After many controversies of the last months and protests at the international level (from those who fight for the freedom of the internet), the Acta – Anti Counterfeiting Trade Agreement – has been rejected from the Eu Parliament last 4Th July. The vote revealed 39 in favor, 478 against, with 165 abstentions.
Many people said the agreement did not properly balance the rights of private citizens and those of copyright holders.
We remind that negoziations between the countries started in 2007 and the “last version” of the Acta has been signed in Tokyo last January between 22 of the 27 Eu member Countries and eight other Countries: the U.S., Australia, Canada, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, and South Korea. The EU Parliament had to ratify the agreement on 26th June, but definitely rejects Acta on the 4th July.
“The vote against Acta”, said Karel De Gucth, “was not one against the protection of intellectual property. On the contrary, Parliament staunchly supports the fight against piracy and counterfeiting, which harm European companies and pose a threat to consumer health and European jobs”.
Many people thought Acta was too vague, “leaving the room for abuses and
raising concern” about its impact on consumers’ privacy and civil liberties,
innovation and the free flow of information. The aim of the Acta agreement is
to combat counterfeiting and piracy of goods such as clothing of luxury brands,
medicines, music, and films. All of this is a worthy enough aim, but Acta ignores what it was designed to achieve.
On the contrary the main cultural industries in Europe signed a press release, that we reproduce above, to explain the reasons of their displeasure to the decision of the Eu Parliament. The signatories to the press release are some of the more than 130 trade federations representing sectors employing over 120 million workers in Europe’s innovative, manufacturing and creative sectors and that have signed a letter of support for ACTA. More information can be found at www.actafacts.com
European manufacturing and creative industries react to European Parliament vote on ACTA
Brussels, 4 July – Europe’s innovative manufacturing and creative industries consider that today’s vote by the European Parliament will be damaging for European intellectual property, jobs and the economy. The decision on ACTA is a missed opportunity for the EU to protect its creative and innovation-based industries in the international market place. “ACTA is an important tool for promoting European jobs and intellectual property. Unfortunately the treaty got off on the wrong foot in the Parliament, and the real and significant merits of the treaty did not prevail,” says Anne Bergman-Tahon, Director of the Federation of European Publishers (FEP), a member of a coalition of over 130 organisations supporting ACTA.
Many MEPs had hoped to wait for the opinion of the Court of Justice before taking a final decision. Frances Moore, CEO of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), comments that “We now await the ruling of the Court of Justice of the EU, and urge the European Parliament to make effective IPR enforcement a top priority in our external trade policy.”
Intellectual property rights remain the engine for Europe’s global competitiveness and a driver of economic growth and jobs. In the current economic climate, it is particularly crucial to protect these beyond the EU itself. “Europe could have seized the chance to support an important treaty that improved intellectual property standards internationally.
We expect that ACTA will move ahead without the EU, which is a significant loss
for the 27 Member States,” says Alan C. Drewsen, Executive Director of the
International Trademark Association (INTA).
The ACTA discussions are the biggest multi-lateral negotiation to be concluded in the post-Lisbon Treaty constitutional framework. According to Thomas Boué, Director of Government Affairs for the Business Software Alliance (BSA), “the infringement of intellectual property rights is a huge problem in Europe and there is a clear need to advance international norms and best practices for the enforcement of IP. ACTA would serve as an important step forward in raising the global standard for the protection of IP rights. It was unfortunate that the treaty
was held back by inter-institutional differences and concerns over transparency.”
“While we welcome the Parliament’s efforts to be seen as responsive to public concerns, organisations representing sectors employing over 120 million workers in Europe were calling for the adoption of ACTA”, says Jeffrey P. Hardy, Director for ICC’s initiative Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy (BASCAP).
“Parliament says no to ACTA but stresses that ’global coordination of IP protection is vital’. We respect their position,” says Johannes Studinger, Head of UNI MEI Global Union. “Indeed, in the global digital economy, sustainable growth of creative industries requires effective enforcement of intellectual property rights. Enforcement policies without a strong international commitment remain ineffective. We call on EU institutions to work together instead of opposing each other and to translate this mutual commitment into effective policies.”
Those debating ACTA have invoked a number of principles and concerns. “The debate around ACTA has unfortunately been framed in terms of censorship and ‘breaking of the internet’ rather than about protecting the economic basis for jobs in Europe,” says Dominick Luquer, Secretary General of the International Federation of Actors (FIA).
“Contrary to many of the statements made, the individual’s fundamental rights are fully respected by ACTA, and we look forward to the Court of Justice assessment in this regard,” says Dara MacGreevy, Anti-Piracy Director of the Interactive Software Federation of Europe (ISFE), representing the European Video Games Industry.
Looking ahead, we believe Europe’s politicians should continue their efforts to protect the intellectual property that underpins our innovative and manufacturing sectors, at home and abroad, online and offline. “We are encouraged by the statements made in the European Parliament that today’s vote was not a vote against intellectual property rights enforcement. Europe’s innovative manufacturing and creative industries are now looking to the other ACTA signatories to protect our rights internationally,’ says Alberto Paccanelli, CEO, President of EURATEX-The European Apparel and Textile Confederation.
The signatories are:
- Acg (The Anti Counterfeiting Group)
- Act (Association of Commercial Television in Europe)
- Aim (European Brands Association)
- Bascap (Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy)
- Bsa (Business Software Alliance)
- Euratex (the European Apparel and Textile Confederation)
- Fep (Federation of European Publishers)
- Fia (The International Federation of Actors)
- Ifpi (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry)
- Inta (International Trademark Association)
- Isfe (Interactive Software Federation of Europe)
- Mpa (Motion Picture Association)
- Uni Global Union.