Groups Outline 'Flaws' With ACTA

A group of public interest groups, foreign lawmakers, academics and others released a statement June 23 outlining what they describe as numerous flaws with a draft agreement aimed at curbing counterfeiting and piracy being negotiated by the Untied States and several countries.

The groups met last week in Washington to "analyze" the public text of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement released in April. "ACTA is the predictably deficient product of a deeply flawed process," according to the statement signed by several members of the European Parliament as well as public interest groups from around the world such as the African Commons Project, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Electronic Frontiers Australia and Public Knowledge. "What started as a relatively simple proposal to coordinate customs enforcement has transformed into a sweeping and complex new international intellectual property and Internet regulation with grave consequences for the global economy and governments' ability to promote and protect the public interest." They outlined several problematic provisions pointing in particular to the language related to the Internet.