ACTA Draft Coming Next Week
Countries negotiating the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement will release a draft of the copyright treaty on April 21, the Office of the United States Trade Representative announced Friday. It does not include a rumored three-strikes approach to copyright violations, USTR said, noting that "no participant is proposing" such a provision.
The decision to release a draft comes on the heels of talks in New Zealand this week over a document that has raised concern that stringent policing standards on Internet piracy could be enacted, including a graduated response regime that would have Internet service providers block users from the Web if they repeatedly violate copyright law. Suspicion of this possibility grew this year as negotiators released few details about ACTA's contents, but USTR was firm on Friday that such a provision is not included.
Still, disagreements over enforcement measures appear to be a holdup, according to USTR's statement. The office hailed the progress on the treaty, but said more is needed, "particularly in confirming the focus of key provisions of the agreement on enforcement measures against trademark counterfeiting and copyright piracy."
ACTA efforts got some support from the Hill on Thursday when House Foreign Affairs Chairman Howard Berman and ranking member Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., wrote a letter commending U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk for his efforts to reach international agreement on copyright. "It is our hope that ACTA will help establish improved international standards for protecting intellectual property rights, which will prevent illegal activity from undermining legitimate trade and business," they wrote.
The negotiators hope to conclude their talks in 2010, with the next round of talks to be held in Switzerland this June. The partners include Australia, Canada, the European Union, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland and the United States.
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Intellectual Property
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