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04.23.10 More Details Emerge On ACTA  By John VinsonThe Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) has been one hot piece of international legislation. Late last year, I wrote about whispers that ACTA would come down hard on ISPs for internet piracy. It appears that in the latest draft released to the public, this is not the case. In fact, the draft concludes an agreement has not been reached as to what liability an ISP should have in terms of copyright infringement. While there have been no definite amendments written into the agreement, some options have been brought to the table. In a section of the draft titled "Special Measures Related to Technological Enforcement of Intellectual Property in the Digital Environment," you can find these options: First, the service didn't know of an infringement would lead to limited liability issues, and if the infringement occurred through "Automatic technical processes, and; (ii) the actions of the provider's users that are not directed or initiated by that provider and when the provider does not select the material, and; (iii) the provider referring or linking users to an online location." Further on into the agreement, more options arise as to the handling of ISPs in regards to infringement: * 1. The above limitations on liability could be conditional to service providers having a policy to address infringements and actively "removing or disabling access" to materials on receipt of a legally acceptable notification of copyright infringement. But governments could not make the limitation of liability conditional on service providers monitoring their services. * 2. The limitations on liability "shall not affect the possibility for a judicial or administrative authority, in accordance with the Parties legal system, requiring the service provider to terminate or prevent an infringement, nor does it affect the possibility of the parties establishing procedures governing the removal or disabling of access to information". Something important to take from the latest ACTA draft release, is that none of the agreement mandates a response from a country. Meaning, national law isn't dictated by what's found in ACTA. The statement reads, "ACTA will not interfere with a country's ability to respect its citizens' fundamental rights and liberties." It's disheartening that very few specifics were given as to what the agreement will provide in terms of holding ISPs responsible for infringement. We do, however, have the basis of where the ACTA is heading. It sounds like liabilities will be lessened for ISPs who show pre-emptive measures to counter infringement. About the Author: John is a staff writer for WebProNews. |
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