U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) sent a letter demanding that U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk confirm leaks surrounding the unfinished Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), being negotiated largely between the European Union and United States. Among other things, Wyden wants to know if the deal creates international guidelines that mean consumers will lose internet access if they are believed to be digital copyright scofflaws. Many groups, including SLA, have been advocating that the public be allowed to review and comment on substantive proposals in the text.
The ACTA treaty allows for criminal sanctions against non-commercial file-sharers, demands border-searches of laptop hard-drives and personal devices for pirated material, requires ISPs to spy on their users, and gives movie and record companies the right to take whole households off the Internet with unsubstantiated allegations of piracy.
Read: Wyden letter to U.S. Trade Representative
Read: News Story
Read: SLA Public Policy Connections November 25 2009 on ACTA
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