When the G8 group of nations met last week one of the topics it
discussed was intellectual property and the setting up of the Anti
Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), a multinational agreement on
combating intellectual property (IP) offences.
A short, vague document leaked last year led digital rights
campaigners to warn that ACTA could push for national laws giving
border guards the power to search people's property, including
computers and MP3 players, for copyright-infringing material.
But a document published by the G8 contains no indication of
such a policy, talking instead of ways to bolster "an efficient and
well-functioning IP system".
The G8 document discussed the role of customs officials, but it
focused on greater information sharing to help track and catch
infringers.
"We commit ourselves to strengthening cooperation and
coordination among customs and border enforcement administrations
through facilitation of information sharing," said the document.
"We have identified two principle areas for further progress: the
exchange of data among G8 members through appropriate mutual
assistance provisions … and the elaboration of a rapid alert system
to exchange data on a more informal basis."
The document made clear that information sharing was intended to
help in the fight against major infringers who moved large
quantities of goods around.
"Bilateral sharing of data related to specific traders will
enable G8 members to identify high-risk cargos consisting of
counterfeit and pirated goods more effectively," it said. "Mindful
that such information sharing requires a legal framework in
accordance with the legal constraints posed by the national laws of
each G8 member, customs and border enforcement authorities of the
G8 will, where appropriate, complete mutual assistance agreements
to establish such legal framework for bilateral information
exchange."
Reports leading up to the G8 meetings last week claimed that the
Agreement was on the verge of being signed, but the G8 nations only
plan to have completed negotiations by end of 2008, with
implementation taking longer.
Trade agreements like ACTA are usually conducted in secret until
the nations involved have agreed the overall thrust of the plan. A
previous G8 document appeared last year after it was leaked,
prompting fears about what was being negotiated in secret.
The European Commission last year sought member states'
permission to negotiate ACTA deals with countries outside of the G8
and World Trade Organisation groupings.
"The fact is that we don't know a great deal about ACTA," said
Struan Robertson, a technology lawyer with Pinsent Masons and
editor of OUT-LAW.COM. "Implementation could be years away. The
documents that have appeared are not as scary as some reports would
suggest. There has been speculation that ACTA will lead to airport
security guards routinely frisking laptops and iPods for pirated
files – but that sounds like scaremongering to me. Until we know
the detail, though, it's all just speculation."
What could be potentially more controversial is the document's
aim of further harmonising patent law across as many nations as
possible. Patent law as it applies to technology and software in
particular differs markedly between the US and Europe and between
the UK and other parts of the EU.
"Not only does the lack of a harmonized international patent
system hinder innovation, it also negatively impacts economic
growth and development," the document says. "While discussions on
substantive patent law harmonization at the international level
have shown some divergences, in light of the ever growing
importance of patents (and the corresponding increase in
applications) in today’s knowledge based economy, the G8 reaffirms
the need to support efforts for the early realization of
international patent harmonization."
The document, though, is in many places simply a statement of
broad aims. "Innovation is the process by which human ingenuity,
enterprise and creativity crystallize to create new value-added and
open up new frontiers of knowledge," it says. "It is the fountain
in which our hope for future development and progress rests. An
efficient and well-functioning IP system is critical for innovation
and its activities to flourish."
