Copyright Law

A New Zealand Political Party Wants Answers on ACTA

By Drew Wilson

As time goes on, the list of lawmakers from around the world keeps getting longer. Recently, a lawmaker in New Zealand has been asking about what is going on with this elusive and secret trade agreement.

Clare Curran, a spokesperson for the Labour Party of New Zealand said that Kiwi citizens need to be kept in the loop of ACTA negotiations.

?ACTA has the potential to have massive implications on New Zealand?s proposed copyright laws and how internet piracy is policed locally,? Clare Curran said.

?New Zealand is currently in talks with several nations and the EU to act against the increase in global trade of counterfeit goods and pirated goods.

?With ACTA negotiations being carried out in secret New Zealand could find itself locked into an agreement with little or no public consultation.

?There has already been extensive work done in New Zealand on copyright issues and there is a sense of unease in some sectors of the industry that an as yet unknown agreement may over-ride the policies already being developed.?

Curran is far from alone in wondering about the transparency of ACTA. In the US last month, two senators expressed concerns on the transparency of ACTA – Sherrod Brown (D) and Bernard Sanders (I).

Charlie Angus of the NDP in Canada has also expressed deep concerns over the transparency of ACTA. Angus wrote, “The ongoing negotiations on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement could have profound implications for the development of digital culture in Canada. And yet, despite the fact that this treaty would criminalize the behaviour of thousands of citizens, few Canadians have ever heard of ACTA.”

ACTA is still in negotiations, but political will to even think about adopting such legislation thanks to ACTAs secrecy is faltering around the world. While negotiators on the inside argue that people would walk if ACTA was made public, it seems that many lawmakers are not willing to suppose something that is so secret. The list of lawmakers that are rightly upset for being kept in the dark only continues to grow as the official secrecy of ACTA continues.

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Full post as published by ZeroPaid on December 15, 2009 (boomark / email).