The primary concern regarding international copyright developments in 2008 was the secret negotiation of the ACTA treaty – Anti Counterfeiting Trade Agreement – between the United States of America, the European Union, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland and Mexico.[1]
As the text of the agreement has not been made public and public interest groups have not had an opportunity to contribute it is unclear what the treaty will impose in terms of new intellectual property law and enforcement. Speculation as to the terms suggests that the agreement will impose mandatory ISP level filtering and monitoring of users accounts, the disclosure of user identities, a three strikes proposal, the need for countries with high rates of physical piracy to register and monitor the sale of discs and the materials used to produce discs, increased criminal and civil penalties including the criminalisation of peer to peer file sharing, greater enforcement of intellectual property laws and border searches of personal devices.[2]
The majority of the information to date on the terms of the agreement has been from leaks published on the internet.[3] Lobbying against the secrecy of the negotiations, in September 2008 100 international public interest groups signed a letter demanding that the process be opened for public consultation.[4]
In September 2008 the US Trade Representative held an open hearing and explained that the agreement was focused on ‘criminal enforcement, border measures, civil enforcement, optical disc piracy and IPR enforcement issues relating to internet distribution.’[5] Claims that the agreement would result in the border inspection of personal computing devices were dismissed.[6]
In October 2008 two high profile politicians from the United States, Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Arlen Specter (R-PA) wrote to the Bush administration expressing concern that the terms of the agreement would negatively impact on Congress’s ability to make constructive policy changes in the future.[7] They suggested that the agreement should not contain provisions relating to the liability or obligations of internet service providers nor deal with issues relating to digital rights management technology.[8]
[1] Wired, Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement: Fact or Fiction? (15 September 2008) <http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/09/international-i.html> at 21 September 2008; TechDirt, Canada Takes ACTA Secrecy To New Levels (29 July 2008) <http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080728/1914061820.shtml> at 31 July 2008; ZeroPaid, ACTA Negotiations to Continue Next Week (23 July 2008) <http://www.zeropaid.com/news/9645/ACTA+Negotiations+to+Continue+Next+Week> at 23 July 2008; TechDirt, Entertainment Industry Continues To Try To Sneak Copyright Expansion Through ACTA (8 July 2008) <http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080703/0301501586.shtml> at 9 July 2008; TechDirt, We Need More Sunlight On ACTA: Where Is The Mainstream Press? (4 June 2008) <http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080603/1247531301.shtml> at 6 June 2008
[2] ZeroPaid, Report - ACTA Stalled Amid War Between Australian ISPs and Copyright Industry (20 September 2008) <http://www.zeropaid.com/news/9766/Report+-+ACTA+Stalled+Amid+War+Between+Australian+ISPs+and+Copyright+Industry> at 21 September 2008; ZeroPaid, Over 100 International Public Interest Organizations Demand ACTA Be Made Public (17 September 2008) <http://www.zeropaid.com/news/9754/Over+100+International+Public+Interest+Organizations+Demand+ACTA+Be+Made+Public> at 21 September 2008; ZeroPaid, ACTA Negotiations to Continue Next Week (23 July 2008) <http://www.zeropaid.com/news/9645/ACTA+Negotiations+to+Continue+Next+Week> at 23 July 2008; ArsTechnica, RIAA's ACTA wishlist includes gutted DMCA, mandatory filters (30 June 2008) <http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080630-inside-the-riaas-acta-wishlist.html> at 4 July 2008; ZeroPaid, US Proposes 'Pirate Bay Killer' Trade Agreement (24 May 2008) <http://www.zeropaid.com/news/9511/US+Proposes+%27Pirate+Bay+Killer%27+Trade+Agreement> at 5 June 2008
[3] ZeroPaid, Another Critical ACTA Leak Surfaces (1 August 2008) <http://www.zeropaid.com/news/9669/Another+Critical+ACTA+Leak+Surfaces> at 6 August 2008
[4] ZeroPaid, Over 100 International Public Interest Organizations Demand ACTA Be Made Public (17 September 2008) <http://www.zeropaid.com/news/9754/Over+100+International+Public+Interest+Organizations+Demand+ACTA+Be+Made+Public> at 21 September 2008; TechDirt, Groups Demanding That ACTA Negotiations Be Made Public (16 September 2008) <http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080916/1839352286.shtml> at 21 September 2008
[5] TechDirt, The ACTA Hearing: USTR Claims There's Nothing To See Here... Move Along Politics (25 September 2008) <http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080924/1732262362.shtml> at 26 September 2008
[6] TechDirt, The ACTA Hearing: USTR Claims There's Nothing To See Here... Move Along Politics (25 September 2008) <http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080924/1732262362.shtml> at 26 September 2008
[7]ZeroPaid, Senators Push for Transparency for ACTA (4 October 2008)<http://www.zeropaid.com/news/9788/Senators+Push+for+Transparency+for+ACTA> at 5 October 2008; ArsTechnica, Key senators oppose DRM, ISP filtering in secret ACTA treaty (3 October 2008) <http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081003-key-senators-oppose-drm-isp-filtering-in-secret-acta-treaty.html> at 5 October 2008; TechDirt, Even Senators Who Want Stronger Copyright Laws Are Worried About ACTA (3 October 2008) <http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20081003/0029142439.shtml> at 5 October 2008
[8] ArsTechnica, Key senators oppose DRM, ISP filtering in secret ACTA treaty (3 October 2008) <http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081003-key-senators-oppose-drm-isp-filtering-in-secret-acta-treaty.html> at 5 October 2008; ZeroPaid, Senators Push for Transparency for ACTA (4 October 2008)<http://www.zeropaid.com/news/9788/Senators+Push+for+Transparency+for+ACTA> at 5 October 2008; TechDirt, Even Senators Who Want Stronger Copyright Laws Are Worried About ACTA (3 October 2008) <http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20081003/0029142439.shtml> at 5 October 2008
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