Reporter: ACTA - What's really at stake?
41 views · Published 30 October 2012 · 4:10 · Indexed 12 November 2026
Channel: European Parliament · 2012 · News & Politics
ACTA. It stands for Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. But this international agreement, in negotiation for years, still hasn't come into force. EuroparlTV went to meet the defenders and the critics of this agreement. We're in Nice. Every two weeks since the start of the year, there's been a demonstration on Saturday afternoons against ACTA. ACTA is the English acronym for the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. It's the result of negotiations between EU Member States, although they haven't all ratified it, the USA, and other countries around the world. In broad terms ACTA aims to combat counterfeiting. It covers brand names, medicines, but also illegal internet downloads. It's natural to protect intellectual property and those whose work relies on it, such as music publishers. It demonstrates that nations recognise the importance of intellectual property rights, which are important to promote innovation, creation, to create and protect jobs, to enhance cultural diversity and many other reasons. For the European Commission, it's nothing new. ACTA changes nothing about the laws around intellectual property and its protection in Europe. It's simply, if you like, exporting our rules abroad to try and protect our industries, our artists, our entertainers, who find their products and so forth are ripped off frequently abroad. In the Parliament, which has the final word on these negotiations, MEPs aren't convinced by this agreement. The rapporteur has called for the EP to reject it. We have to protect European innovation and invention, we have to reward artists and others for their creations, but that has to be weighed against ACTA's human rights and civil liberties aspects. The thing that makes me most nervous is the idea that internet service providers should act as the internet police force. Christophe has a computing business outside Nice. Like MEPs, he's worried about what is meant exactly by 'a commercial scale'. It's always commercial. YouTube is paid for by ads. As soon as you have ads, you're in the commercial domain. It's very easy. Although the movement has faded as demonstrations have gone on, the most loyal still defend their interests. I'm a graphic designer and the basis for my work is inspired from the works of others, which I rework. The worry is that, if that isn't allowed, every time there's a little detail or a Mickey Mouse head somewhere, I'll be sued by Disney. That's impossible. For young artists starting out, especially guitarists, of course they start with pieces by AC/DC, for example, or any other type of music in copyright. They won't be able to start playing, because you start with great pieces. But in Brussels, the Commission says it's not targeting individuals. It refers to the recent case against Megaupload, the platform for downloading films illegally. Is it the millions of end-users who have already downloaded films and TV series? No. Who has Justice gone after? It's gone after the three or four kingpins behind the creation and the running and the ownership of Megaupload, the people who have earned millions, if not billions, from the advertising that has been placed on that website. Back to the demo, where banners also carry references to generic medicines. Médecins sans Frontières fears that the generic treatments used to prevent AIDS in developing countries at affordable prices may be considered as counterfeit under ACTA and seized as they pass through European territory. The Commission says this fear is also groundless. But a petition against ACTA signed by nearly 2.5 million citizens has been handed in to the Parliament. For many MEPs, the agreement is too vague on the question of individuals' rights. EuroparlTV video ID: 4c012240-2461-4da7-890f-a058008fd292
