Representatives from several countries are rumoured to be considering tough new provisions to crack down on internet piracy as part of negotiations on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).
Officials from Australia, Canada, the European Union member states, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, and the United States are currently engaged in the latest round of talks toward the completion of the ACTA in the South Korean capital, Seoul.
This international initiative aims to establish international standards to combat the problem of counterfeiting and piracy, but, according to meeting documents leaked on the internet, the Seoul discussions are considering the inclusion of new proposals in the agreement designed to curb the downloading of copyrighted material, such as a three strikes rule.
Three strikes anti-piracy laws, which would give internet service providers powers to terminate the accounts of persistent offenders, have been considered by several governments, including France, the United States and at the European Union level. Many governments have backed off however, because such laws are considered to be too draconian.
"The leaks confirm everything that we feared about the secret ACTA negotiations," wrote Gwen Hinze of the Electronic Frontier Foundation in a blog post.
"The Internet provisions have nothing to do with addressing counterfeit products, but are all about imposing a set of copyright industry demands on the global Internet, including obligations on ISPs to adopt Three Strikes Internet disconnection policies, and a global expansion of DMCA-style TPM (technological protection measures) laws."
The DMCA, or Digital Millennium Copyright Act, is a piece of US legislation signed by former President Bill Clinton in 1998 which strengthened US copyright laws by criminalizing certain activities. It also increased penalties for internet copyright infringement.
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