(Reuters/Washington Post)
U.S. digital rights advocates and a computer industry trade group on Wednesday criticized the newly released draft text of an international agreement to toughen penalties for copyright theft.
“Substantively, we remain concerned that this proposal lacks the balance that we find in U.S. copyright law, while attempting to export a regulatory regime that favors big media companies at the expense of consumers and innovators,” Gigi Sohn, president of Public Knowledge, a digital rights group, said in a statement.
The European Union’s executive branch and the U.S. Trade Representative’s office on Wednesday both posted texts of the proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) on their websites, years after groups first requested to view the language under negotiation. Read more here.
Showing posts with label Piracy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Piracy. Show all posts
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
Countries to Release Anti-Piracy Text as Deal Nears
(Doug Palmer — Reuters via Washington Post)
Countries negotiating a deal to curb trade in fake and pirated goods are close to reaching an agreement in talks that have raised concerns among digital rights advocates, U.S. trade officials said on Friday.
“The agreement can be concluded soon if other participants make it a priority to achieve such progress now,” Nefeterius McPherson, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Trade Representative’s office, said in a statement.
Digital rights advocates have feared the proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement could allow customs agents to confiscate laptop and music devices if they contain illegal downloads, while other groups have worried it could restrict trade in low-price generic drugs. Read more here.
Countries negotiating a deal to curb trade in fake and pirated goods are close to reaching an agreement in talks that have raised concerns among digital rights advocates, U.S. trade officials said on Friday.
“The agreement can be concluded soon if other participants make it a priority to achieve such progress now,” Nefeterius McPherson, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Trade Representative’s office, said in a statement.
Digital rights advocates have feared the proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement could allow customs agents to confiscate laptop and music devices if they contain illegal downloads, while other groups have worried it could restrict trade in low-price generic drugs. Read more here.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Canada’s Placement on U.S. Piracy List Just Bluster: Lawyers
(CBC News)
But business group warns it could scare off investors
Canada’s addition to a “priority watch list” of countries deemed soft on copyright piracy by the United States shouldn’t and probably won’t perturb the Canadian government, say Canadian researchers who study copyright and Canada-U.S. trade relations.
“We’ve been placed in a spotlight, but the United States has not indicated that it’s prepared to take any action,” said Chi Carmody, a law professor at the University of Western Ontario and the Canadian director of the Canada-United States Law Institute.
“My sense is that Canada’s inclusion on the list this year is not really something that the United States is concerned about in our bilateral relationship, but more as an example to the rest of the world.”
He added that Canada is a sovereign country with the right to make its own decisions, and that he believes the government is committed to a “made in Canada” approach to copyright and intellectual property, “as we should be.”
Canada was among 12 countries that made the “priority watch list” in an annual report released by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative last week on intellectual property rights protection by 77 U.S. trading partners. Canada had long been on the office’s “watch list,” but this is the first time Canada, Algeria and Indonesia made the higher-priority tier long occupied by countries such as China and Russia. Read more here.
But business group warns it could scare off investors
Canada’s addition to a “priority watch list” of countries deemed soft on copyright piracy by the United States shouldn’t and probably won’t perturb the Canadian government, say Canadian researchers who study copyright and Canada-U.S. trade relations.
“We’ve been placed in a spotlight, but the United States has not indicated that it’s prepared to take any action,” said Chi Carmody, a law professor at the University of Western Ontario and the Canadian director of the Canada-United States Law Institute.
“My sense is that Canada’s inclusion on the list this year is not really something that the United States is concerned about in our bilateral relationship, but more as an example to the rest of the world.”
He added that Canada is a sovereign country with the right to make its own decisions, and that he believes the government is committed to a “made in Canada” approach to copyright and intellectual property, “as we should be.”
Canada was among 12 countries that made the “priority watch list” in an annual report released by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative last week on intellectual property rights protection by 77 U.S. trading partners. Canada had long been on the office’s “watch list,” but this is the first time Canada, Algeria and Indonesia made the higher-priority tier long occupied by countries such as China and Russia. Read more here.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
ICC Keynote Focuses on CBP’s Partnerships to Combat Counterfeit Product Importation
(CBP)
U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Office of International Trade Assistant Commissioner Daniel Baldwin gave a keynote address today [Thursday] at the International Law Enforcement Intellectual Property Crime Conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada highlighting how partnerships are an integral part of CBP’s strategy to combat the illegal importation of counterfeit goods.
“All of us face a common threat from the international trafficking in counterfeit and pirated goods, Assistant Commissioner Baldwin told the group. “It is essential that we work in partnership to identify and disrupt the international distribution networks of these goods.”
Baldwin’s keynote address highlighted CBP’s intellectual property rights enforcement work emphasizing CBP’s partnerships with industry, trading partners and other U.S. government agencies to detect and seize counterfeit goods.
CBP continues to seize a wide range of counterfeit goods with an increasing focus on products that pose a safety threat and could harm consumers.
“At one time, we viewed fake goods primarily as a commercial threat to our economies. We now understand that the trade in fakes also presents equally serious threats to our national security and consumer safety,” said Baldwin.
CBP seizures of counterfeit and pirated goods have risen dramatically. In fiscal year 2007 CBP made 13,657 IPR seizures with a domestic value – the value of fake goods – of more than $196 million, an increase of 27% by value over the previous year. In the last five years, CBP seizures of IPR infringing products has risen about 110%.
The conference was hosted by INTERPOL and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in partnership with Underwriters Laboratories. It focused on law enforcement’s role in IPR enforcement, with the theme of “Working in Partnership Against a Common Threat.”
U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Office of International Trade Assistant Commissioner Daniel Baldwin gave a keynote address today [Thursday] at the International Law Enforcement Intellectual Property Crime Conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada highlighting how partnerships are an integral part of CBP’s strategy to combat the illegal importation of counterfeit goods.
“All of us face a common threat from the international trafficking in counterfeit and pirated goods, Assistant Commissioner Baldwin told the group. “It is essential that we work in partnership to identify and disrupt the international distribution networks of these goods.”
Baldwin’s keynote address highlighted CBP’s intellectual property rights enforcement work emphasizing CBP’s partnerships with industry, trading partners and other U.S. government agencies to detect and seize counterfeit goods.
CBP continues to seize a wide range of counterfeit goods with an increasing focus on products that pose a safety threat and could harm consumers.
“At one time, we viewed fake goods primarily as a commercial threat to our economies. We now understand that the trade in fakes also presents equally serious threats to our national security and consumer safety,” said Baldwin.
CBP seizures of counterfeit and pirated goods have risen dramatically. In fiscal year 2007 CBP made 13,657 IPR seizures with a domestic value – the value of fake goods – of more than $196 million, an increase of 27% by value over the previous year. In the last five years, CBP seizures of IPR infringing products has risen about 110%.
The conference was hosted by INTERPOL and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in partnership with Underwriters Laboratories. It focused on law enforcement’s role in IPR enforcement, with the theme of “Working in Partnership Against a Common Threat.”
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