ACTA details now available online

As promised, the draft negotiating text of the Anti-CounterfeitingTrade Agreement (ACTA) has been released for public scrutiny.

The international negotiations, the latest round of which was held recently in Wellington, have been largely secret until now, prompting speculation that draconian laws aimed at protecting intellectual property and copyright were likely to result, particularly affecting the sharing of information online. Opponents in this country launched a petition aimed at getting the New Zealand government to rethink its participation in the talks.

Now those with an interest in ACTA and its implications can read the details of what is being negotiated. Reading through the complex legal jargon, the internet-related provisions include:

• Each Party shall ensure that enforcement procedures are available under its law so as to permit effective action against an act of trademark, copyright or related rights infringement which takes place in the digital environment;
• Liability of ISPs for possible civil action shall be limited if they have done nothing to facilitate infringing activity and have taken steps to prevent it;
• Each Party shall enable right holders to obtain from that provider (ISP) information on the identity of the alleged infringer;
• Each Party shall provide for adequate legal protection and effective legal remedies, in the form of civil remedies or criminal penalties in appropriate cases of wilful conduct, against the circumvention of effective technological measures that are used to protect copyright;
• Each party shall undertake international cooperation (law enforcement and customs) to combat infringement.

A previously leaked version of the document provided for disconnecting repeat infringers from the internet. That provision does not appear in the official draft.