 as Talks on Secret Anti-Counterfeiting Treaty Spring a Leak Negotiations on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement resume today in Wellington, New Zealand, with Canada, the United States, the European Union, and a handful of other countries launching the eighth round of talks. […]
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