[RT] ‘ACTA’s death would resonate worldwide’

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The International Trade Committee (INTA) of the European Parliament (EP) is set to adopt its opinion report on ACTA, ahead of the EP’s July 3 vote. RT discussed the controversial act with digital rights expert Jeremie Zimmermann. […]

Jeremie Zimmermann, co-founder and spokesperson of the citizen advocacy group La Quadrature du Net told RT that INTA was also likely to recommend that the vote be delayed.

RT:What are the chances that INTA will support ACTA?

Jeremie Zimmermann: To explicitly support ACTA very little, but there are chances that INTA will adopt what has been presented as a « reasonable » way of just postponing the final vote by a few years, after the ECJ would have given its opinion on ACTA’s impact on fundamental freedoms. Such a postponement would in reality help the Commission, who negotiated ACTA for the EU, and the pro-ACTA lobbies: they see this stratagem as a way not to lose face. […]

JZ: If the whole of Parliament rejects ACTA, then it will be politically dead forever. The EU cannot ratify it, and with its 27 member states, it is one of the main negotiating partners with the US. So it would mean the total failure of ACTA, and a big blow for the Commission. Then we can push forward a positive reform of copyright, where acts of sharing carried out with no aim of profit would not be combatted anymore, but would be legalized. This way we can invent a copyright system that would not contravene freedom of expression and other fundamental freedoms. […]

https://rt.com/news/acta-inta-vote-zimmermann-340/