DFAT mum on final ACTA
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has refused to speculate on how the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) will affect Australian law.
The ACTA aims to establish international standards on how to enforce intellectual property rights, and has involved countries around the world including Australia. It has been met with some criticism, mainly around the talks being held in private.
At Federal Budget estimates this time last week, Greens Party Senator Scott Ludlam asked DFAT's Office of Trade Negotiations what the final draft might "look like in practice".
"What steps will the government take — and if you disagree with this contention, I would be interested to know — to avoid a massive influx of applications for injunctions against internet service providers [ISPs] and, potentially, litigation, with the losers obviously being those individuals who subscribe to ISPs? Have you foreseen that eventuality?"
The acting first assistant secretary of DFAT's Office of Trade Negotiations George Mina said that he was "not in a position to speculate about how that outcome will emerge".
"That goes to a particular question about the nature of the final outcome of the text in relation to ISPs," Mina said. "Obviously, it is a matter of debate amongst the parties. You have seen a couple of options there in the text, and we will need to examine how that text emerges before we make any definitive statements about how it would impact on applications for injunction, as you point out."
Mina also noted that Australia "played an important role in promoting transparency throughout" the discussions, referring to the release of one of the ACTA drafts.
"We continue to welcome public submissions; we are opening our doors next week, in fact, for a public consultation here in Canberra in the department."
The Internet Industry Association (IIA) and other stakeholders will this Friday have the chance to be briefed by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement in Canberra.
Senator Kate Lundy just yesterday questioned some of the reasons behind the ACTA in a blog post. "As we have seen in pretty much every trade agreement that includes intellectual property, there is a bit of a ground war afoot as to how much goes too far, led by those in the strongest position to dictate the terms," she said.
The agreement is expected to be nutted out by the end of this year, according to DFAT's Mina.
"In the recent discussions in Wellington in mid-April, parties announced their intention to complete the negotiations as soon as possible in 2010," he said. "That is the objective, and the objective to which we are all working. Whether that is achievable we will have to wait and see."