Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest • Volume 13 • Number 39 • 11th November 2009
NGOs Cry Foul as ACTA Talks Continue
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The sixth round of negotiations toward an Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) took place in Seoul, Korea last week, but detailed content of the talks has yet to be disclosed, save for a short press release by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR). According to the statement, the discussions focused on rights enforcement in digital media and criminal enforcement. The proposed goal for signing the agreement has been set for “as soon as possible in 2010.”
The negotiations, which so far have been kept secret, have met with mixed reviews from civil society. Some non-governmental groups have criticised the lack of transparency in the talks, noting their concerns that the agreement could make it more difficult for people in poor countries to access medicines, or that it could criminalise non-commercial file-sharing, (see Bridges Weekly, 08 April 2009, http://ictsd.org/i/news/bridgesweekly/44809/).
“We urge you to insist that the administration … provide the public with the actual text of the ACTA proposals so that all stakeholders, including the public, can have productive and informed discussions on substantive issues,” the US organisations Knowledge Ecology International and Public Knowledge wrote in a letter to several members of the US Congress this week.
But the US Chamber of Commerce - a lobby group that represents business interests - is a strong supporter of the deal. Defending the secrecy of the negotiations, Mark Esper, Executive Vice President of the Chamber’s Global Intellectual Property Center, argued in the organisation’s blog that “the negotiation process requires the need for USTR and our trading partners to effectively exchange views and bounce ideas of one another in private.”
Public apprehension over the deal spiked after a section of the negotiating text, dated 30 September, was leaked recently. The draft text includes requirements for signatories to ensure third-party liability, which would mean that internet service providers could be held responsible for actions taken by their users. Also, the text would require that countries impose “adequate civil and criminal remedies” for the infringement of technological protection measures.
One particularly controversial measure proposed in the leaked documents was the “three-strike test” to determine if and when subscribers should be denied access by internet service providers. The test would allow for legal action to be taken after the third accusation of improper activity. It has been rejected by the European Parliament and several negotiating countries, but Washington reportedly backs the provision.
“US negotiators are seeking policies that will harm the US technology industry and citizens across the globe,” wrote Gwen Hinze of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a California-based NGO.
The US Trade Representative has claimed that stakeholders on both sides of the issue will be consulted, and some people were even given access to negotiating texts under a non-disclosure agreement. In the past week, however, organisations including Knowledge Ecology International, Public Knowledge, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation have sent two letters to Congress calling for more transparency. Their main concern seems to be that the deal aims to benefit certain industry groups at the general public’s expense.
“[...] it would seem that the ACTA negotiators have identified certain parts of the [WTO's Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights] most favourable to particular groups of intellectual property holders, including certain publishers, media conglomerates, and pharmaceutical companies. Left out of the ACTA text are the elements most favourable to consumers, including those intended to curb anticompetitive practices, and to protect innovation,” read a letter from the three groups dated 9 November.
More information
The leaked ACTA document is available here: http://ictsd.org/downloads/2009/11/eu-acta-document.pdf
ICTSD reporting.
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