ACTA Draft Finally Made Public

by Ulrika Lomas, LawAndTax-News.com, Brussels

23 April 2010

A draft of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) – which has been the subject of rumor, leaks and controversy – has been released after two years of behind-the-scenes negotiation and scrutiny by the parties involved. The release was approved by the negotiating parties at a recent negotiation round held in Wellington, New Zealand, following pressure from the European Union to do so.

However, despite the two-year negotiations between the potential signatories, which include Australia, the EU member states, Switzerland, the USA, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and Canada, various provisions will be the subject of further negotiation over the coming months. A final version of the agreement is expected by end-2010.

The draft ACTA has been met with mixed views. Some commentators conclude that, as the agreement stands, it is not as bad as feared, pointing to the fact that the current British and French “three strikes” penalties model is not to be forced on all governments in the final ACTA. The “three strikes” model is aimed at Internet users who repeatedly infringe copyright law.

Internet service providers have, though, raised concerns over the introduction of measures that would force them to monitor Internet traffic. In a press release, the European Internet Service Providers Association (EuroISPA) worries that the draft text “still goes far beyond the existing implementation of the European regulatory framework regarding liability, introducing measures that will damage the industry sector via the creation of undue liability on ISPs and jeopardizing the openness of the Internet.”

According to EuroISPA president Malcolm Hutty, “This is a serious concern considering the crucial role played by the Internet for the development of the economic recovery, not only in the consumer space but also as an infrastructure underpinning business and employment.”

Two civil liberties groups have highlighted what they believe are the dangers of the agreement.

Florian Leppla, spokesman for Open Rights Group based in the UK, raised concerns that “we still don't know the positions of individual countries. So we won't know who is pushing for the most dangerous enforcement policies. What we need now is an open process that allows consumer and citizens groups to influence what is in the document.”

Jérémie Zimmermann, head of La Quadrature du Net – which leaked a previous draft of the agreement – said: “All the leaks have shown that ACTA could dangerously hinder freedom of expression, access to medicines and innovation in the global knowledge society. This official release suggests that it is still the case.”

The Motion Picture Association of America, however, welcomed the draft agreement, claiming in a press statement by Executive Vice President and Chief Policy Officer Greg Frazier, that “it represents a solid building block, an important step forward in the work of like-minded governments to strengthen protection against Internet piracy, the fastest growing threat to filmed entertainment and other segments of the copyright industries.“

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