[EurActiv] Brussels denies rumours of secret anti-piracy treaty

Posted on


An upcoming global trade agreement on copyright and counterfeiting, known as ACTA, will not rewrite EU rules on the liability of internet service providers, a leading European Commission official told EurActiv, denying media reports that suggest otherwise. […]

La Quadrature du Net, a web pressure group, maintains that ACTA will create legal uncertainty for ISPs, which will start to self-censor what happens on their networks and « bend under the pressure of the entertainment industries ». […]

« By creating legal uncertainty for the internet operators, ACTA will force them to bend under the pressure of entertainment industries. ACTA will compel internet service providers to filter and remove content and services, turning them into private police and justice auxiliaries. We cannot tolerate that restrictions to fundamental rights and freedoms be imposed by private actors. Such a modification of criminal law by governments themselves, in total opacity, shows how much the people behind ACTA hate democracy, » according to Jérémie Zimmermann, spokesperson for citizens’ advocacy group La Quadrature du Net.

http://www.euractiv.com/en/infosociety/brussels-denies-rumours-secret-anti-piracy-treaty