'New' ACTA Version Published, EC Pushes For Signing

from the and-here-we-go dept

There hasn't been much movement in the last few months with ACTA, though there's been plenty of scrambling behind the scenes. The latest is that a "new" final draft of the document has been released, though all it really appears to have changed is the signing period. But, more important, is the news that the EC is pushing really hard to get it signed:
The European Commission is piling on pressure for ACTA (Anti-counterfeiting Trade Agreement), and is quietly preparing a legal proposal for the EU to sign it. The news comes in the context of ongoing discussion in the European Parliament on the question of whether to obtain a legal opinion on ACTA's compatibility with the Treaties.

In its recent Communication on IPR Enforcement, the Commission suggests it is a fait accompli that the EU will sign ACTA in 2011. Indeed that all of the countries involved in the negotiation will sign.
However, the European Parliament, which has been much more skeptical of ACTA from the beginning, is apparently still skeptical, and would like to take the shocking step of actually making sure that ACTA doesn't go against existing EU laws. The EC has simply declared that it is, and would rather that the Parliament not actually confirm this. Hopefully, the Parliament doesn't cave in to EC pressure, and actually takes the time to make sure that anything it signs is appropriate.
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Filed Under: acta, eu parliament, europe, european commission


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  • icon
    :Lobo Santo (profile), 27 May 2011 @ 1:31pm

    In future news:

    A "special" holiday session of the European Parliament, at an undisclosed location, a scant few legislators signed into law the ACTA treaty.

    It'll happen--and pretty much the same way the Federal Reserve Act in the United States was passed.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    TDR, 27 May 2011 @ 2:58pm

    Speaking of the Federal Reserve, I wonder what would happen if their headquarters was literally destroyed?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      The eejit (profile), 28 May 2011 @ 3:19am

      Re:

      They'd invade, ooh, I'm having a hard time of thinking of a country the US hasn't invaded at this point.

      link to this | view in chronology ]


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