We return you to your regular programme, after a summer hiatus that I wasn’t intending, actually. And what better way to get into 2009 than with some juicy leaked stuff!
James Love, of Knowledge Ecology International, has just blogged some details from apparently leaked documents re ACTA
http://www.keionline.org/blogs/2009/02/03/details-emerge-of-secret-acta/
It seems he has the outline and some text snippets, but doesn’t disclose the source. Love is pretty credible and I’d think unlikely to publish stuff he didn’t whole heartedly believe was correct, but he may be being spoofed – who knows?
There is apparently a permanent structure to be erected, the ACTA Oversight Council, to:
“supervise ACTA implementation, consider amendments, interpretations, and modifications to the agreement, and establish and delegate responsibilities to ad hoc working groups, as well as:
* assisting with resolving any disputes that may arise regarding the interpretation of application of ACTA;
* ensuring that ACTA avoids duplication of other international efforts regarding IP enforcement;
* seeking input from non-governmental persons or groups, particularly with respect to best practices in the field of intellectual property enforcement;
* endorsing best practice guidelines for implementing ACTA;
* supporting the efforts of international organizations active in the field of intellectual property enforcement;
* assisting non-Party governments with developing assessments of the benefits of accession to ACTA; and
* adopting its own rules of procedure.”
Also, some of the measures proposed (specifically, the use of injunctions) apparently breach Article 44.2 of the TRIPS agreement, sections of US law and also Canadian (I don’t know about other jurisdictions). NZ already allows injunctions, but I’ll let someone more legally oriented work out what the impact is on us.
I’m inclined to accept Love’s report on face value. It jibes with a lot of other snippets that have fallen from the official tables. MED have promised us that NZ will not need to change domestic law if ACTA is accepted, but I’m not a big believer of what MED says anymore. It’s not that I think they’re corrupt – it’s more that I think they’re working to an undisclosed agenda and the rights of citizens are unimportant compared to the rights of corporates.
Write to your MP, write to Stephen Joyce [see UPDATE below] and Murray McCully, write to your newspaper – get the word out. (Remember, physical mail to Parliament needs no stamp)
The mainstream media have been conspicuous by their absence in reporting on ACTA. You may think it’s because they or their owners have a lot of content held under copyright in many jurisdictions – I wouldn’t argue with you – or you may think that reporters are just too thick to get their heads around it (I might not argue with that, either) or that copyright is just not sexy enough for a headline. Yet “piracy” reports always get the column inches, it seems. We need to get in the media’s face with this issue, so they can’t ignore it any longer. Both s92a and ACTA are a curtailment of the rights of the many for the benefit of a few. Make some noise.
UPDATE: Steven Joyce is not (necessarily) the correct Minister. ACTA negotiations appear to fall under the Minister of Commerce, Simon Power
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