The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement may have been negotiated behind closed doors, but the Washington International Trade Association is hosting an open discussion on the final draft of the controversial agreement.Computer & Communications Industry Association President & CEO Ed Black will be a panelist at the event Friday morning at the Reagan Building.While there have been some improvements to ACTA, which would expand international intellectual property enforcement, concerns remain. ACTA would export some U.S. digital copyright laws to Europe, Australia, and Japan – only without the protections under U.S. law for copyright limitations and exceptions.”I have been a long-time advocate for multi-lateral trade agreements. They usually help U.S. businesses expand to foreign markets. But this isn’t a trade agreement – and if it isn’t properly reformed, it will be an anti-trade agreement. It could be inconsistent with our law, and if we’re not careful, it may subject U.S. companies to foreign lawsuits for practices that are entirely legal in the United States.
“We’ve had trouble in the past with countries using laws as an anti-competitive tool to favor domestic companies – why give them another tool for their toolbox?”
For more information on the WITA event Friday:
http://www.wita.org/
For more information, please go to CCIA’s ACTA resource page:
http://www.ccianet.org/index.asp?bid=98