LibertyVoice

U.S. President Barack Obama and Mexican President Felipe Calderón issued a joint statement this week that touched on ACTA, reaffirming "their commitment to the negotiation of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement and charged their administrations to conclude these negotiations soon."

The WTO has declined a request from the European Parliament to comment on ACTA, since it currently has no role in the negotations.

Rogers Communications appeared before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage and was asked by NDP MP Charlie Angus about their position on ACTA and ISP liability.  Ken Englehart, Senior VP Regulatory, left little doubt about the company's concerns with ACTA and the possibility of a three-strikes and you're out model coming to Canada:

We are concerned, as many ISPs are, about the ACTA negotiations. It's supposed to be about counterfeiting, but it seems to have gone way past counterfeiting to talking about issues of ISPs and the downloading activities of our customers. We don't think ISPs should be put in the position of being traffic cops to decide what is legal and what is not. We really hate any idea that we would have to terminate our customers' service on a three-strikes policy. We do not want to do that at all. I have a great deal of sympathy for the copyright holders who feel that their content is being stolen. It's a big problem. But I don't want to see this done by putting ISPs in the position of having to disconnect their customers or aid in the conviction of their customers.

When asked to expand on how ISPs and copyright holders strike the balance, Englehart focused on the effectiveness of the current notice-and-notice system, arguing that "those types of mechanisms should be exhausted before any kind of more Draconian measures are imposed."

Luc Devigne, the European Commission's lead ACTA negotiator, recently appeared before the International Trade Committee which brought together Members of the European Parliament and ACTA negotiators.  Sources say Devigne revealed several key things:

• the release of the draft ACTA text may be a one-time deal. There are no current plans to release the updated text following future rounds of talks.
• Devigne reportedly told the MEPs that the EC successfully rejected U.S. "blackmail", a reference to U.S. demands for changes on the scope of ACTA in return for greater transparency. The U.S. ultimately agreed to the release of the text, while the scope issue remains unresolved.
• There is still no agreement on the ISP safe harbour provisions.
• Major disagreements in the criminal chapter include the definition of "commercial scale" (the U.S. wants it defined, the EU wants it left to national judges) and the inclusion of an anti-camcording provision. 
• Disagreements on the civil enforcement chapter includes damages and scope.

The German Federal Council, the Bundesrat, has passed a resolution criticizing the decision to create a new ACTA forum, rather than negotiating within international institutions such as WIPO or the WTO.

The Mark News runs my opinion piece on why Canadians should care about ACTA, focusing on its specific implications for domestic policy.

IP Watch reports that an Indian government official has acknowledged that India was not asked to participate in the ACTA negotiations and that it is concerned that the text is out of sync with international law.

Kim Weatherall has posted a detailed section-by-section analysis of ACTA and its potential impact on Australian law.

Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to participate in a hearing on ACTA in Brussels sponsored by Members of the European Parliament Alexander Alvaro and Marietje Schaake.  Other participants included Luc Devigne, the head of the European ACTA delegation, and representatives from eBay and EuroISPA.  The full video of the hearing is posted below.  My presentation begins just after the 5:00 minute mark.

Information on the next round of ACTA negotiations has leaked out with reports that it will be held in Lucerne, Switzerland from June 28 – July 2, 2010.