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Legislators Worldwide Asking Questions About ACTA

By Michael Geist

Legislators around the world are demanding more information on the secret Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement.  French Deputy Nicolas Dupont-Aignan raised ACTA questions in the National Assembly late last year, expressing concerns about a global three-strikes and you're out approach, increased costs for medicines, and the lack of transparency associated with the process.

U.S. Senator Ron Wyden goes even further in a letter to the USTR this week that seeks answers to nearly a dozen questions about ACTA. Wyden asks about:

• possible constraints on domestic U.S. law reforms
• ensuring ACTA does not interfere with public health flexibilities in TRIPs
• the definition of counterfeit
• concerns about the inclusion of patents within ACTA
• the role of ISPs in ACTA
• whether increased monitoring of subscriber usage is envisioned by ACTA
• the privacy impact of ACTA
• details on border measures provisions
• third party liability for IP infringement
• possible commitments worldwide to comply with the DMCA

Wyden is not the first U.S. senator to raise questions about ACTA.  Last year, Senators Bernie Sanders and Sherrod Brown also wrote to the USTR as did Senators Pat Leahy and Arlen Specter in 2008.

Meanwhile, ACTA arose in the UK House of Commons yesterday, as Labour MP Tom Watson asked questions on the government's plans for ACTA.  The government response included a desire to ensure that ACTA remains within the scope of existing UK legislation and a need to press for greater transparency in the ACTA negotiations.

All of this comes on top of earlier efforts from Swedish Member of the European Parliament Jens Holm, New Zealand MP Clare Curran, who has repeatedly raised concerns about ACTA, and NDP MP Charlie Angus, who posed questions about ACTA in the Canadian House of Commons late last year.

Full post as published by Michael Geist on January 08, 2010 (boomark / email).