[A2k] EU Digital Commissioner on Acta, patents and open Internet: short notes

[david@davidhammerstein.org]

At the hearing now going on of Commissioner-designate Kroes

Nelly Kroes, the future Commissioner of Digital Agenda Nelly Kroes has
stated that the EU would not allow ACTA to mean global IP
harmonisation through the back door. According to Kroes ACTA is only
about "large criminal organisations" and "counterfeited goods".  "They
(US) will have to come over to our side" if they want an agreement.
She stated the EU would not sign anything not in conformity with EU
law.  Today she was clear that there is no deal yet.

  The growing public pressure on ACTA seems to be having some effect
on the European Commission.

She has shown a clear stance in favour of interoperability, net
neutrality (only violated for security and spam) and open standards
for public institutions including European ones. She was evasive on
the question of software patents (patent but said she preferred
interoperability. She criticized the fact that public institutions,
including EU ones,  did not practice what they preach concerning open
access and inteoperability.

She assured that piracy was a great problem without a solution while
every EU member state has different rules.