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Once-Secret ACTA Copyright Treaty Approved By EU
itwbennett writes "By a vote of 331 to 294, the EU Parliament has approved the controversial and once-secret Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). According to an ITworld article, 'the most controversial paragraph in the final text leaves the door open for countries to introduce the so-called three-strikes rule. This would cut Internet users off if they download copyright material as national authorities would be able to order ISPs to disclose personal information about customers.... The proposed agreement would also place sanctions against any device or software that is marketed as a means of circumventing access controls such as encryption or scrambling that are designed to prevent copying. It also requires legal measures against knowingly using such technology.'"
Background info:
http://en.swpat.org/wiki/Anti-Counterfeiting_Trade_Agreement_overview
On the software patent problems (or patents "in the Digital Environment"), it seems most or maybe all have been fixed (provided the the signatory uses the Section II option of excluding patents from that section) but a thorough reading is still needed:
http://en.swpat.org/wiki/ACTA_and_software_patents
Expert in software patents or patent law? Contribute to the ESP wiki!
Quoting from Christian Engstroms blog:
This was a defeat, but it is far from the final word on the issue. The resolution has no formal effect at all, but is merely an expression of how the Parliament feels.
Planned? Hasn't it happened in the UK?
They still riot in the streets against perceived injustice in Europe.
http://votewatch.eu/cx_vote_details.php?id_act=1189&lang=en Found it
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