The office of the United States Trade Representative is standing firm as its negotiators head into a set of week-long negotiations over the controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement in Lucerne, Switzerland.
When asked whether the USTR had seen a statement issued early last week by a group of about 90 law professors, non-profit groups and lawyers representing technology interests against the proposed April draft of the agreement and had any comment, a spokeswoman responded: “Yes, we are aware of it. We disagree with its assertions and we direct you to our statements on www.ustr.gov/acta.”
The proposed agreement between the United States, Europe, Japan, and South Korea, among other countries, would allow the governments of participating countries to take new actions to crack down on intellectual property violations.
Technology and telecom companies are worried about being forced to police their networks in draconian new ways or face massive copyright infringement liabilities and criminal penalties. Public interest groups are worried about the impact of the agreement on the flow of generic pharmaceutical drugs.
ACTA - Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement The personal computer may soon be not-so-private, with the U.S. and some European nations working on laws allowing them access to search the content held on a person's hard drive.
