Friday, 27. January 2012
Topic: COPYRIGHT - on January 27, 2012 at 11:04:00 PM CET
EU Commission propaganda on ACTA
The European Commission published a document in defense of ACTA, “10 Myths about ACTA“. It is pure propaganda. The document is widely distributed by polish authorities.
Let’s take a look.
Myth 1: ACTA is a secret agreement. Negotiations were not transparent and conducted “behind closed doors”. The European Parliament was not fully informed.
Commission: “The text of ACTA is publicly available to all.”
The final text is indeed available.
Commission: “The negotiations for ACTA were not different from negotiations on any other international agreement.”
That is not true. WTO and WIPO have much more transparency and input from NGOs.
Commission: “It is a fact that such agreements are not negotiated in public, but with the Lisbon Agreement and the revised Framework Agreement there are clear rules on how the EP should be informed of such trade negotiations. And these have been scrupulously followed.”
Still, the Parliament could not discuss the text openly. No feedback from experts possible. And earlier versions are still secret, while they may be important for interpertation in conflict resolution.
Commission: “Commissioner De Gucht has participated in three plenary debates, replied to several dozens of written and oral questions, as well to two Resolutions and one Declaration of the EP, whilst Commission services have provided several dedicated briefings to MEPs during the negotiations.” </p>
... Comment
