Watchdogs Want Openness In IP Pact Talks
High-tech watchdogs are abuzz over leaked information from ongoing international negotiations surrounding the Anti-Counterfeiting Copyright Agreement. The Electronic Frontier Foundation sent an e-mail to supporters Friday claiming the pact between the U.S. and a handful of trading partners "threatens to shift the balance of copyright law across the world, with little or no oversight from lawmakers." A fifth round of deliberations -- the first on President Barack Obama's watch -- is slated to take place in Morocco next month. Some expect the document, which has been in the works for over a year, could be ready for signing by then, EFF states. [Read CongressDaily's recent coverage here]
Draft language from the closed meetings suggests provisions of ACTA will include mandated disclosure of personal information in alleged IP disputes, a new global requirement that "commercial scale" piracy will also capture non-commercial copies, and new powers to place injunctions on IP violations with lowered standards of proof and limited due process, EFF argues. An entire section is also reportedly devoted to "rights management technology/the Internet." Much of the language is reminiscent of entertainment industry demands, the group states.
Of over 1,300 pages of ACTA background documents requested by EFF in a Freedom of Information Act request last year, 159 were released to the public by the U.S. Trade Representative. EFF and Public Knowledge are currently involved in a pending federal lawsuit to obtain more information. EFF has also urged Congress to do more by telling the USTR to "open up the ACTA process to true oversight and deliberation, and demand it keep to its original agenda of fighting counterfeit fake products and commercial piracy on behalf of consumers." Read more here and here.
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