[A2k] International piracy plans leaked onto the internet

[Riaz K Tayob]

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[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
International piracy plans leaked onto the internet

Wikileaks strikes again

Written by Iain Thomson in San Francisco

vnunet.com, 30 Jul 2008
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A memo from businesses to government negotiators working on the Anti-Counte=
rfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) has been leaked on the first day of meeting=
s.

The memo, carried on Wikileaks, proposes sweeping new powers should be enac=
ted to stop copyright infringement, counterfeiting and piracy. They include=
 enacting new laws to make information discovered by government customs off=
icers available to private industry.

The memo suggests that where customs officers discover cases of infringemen=
t then they should notify the rights holder of the personal details of all =
of those involved.

In addition government should bring in new fines for copyright infringement=
 and piracy that will "deter" such activity. These would be determined on i=
nformation provided by the rights holders and additional powers to allow fu=
nds to be seized should be added.

The memo comes on top of proposals revealed in May that ISPs may be require=
d to hand over user's identities to rights holders without proof of illegal=
 activity being offered and could require customs officers to search laptop=
s and iPods for pirated material and restrict the use of online privacy sof=
tware.

The ACTA agreement is being formulated by government officials in the US, E=
U, Canada, Japan and Australia but has received little attention so far. So=
 far virtually no details of negotiations have been made public, drawing cr=
iticism from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).

"In February, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) a=
sked for public comments with a short deadline of March 22, on the proposed=
 treaty," said the EFF.

"Apart from the little information in the request for comments, citizens we=
re given only a one and a half page "Fact Sheet" on ACTA, which failed to i=
nform the public of its substance -- making the comment process a leap in t=
he dark."

"Given the speed with which this treaty is being negotiated, and its potent=
ially significant impact, the lack of transparency in the negotiation proce=
ss and failure to provide citizens with an opportunity for informed consult=
ation is extremely concerning."

At the close of the last G8 meeting in Hokkaido, Japan, the member states p=
romised "the acceleration of negotiations to establish a new international =
legal framework, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), and seek t=
o complete the negotiation by the end of this year."

http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2222788/international-piracy-plans-acta


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