There's a new agreement on the block which some people say will restrict access to all sorts of material from overseas, or at least make it much more expensive. The final version of ACTA, the anti-counterfeiting trade agreement, is out.

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ACTA final version released

The final draft of ACTA – the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement – has been released to the public.

ACTA is a two-faced beast: it is the love child of big business and the music and film industry, high-price fashion brands, and internet software providers…but it is the demon of consumers, librarians, the open source/access movement and people who don’t want to pay excessively for imports to Australia.

ACTA establishes international standards for enforcing intellectual property rights. There will be a new international legal framework that countries join voluntarily, with its own governing body outside existing international institutions such as the World Trade Organization or the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

It aims to rein in counterfeit goods, misuse without payment of generic medicines and copyright infringement on the internet…which is why big business loves it.

But an Australian coalition* argues that reducing counterfeiting is important where it endangers consumer health or safety, or constitutes commercial scale infringement, but that reducing counterfeiting should not threaten legitimate commercial, social, innovative and creative activities, the rights of consumers or the free flow of information.

The coalition noted the current proposed treaty raised serious concerns with respect to transparency, increased customs search powers, increased penalties for IP infringement, and lack of due process, according to Wikipedia.

At last, the public gets a chance to examine the proposed ACTA agreement in full: here it is: Copy of ACTA

CLA would be interested in your comments on ACTA.

*   The coalition comprised the Australian Digital Alliance; the Australian Library and Information Association; Choice; and the Internet Industry Association.  Many other groups around the world have campaigned vigorously against ACTA.