ACTA Important Part of IP Rights Protection, EC Official Says
The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement being negotiated is a logical result of stalled talks in established international forums, said Luc Devigne, head of the intellectual property unit of the European Commission’s Directorate General for Trade. The Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) debate has been taken hostage by a few countries, like Brazil and China, and it’s difficult to bring up intellectual property in WIPO, Devigne told the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s IP conference Monday. “The debate is polluted,” he said. Countries that represent the majority of world trade shouldn’t be constrained in their desire to go beyond TRIPS, which sets a floor, not a ceiling, by countries that refuse to engage in talks, he said.
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Devigne expects debate between ISPs and rights holders about the Internet provisions to be included in ACTA, which haven’t been discussed. But he questioned why anyone would protest a provision cutting off Internet access to someone engaged in infringement. ISPs don’t hesitate to cut service to someone who doesn’t pay the monthly bill, he said. ISPs’ legitimate rights to make a profit shouldn’t be more important than the legitimate rights of rights holders, he said.
The ACTA discussion is a welcome one, said Todd Dickinson, the American Intellectual Property Law Association’s executive director: “It’s moving forward in a positive way.” Devigne also said he’s hopeful about the discussions. He’s eager for the U.S. to return to the table soon, after having backed off during the presidential transition. Devigne said ACTA doesn’t involve harassing individual travelers or consumers. Instead, he said it will help improve the legal framework among the signers. He also said Europeans don’t want the scope of the agreement reduced during discussions.
The U.S. and Europe must not allow themselves to be separated on the issue of IP rights, said former Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez. “Without the European Union and United States, I don’t think we can tackle this on a worldwide basis.” The recent Pirate Bay case in Sweden, which resulted in prison sentences for copyright violations, is a good start but unfortunately an isolated incident, Gutierrez said. IP rights are particularly important given the recession, he said, because innovation can get the nation out of crisis. A world trading system that doesn’t respect IP rights can’t be allowed to emerge, he said.
The European Commission is also taking steps internally to deal with intellectual property rights violations, Devigne said. It started April 2 an anti-counterfeiting study, which he said will produce an objective assessment of the situation and recommendations. “We need to clean certain black spots in Europe,” he said. Europe is also dealing with the sale of counterfeit goods over the Internet, he said, and the first meeting was held last week between online companies and other businesses.
The U.S. will finally have an IP enforcement coordinator -- or czar -- at the White House, Dickinson said. This should be a significant job, he said, depending on how the resources, staff and clout that come with it. There are a number of good candidates whose names have been floated as possible coordinators, but so far observers are simply waiting to see what happens, he said. “We really have to get moving on these issues.”