Rich Fiscus
27 May 2008 11:51
Officials from the United States, European Commission, Japan, and Switzerland are among those secretly working out details for a new anti-piracy treaty to be discussed at this year's G-8 Summit being held in July. A leaked discussion paper for the proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) suggests the adoption of several new legal measures in participating countries that would radically increase the role of government in copyright, patent, and trademark enforcement. Other countries participating in the on-going discussion of the treaty include Canada, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, and Mexico.
Discussion on the ACTA proposal started with an initiative begun last October by US Trade Representative Susan C. Schwab along with 5 members of the Congressional Caucus on Intellectual Property and Piracy Prevention in the US House of Representatives. Although consumer rights groups have been denied access to the text of the proposal, according to IP Justice "select lobbyists in the intellectual property industry" have been given access to the document.
The treaty, as outlined in the leaked document, would mandate authority for customs agents to examine portable devices from laptops to iPods for evidence of either P2P file sharing activity or copied content from media including CDs and DVDs that could constitute copyright infringement. They would then have the ability to seize such property without any judicial oversight, and even levy fines to "offenders."
Also included in the proposal are requirements for the criminalization of all intellectual property infringement including non-commercial offenses which are currently only subject to civil penalties in most cases. With this new standard for criminal law in place it would also require additional participation by law enforcement, including the seizure and destruction of both infringing goods and any equipment used to produce them. This would presumably include such dangerous items as home computers.
Perhaps the most significant measure being discussed is the role of ISPs in the legal process. Intellectual property owners would be allowed to demand identifying information about subscribers accused of infringement, bypassing the very public legal battles the RIAA has faced in their campaign of lawsuits against file sharers. This would be accomplished by reducing ISPs legal liability to their customers, essentially eliminating privacy arguments.