EU Politician Says ACTA Is Dead
Alexander Alvaro, a member of the European Parliament, has issued a statement to Billboard stating that he expects the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement will be rejected by the European Parliament.
The agreement is currently be reviewed by the Committee on International Trade. Additional information can be found here.
Bulgeria and Holland Put ACTA On Hold
Mashable.com reports that Bulgeria has decided to put their ratification of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement on hold “until it sees a clear and unified European stance on the treaty“. And Holland has decided to study ACTA further to determine if this agreement violates their country’s privacy legislation.
Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia have also recently decided to reconsider their ratification in response to public protests.
Latvia Says No To ACTA / Bill C-11 Update
Latvia is the latest European nation to stop their ratification of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. And it appears that Germany wants to hold off on signing in response to the public protests in their country.
Unfortunately Bill C-11 has progressed through the first and second reading in the House Of Commons here in Canada, with little to no response to the overwhelming opposition to the digital locks provisions and SOPA like website blocking.
The public has spoken, both in the public consultations on Bill C-32 and with recent letters and petitions against Bill C-11.
It is clear that Canadians do not want contradictory policies on private copying and SOPA like enforcement of our Copyright Act. Over 32,000 Canadians have signed the Openmedia.ca petition, including yours truly. And 74,000 “liked” the petition on Facebook.
It is a matter of record. Members of Parliament have received letters and emails conveying concern about or opposition to several provisions in Bill C-11, yet the current government has failed to address this correspondence.
This bill was rushed through it’s second reading in the House of Commons today, with little time for debate, and is up for review by a committee, who will analyze and amend the bill.
Hopefully they will notice how contradictory the technological protections measures are and amend them accordingly.
Second Thoughts On ACTA In Europe
Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia have had second thoughts on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement and have suspended their ratification in response to the demands for public consultation on this international trade agreement.
Though Canada has ratified the ACTA on October 1st, 2011, public consultations are still listed as ongoing according to the Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada web site. And several older submissions are accessible by clicking here.
Several key portions of ACTA were also addressed by the 2009 copyright consultation submissions.