ITworldcanada.com, 7 Apr 2009, Grant Gross - IDG News Service
Very little detail is contained on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement with Japan and the European Union, but release of the document signifies a drastic change in U.S. policy.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has released some new details about an anti-counterfeiting trade agreement that has been discussed in secret among the U.S., Japan, the European Union and other countries since 2006.
The summary of the negotiations, released Monday, says that the countries involved have been discussing how to deal with criminal enforcement of each others' copyright laws. The countries involved have discussed the "scale of infringement necessary to quality for criminal sanctions," as well as the authority of countries to order searches and seizures of goods suspected of infringing intellectual-property laws. The summary does not detail the current state of negotiations in those areas.
The goal of ACTA is to negotiate a "state-of-the art agreement to combat counterfeiting and piracy," according to USTR. Among the nations participating in negotiations are Australia, Canada, the European Union, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and Switzerland.
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