ACTA Internet Chapter Leak Signals Far-Reaching Copyright Policy (IP-Watch)

[DrewWilson]

As governments negotiating the secretive Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) meet in Seoul this week, public interest concern has surfaced over leaked information on internet enforcement.

The leaks “confirm everything that we feared,” wrote Gwen Hinze of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. “It’s bad. Very bad,” said Cory Doctorow, at influential blog BoingBoing.

It “provides firm confirmation that the treaty is not a counterfeiting trade, but a copyright treaty,” said University of Ottawa professor Michael Geist.

According to leaked documents from recent weeks, sources said the negotiating language includes the requirement that signatories provide for third-party liability. This is an issue that has sparked concern in key internet businesses such as Google as well as internet service providers worried they will be made responsible for actions taken by users of their network. The requirement is unique among major international IP treaties, said Hinze.

It also requires the creation of civil and criminal remedies specifically for infringing technological protection measures, including the prohibition of making or distributing tools to get around such measures. And it would require the creation of civil and criminal remedies for removing information about rights management from content.

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I'm glad they are making an enemy of Google over this. They've made another very powerful enemy.