The plurilateral Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) that has been mired in controversy since its signing in 2010 faces another roadblock with one of its members, the European Union, likely to reject the Agreement. [...]

Controversial anti-counterfeiting agreement stalls in face of protests as European commissioner says it is unlikely to pass. [...]

Speaking on Friday, Kroes said that "we are now likely to be in a world without Sopa" – the US's proposed Stop Online Piracy Act – "and Acta." [...]

A European Commission vice president said on Friday a planned global pact to crack down on fake consumer goods and medicines and websites that break copyright laws would probably never come into force, because of strong opposition. [...]

"We are now likely to be in a world without SOPA and without ACTA," Neelie Kroes, the EU's commissioner for technology and telecoms said in a speech to bloggers and web entrepreneurs in Berlin. [...]

Now that the EU's ratification of ACTA has departed from the original script of everyone just waving it through, the European Commission is clearly trying to come up with Plan B. Some insights into its thinking can be gained from the minutes (pdf) of a recent Commission meeting, pointed out to us by André Rebentisch. [...]

A new steering committee will be convened to study how Singapore can be developed into a hub for intellectual property (IP) […] It will comprise members from both the private and public sectors, […]

http://www.straitstimes.com/Parliament/Story/STIStory_774339.html

During the furor over sweeping anti-piracy bills in the US and Europe, a digital rights saga in Italy has gone largely unnoticed. Free speech groups have led a revolt against the so-called 'Italian SOPA.'

The Italian parliament rejects a bill that would have imposed strict intellectual property restrictions. Meanwhile, a Berlin-based site called 'Ask the State' helps citizens submit freedom of information requests to the German government. And, Austria scientists pioneer 'blind quantum computing.' And finally, is that Stradivarius violin really worth millions of dollars ?

Italian free speech groups claim victory

The global Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) treaty aims to combat copied products and reduce online piracy. But its fine print remains a source of heated debate. Now the European Parliament wants to have a say. [...]

A study proposing a two strikes model against Internet piracy in Germany is being welcomed by the Ministry of Economics. The study arrives as others in Europe hesitate to ratify the controversial ACTA treaty. [...]
The German study looked very closely at the French model of Hadopi, the three strikes law that has been in effect there since late 2010.[...]

La movilización en redes sociales e internet contra el tratado global antipiratería dio ayer sus frutos. La Comisión Europea, que negoció junto a los países de la UE el texto, decidió pedir al Tribunal de Justicia comunitario un estudio sobre su legalidad. [...]

Las redes sociales no pueden ser también redes policiales. Una sentencia del Tribunal de Justicia de la Unión Europea, publicada ayer, consideró ilegal que grandes webs de internet como Facebook o Twitter instalen sistemas de filtrado para detectar cuáles de sus usuarios utilizan los servicios de la página para intercambiar o difundir material protegido por los derechos de autor. [...]

Support for Acta in Europe is waning as both Bulgaria and the Netherlands refuse to ratify the international anti-piracy agreement.

Bulgaria will not ratify the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement over fears it will curb freedom to download movies and music for free and encourage internet surveillance, economy minister Traicho Traikov said on Tuesday.

Tens of thousands of protesters took part in rallies across Europe on Saturday against an international anti-piracy agreement they fear will curb their freedom to download movies and music for free and encourage Internet surveillance. More than 25,000 demonstrators braved freezing temperatures in German cities to march against the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) [...]