EU Data Privacy Official Slams Copyright Talks

“As international negotiations toward a major cross-border trade
agreement to curb intellectual property crimes continue behind
closed doors, a top European privacy official today blasted the
secrecy of the talks, sounding an alarm about Internet monitoring
provisions that could press ISPs to filter traffic on their
networks for pirated content.

“The warning from European Data Protection Supervisor 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.

“While the negotiations are secret, and anyone who is given
access to ACTA documents is bound to silence by a non-disclosure
agreement, leaked materials have been trickling out onto the
Internet, including some that outline provisions calling for
heightened monitoring by ISPs to crack down on subscribers
suspected of illegally downloading or sharing copyrighted
content.”

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