Negotiations on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement concluded earlier this month, with Canada, the United States, the European Union, and a handful of other countries releasing the text of a near-complete agreement.  While several key issues are still unresolved, no further negotiation rounds are planned as participants plan to use the coming weeks to iron out the remaining differences.

My weekly technology law column (Ottawa Citizen version, homepage version) notes that for many Canadians, a core concern with the agreement was the possibility that it could severely limit the ability to establish a made-in-Canada approach on copyright and intellectual property policy.  Indeed, NDP Digital Affairs Critic Charlie Angus raised the issue in the House of Commons last year, noting that ACTA could undermine domestic policy.

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