Newest ACTA leak reveals NZ's caution

The latest leak of ACTA documents provides the clearest view so far of what is being proposed in the secret negotiations and reveals that New Zealand negotiators are attempting to limited just what the agreement includes.

The leak, a 56 page draft dated January 18th reveals that New Zealand, along with Canada and Singapore are seeking to limit the scope of the treaty to only copyright and trademark rights (the US, the European Union and Japan are seeking civil enforcement powers which extend to any intellectual property right), as well as contesting proposals that would make the creation of tools designed to crack technical protection measures illegal.

The paper also reveals that the US advocates creating a binding agreement which would see ISPs held responsible for users’ copyright infringements unless those ISPs are seen to be “adopting and reasonably implementing a policy to address the unauthorised storage or transmission of materials protected by copyright or related rights.” According to what is contained in the leak, New Zealand negotiators appear to be opposed to this prerequisite.

For the public at large, the recent leak is the most comprehensive summary of what is being proposed in the ACTA negotiations to come to light so far.

Negotiations have been carried out under a veil of secrecy so far, with the participating countries, including Australia, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore and Switzerland, having signed strict confidentiality agreements at the beginning of negotiations.

The 8th round of ACTA negotiations is scheduled for the 12th until the 16th of April in Wellington.