Controversial ACTA Sees Major European Rejection Call

Posted on Apr 16 2012 - 11:16am by Editorial Staff

Remember the long known ACTA, the controversial anti-counterfeit and copyright treaty is one step closer to being thrown out after the guiding “rapporteur” for the treaty warned fellow parliamentarians not to pass the agreement in Europe’s 27 member states. The blow that could derail the European efforts to ratify the agreement came as new rapporteur David Martin MEP told his fellow members of the European Parliament to reject the bill when it comes before them later this year.

Martin said in his written recommendations [PDF]: “The intended benefits of this international agreement are far outweighed by the potential threats to civil liberties. Given the vagueness of certain aspects of the text and the uncertainty over its interpretation, the European Parliament cannot guarantee adequate protection for citizens’ rights in the future under ACTA.” “Your rapporteur therefore recommends that the European Parliament declines to give consent to ACTA,” he concluded.

The European Commission had announced earlier its plans to refer the controversial ACTA treaty to the European Court of Justice in order to examine whether it violates the fundamental rights – counterfeiting, copyright and Internet freedom, of Europeans or not. The ACTA agreement was signed by the European Union and 22 member nations at the end of January in an event in Japan, excluding Germany, which still holds off signing ACTA until EU parliamentary decision will take place. ACTA have been compared to SOPA; with many worried that it will stifle internet freedom in an attempt to stop copyright infringement and in somehow will result in more dangerous than the previous US SOPA bill.

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