It looks as if secret negotiations on the ACTA treaty will continue on November 04-06, 2009 in Seoul, South Korea. There are a lot of worries around those ACTA negotiations because of there is some reasoned suspicion that the result thereof might worst case effectively curb the development of the digital economy based on Internet technology, this fear fueled by indications hinting that the Internet-related part of ACTA in fact is, despite riding formally under the banner of fight against piracy, nothing else than a vehicle set up by friends and beneficiaries of old-fashioned business models of the 20th century to fight down an emerging 21st century culture of sharing and collaboration. The proponents of ACTA have so far done nothing to devitalise such concerns. Even the new Obama administration in the United States appears to have changed anything concerning the secrecy of the deliberations.
On October 20, 2009, the Working Party on Intellectual Property of the EU Council will meet again in secret session, discussing, inter alia, the topic of Initial discussion on Enforcement in the Digital Environment on the basis of an unpublished Document DS 596/09 RESTREINT UE (see Document CM 4211/09).
The title of this topic is interesting; the language of 'initial discussion' appears to give a hint that the issue of tackling Internet-related questions in the context of ACTA has not yet started at all.
Nothing is known so far if, on EU level, the negotiations will be influenced by Document 13286/09 titled Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament and the European Economic and Social Committee: Enhancing the enforcement of intellectual property rights in the internal market. On the October 20 session, the EU Commission will give a presentation on that matter.
In this Document, the EU Commission sketches the Internet in rather dark colours not as a source of mainly as a tool for committing acts of piracy. It is seen as a tool that is being used to drive a worldwide market in infringing products, which is stifling innovation and threatening jobs. Counterfeiting and piracy severely damage trust and confidence in the trade of goods and services, in particular on the internet or across borders. While in the EU Commission's view the Internet is not in itself the source of counterfeiting, it has nevertheless become an important vehicle for the sale of fake goods world-wide. Its global reach and accessibility, the possibility for traders to remain anonymous and for offers to be placed and withdrawn instantly has made it one of the most attractive tools for the sale of counterfeit goods. The enormous growth of the phenomenon makes this an area for priority action, the EU Commission argues. The Document further goes on by announcing that meetings have been scheduled before the end of the year, which could lead to stakeholders agreeing to a Memorandum of Understanding, dealing with issues such as prevention, identification and removal of infringing offers (e.g. Notice and Take-Down procedures) and sellers from internet platforms. However, if voluntary arrangements cannot be agreed, the Commission will need to consider legislative solutions, in particular in the context of the IPR Enforcement Directive.
[UPDATE 2009-10-14] It appears as if the U.S. Obama administration is sharing ACTA texts under NDA with many stakeholders & lobbyists - only potantial critics and the general public are locked out.
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