[LINK] Europe and ACTA

[stephen at melbpc.org.au]

European data protection official criticizes ACTA treaty
The 16-page assessment finds fault with many aspects of the treaty

By Jennifer Baker (IDG News Service) 25 April, 2012 00:09  See also: 
http://www.edps.europa.eu/EDPSWEB/webdav/site/mySite/shared/Documents/EDPS
/PressNews/Press/2012/EDPS-2012-09_ACTA_EN.pdf  (and)
http://www.edps.europa.eu/EDPSWEB/webdav/site/mySite/shared/Documents/Cons
ultation/Opinions/2012/12-04-24_ACTA_EN.pdf


Europe's top data privacy watchdog has strongly criticized the 
international anticounterfeiting trade agreement (ACTA), warning that it 
could lead to widespread monitoring of the Internet and breaches of 
individuals' right to privacy.

The agreement is poorly worded, lacks precision about what measures could 
be used to tackle infringement of intellectual property rights online and 
could result in the processing of personal data by ISPs that goes beyond 
what is allowed under E.U. law, the European Data Protection Supervisor 
(EDPS) said in a 16-page opinion published Tuesday. (See above)

The opinion also says that ACTA does not contain "sufficient limitations 
and safeguards, such as effective judicial protection, due process, the 
principle of the presumption of innocence, and the right to privacy and 
data protection." It also warns that many of the measures to strengthen 
intellectual property enforcement online could involve "the large scale 
monitoring of users' behavior and of their electronic communications" 
including emails, private peer-to-peer file sharing and websites visited.

ACTA aims to enforce intellectual property rights and will enter into 
force after ratification by six signatory states of the total 11 -- the 
European Union, Australia, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Morocco, 
New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland and the U.S. It was signed by the 
European Commission and 22 E.U. member states in January, but before it 
can become E.U. law it must be approved by the European Parliament.

However, the international antipiracy pact has failed to win favor with 
parliamentarians. And following large civil protests throughout Europe, 
many E.U. countries are back-pedaling on their decision to sign the 
agreement. Most have suspended ratification. 

In an effort to placate critics, the European Commission, the body 
responsible for negotiating the agreement on behalf of the E.U., has 
asked the European Court of Justice to rule on whether the deal is 
compatible with the E.U. Charter of Fundamental Rights. But since the 
court will not evaluate the effectiveness or proportionality of the 
measures within the agreement, nor the potential outcome, anti-ACTA 
activists see it as nothing more than a time-wasting exercise. 

The Parliament is expected to vote in June without waiting for the court 
ruling. It seems that it will vote against the agreement, after the 
parliamentarian charged with evaluating it, David Martin, recommended 
rejecting it.

The EDPS' opinion puts a further nail in ACTA's coffin. In February 2010, 
the independent supervisory authority, gave his first opinion on the 
treaty, which at the time was being negotiated in secret. That opinion 
raised privacy concerns, but Tuesday's document goes into more detail on 
the now public text.

ACTA includes permission for countries to create laws whereby an online 
service provider may be ordered by a "competent authority" to disclose 
the identity of a subscriber to a right holder. The EDPS points out that 
the "competent authority" is not defined. There is likewise no definition 
of "commercial scale" mentioned elsewhere in the text.

Article 23 of ACTA appears to create new categories of criminal offenses 
without providing for any legal definition of what they are, he 
continued. Generalized monitoring of Internet users could affect millions 
of individuals irrespective of whether they are under suspicion.

In short, according to the EDPS, ACTA raises huge privacy concerns. 



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