Summary: Latest information about ACTA includes explanation of the secrecy, or at least those who insist on secrecy while they conspire against the public

"Inducing copyright infringement will be in ACTA," says the president of the FFII regarding this new report. Yesterday he shared videos of the hearing about ACTA in the EU.

The top EU official responsible for data privacy slams the ACTA process. This report says that a warning from Peter Hustinx "comes as nations negotiating the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) recently concluded the seventh round of talks at a meeting in Guadalajara, Mexico." That was a while ago. There is now a Dutch ACTA leak (see article in Dutch) and the following new reports reveal some new information worth highlighting:

● New ACTA Leak: U.S., Korea, Singapore, Denmark Do Not Support Transparency

Throughout the debate over ACTA transparency, many countries have taken public positions that they support release of the actual text, but that other countries do not. Since full transparency requires consensus of all the ACTA partners, the text simply can't be released until everyone is in agreement. Of course, those same countries hasten to add that they can't name who opposes ACTA transparency, since that too is secret.

● New ACTA leaks reveal internal conflicts among negotiaters

Countries negotiating the secretive Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement are clashing over a proposed three-strikes regulation, the legal basis for such a treaty and the lack of transparency in the process, according to newly leaked documents.

The European Parliament is demanding answers from the European Commission about ACTA, while public outcry and criticism are driving many European countries to demand clarity about the secret talks, which have been ongoing for more than two years. But these E.U.-member nations are being frustrated by the European Commission.

● World, get ready for the DMCA: ACTA's Internet chapter leaks

The oddest thing about the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) secrecy is that, whenever we see leaked drafts of the text, there's nothing particularly "secret" about them. That was also the case with this weekend's leak of the "Internet enforcement" section of the ACTA draft; as we've noted in the past, ACTA appears to be a measure to extend the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to the rest of the world, and that's exactly what the Internet section tries to do.

● Written Declaration presented today in Brussels

"ACTA is legislation laundering on an international scale, trying to covertly push through what could never be passed in most national parliaments" declared the socialist Member of the European Parliament Lambrinidis in his presentation of a written declaration that aims at establishing the official oppositon to ACTA of Europe€´s elected representatives. He also criticized ACTA€´s intention of "systematic monitoring of citizens in the hands of internet service providers, giving them more power than police have in anti-terror operations".

● Europe 'will not accept' three strikes in Acta treaty

The European Commission has pledged to make sure the Acta global treaty will not force countries to disconnect people for unlawfully downloading copyrighted music, movies and other material.

"The EU Commission maintains that any criminal action should be for infringements on a large, commercial scale only," says the president of the FFII. But the ACTA affects international patent law, thus it's relevant to us. ⬆