[ga] EU Council deliberately obstructs access to ACTA documents

["Jeffrey A. Williams" <jwkckid1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

All,

  Mostly as a FYI see below.  However it would behoove some
of you that ACTA is, or appears to be an attempt to regulate
content as well as restrict some DN's existence.  As such, new
gTLD's may find themselves with little interest, or become embroiled
in massive IP litigation and legal wrangling....

See:

=======================================================================
EU Council deliberately obstructs access to ACTA documents
=======================================================================

Brussels, 13 January 2009 - The Foundation for a Free Information
Infrastructure (FFII) has filed a complaint with the Ombudsman against
the EU
Council for deliberately obstructing access to Anti-Counterfeiting Trade

Agreement (ACTA) documents. As stated by an other participant in the
negotiations, the EU has agreed to keep ACTA drafts secret. This way the
EU
hinders the proper application of Regulation 1049/2001 regarding public
access
to documents. The FFII asks for immediate publication of the documents.

Public interest organisations are concerned ACTA may limit access to
medicines, limit access to the internet, give patent trolls free reign
and
harm the most innovative sectors of the economy.

According to a New Zealand government website, participants in the ACTA
negotiations "have agreed that the draft final text will be made public
at
the end of negotiations before governments consider signing."

FFII analyst Ante Wessels comments: "This implies that the EU has agreed
to
keep earlier draft texts secret. Regulation 1049/2001 for public access
to
documents does list some exceptions to transparency, but those
exceptions must
be interpreted and applied strictly. Making agreements to keep texts
secret
goes much further than allowed. The Council deliberately obstructs
access to
ACTA documents."

As a solution the FFII proposes that the documents have to be made
accessible.
The EU may also withdraw from the ACTA negotiations.


=======================================================================
Background information: European Parliament resolution 18 December 2008
=======================================================================

"28.  Takes the view that the public interest in disclosure of ACTA
preparatory drafts, including progress reports, and of the Commission's
negotiating mandate should not be overridden by Article 4 of Regulation
(EC)
No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May
2001
regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission
documents(19) , and urges the Council to enforce Article 255 of the EC
Treaty
in such a way as to ensure the widest possible access to documents,
provided
that the necessary security measures are taken as required by
data-protection
law;"

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P6-

TA-2008-0634  - - or: http://tinyurl.com/8eyjgm

=======================================================================
Links
=======================================================================

* FFII complaint to the Ombudsman:
http://action.ffii.org/acta/Analysis?action=AttachFile&do=get&target=ffii_ombudsman.pdf

* Council decision on request for documents:
http://register.consilium.europa.eu/pdf/en/08/st15/st15476.en08.pdf

* New Zealand government website mentioning agreement to keep draft
secret:
http://www.med.govt.nz/upload/56291/ACTA_%20PPT.PPTÂ;


Regards,

Spokesman for INEGroup LLA. - (Over 284k members/stakeholders strong!)
"Obedience of the law is the greatest freedom" -
   Abraham Lincoln
"YES WE CAN!"  Barack ( Berry ) Obama

"Credit should go with the performance of duty and not with what is
very often the accident of glory" - Theodore Roosevelt

"If the probability be called P; the injury, L; and the burden, B;
liability depends upon whether B is less than L multiplied by
P: i.e., whether B is less than PL."
United States v. Carroll Towing  (159 F.2d 169 [2d Cir. 1947]
===============================================================
Updated 1/26/04
CSO/DIR. Internet Network Eng. SR. Eng. Network data security IDNS.
div. of Information Network Eng.  INEG. INC.
ABA member in good standing member ID 01257402 E-Mail
jwkckid1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
My Phone: 214-244-4827