[A2k] Canadian view of ACTA

[Manon Ress]

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[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
From: Robin Gross <robin@ipjustice.org>
Date: May 24, 2008 8:18:48 PM EDT
To: acta@ipjustice.org
Subject: [Acta] Canadian view of ACTA

Interesting Canadian perspective of ACTA below.

Best,
Robin


http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=3D642326df-30e7-4822=
-b919-1f6cd88b0c9d


May 24 =BB 2008

Copyright deal would toughen laptop, iPod laws

Vito Pilieci
Canwest News Service

Saturday, May 24, 2008

The federal government is secretly negotiating an agreement to revamp
international copyright laws, which could make the information on
Canadian iPods, laptop computers or other personal electronic devices
illegal and greatly increase the difficulty of travelling with such
devices.

The deal could also impose strict regulations on Internet service
providers, forcing those companies to hand over customer information
without a court order.

Called the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), the new plan
would see Canada join other countries, including the United States and
members of the European Union, to form an international coalition
against copyright infringement.

The agreement is being structured much like the North American Free
Trade Agreement except it will create rules and regulations regarding
private copying and copyright laws.

Federal trade agreements do not require parliamentary approval.

The deal would create an international regulator that could turn
border guards and other public security personnel into copyright
police. The security officials would be charged with checking laptops,
iPods and even cellular phones for content that "infringes" on
copyright laws, such as ripped CDs and movies.

The guards would also be responsible for determining what is
infringing content and what is not.

The agreement proposes any content that may have been copied from a
DVD or digital video recorder would be open for scrutiny by officials
-- even if the content was copied legally.

"If Hollywood could order intellectual property laws for Christmas
what would they look like? This is pretty close," said David Fewer,
staff counsel at the University of Ottawa's Canadian Internet Policy
and Public Interest Clinic. "The process on ACTA so far has been cloak
and dagger. This certainly raises concerns."

The leaked ACTA document states officials should be given the
"authority to take action against infringers (i.e., authority to act
without complaint by rights holders)."

Anyone found with infringing content in their possession would be open
to a fine. They may also have their device confiscated or destroyed,
according to the four-page document.

The trade agreement includes "civil enforcement" measures, which give
security personnel the "authority to order ex parte searches" (without
a lawyer present) "and other preliminary measures."

In Canada, border guards already perform random searches of laptops at
airports to check for child pornography. ACTA would expand the role of
those guards.

On top of these enforcement efforts, ACTA proposes forcing Internet
service providers to hand over personal information pertaining to
"claimed infringement" or "alleged infringers" -- users who may be
transmitting or sharing copyrighted content over the Internet.

The ACTA discussion paper was leaked online by Sunshine Media, the
firm that runs the Wikileaks.org website -- a whistleblowing website
created to help circulate secret documents.

It is expected the new agreement will be tabled at July's meeting of
G-8 nations in Tokyo.

=A9 The Calgary Herald 2008



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Robin Gross, Executive Director
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