22 May 2008
Wikileaks today posted a leaked document from the US Government discussing the proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).
ACTA is a new multi-lateral trade agreement spearheaded by the US, European Union, Switzerland, Australia, and a select handful of other wealthy nations to create new international legal rules for the regulation of intellectual property rights. ACTA would straight-jacket developing nations and ratchet-up further the rights of Hollywood and Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) to police for intellectual property infringements on the Internet and at border crossings. And that is only the beginning.
IP Justice submitted comments to the Office of US Trade Representative on ACTA and published a White Paper in March 2008, and today’s leaked document confirms our fears about what ACTA’s proponents have in mind.
IP Justice maintains a website to track developments in the proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, a deal negotiated entirely in secret that could replace the WTO-TRIPS Agreement with much harsher and more restrictive terms.