As currently the ACTA negotiations take place in Mexico, I would like to introduce a video of Luc Devigne, our EU Commission DG Trade negotiator. Luc Devigne is French and the head of the IPR unit of DG Trade, so the person to speak with when you deal with IPR issues of international trade policy. Below you find a great American Cpan video interview from May 2009 where he offers insights in the international negotiations around ACTA
Luc Devigne for instance advocates for the French “three strikes” rule concerning ISPs. Such measures are not yet part of the acquis communautaire, in fact in the course of the Telecom package such measures were generally rejected, though the European Parliament could not overrule the French national decision to implement such measures (“Hadopi”). Sarkozy’s Hadopi rules are in troublesome constitutional waters, we will see.
Luc Devigne is again very open that the ACTA is primarily targeted “at nations which do not respect IPR enough”.
10:30 Devigne talks about EU-US joint customs operations against copyright infringement
12:30 ACTA
On ACTA secrecy (13:00): No international trade agreement in public. They don’t own what the others delegations say. But public should be informed. That is why they organised two widely followed stakeholder meetings.
Not about personal items but commercial scale, they would apply de minimis rules.
15:30 Internet Chapter not addressed yet (May 2009). Everything about it was rumour.
Question: What is the idea of the internet chapter.
15:49 Sales by internet, cmp. TRIPS. Rightholders asking for more control, on the other side ISPs. Strike balance between both.
16:50 What about “information exchange” as opposed to product counterfeiting? No proposal yet. Then Devigne presents and finally embraces three strikes and explains why that has nothing to do with “information exchange”.
18:50 What to do against against companies like Pirate Bay? No comments as an administrative body on judicial affairs, mocks democratic rule standards in Sweden. Criminal sanctions cmp. TRIPs
20:20 Devigne explains and embraces the French three strike rules, compares offences with stealing CDs from a shop, and compares sanctions with a ban from the store. “But because it is exactly that”. Personal comment.
I really enjoy how thoughtful he talks.
Sköne Oke 