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European Commission Responds To ACTA Questions

By Michael Geist

The European Commission has posted a response to one of the many questions raised by members of the European Parliament about ACTA.  The EC seeks to pacify the ACTA concerns by arguing that the treaty will be limited in scope and is targeted at commercial activities:

The Commission can inform the Honourable Member that the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) will be in line with the body of EU legislation, which fully respects fundamental rights and freedoms and civil liberties, such as the protection of personal data. This includes the Intellectual Property Rights' relevant aspects of the Telecoms package.

ACTA should not contain measures restricting end-users' access to the internet that would not be appropriate, proportionate and necessary within a democratic society and without a prior, fair and impartial procedure.

It is the Commission's view that ACTA is about tackling large scale illegal activity, often pursued by criminal organisations, that is causing a devastating impact on growth and employment in Europe and may have serious risks to the health and safety of consumers. It is not about limiting civil liberties or harassing consumers.

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