The ACTA demon rises. Again. And again. And again…

Two years ago European Parliament killed ACTA, the international Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement.

The main reason was that ACTA promoted the concept that internet service providers (ISP:s) should police the internet to stop intellectual property infringements (i.e. illegal filesharing of music, film, games and software).

Such practice would be in conflict with the principle that ISP:s are not liable for what their customers (ordinary users) do when using their services. This principle is called “mere conduit” and is regulated in the EU E-Commerce Regulations of 2002.

In the same way the Post Office is not liable for what people send in the mail. This is a very reasonable principle.

If ISP:s where to police what is going on in their cables, they would have to inspect and scrutinize all internet traffic. (E.g. by deep packet inspections.) This would include everything we do online. Everything.

This would be a gigantic and very expensive task. And it would force ISP:s to set up extremely comprehensive terms and conditions for users.

And, of course, this would obstruct free flow of information and curb Internet freedom in an unacceptable way.

So it was a very good thing that the European Parliament killed ACTA. (After widespread public protests.)

But ACTA is not really dead. Every now and then the idea that ISP:s should police the Internet pops up. The intellectual property industry never fails to lobby for it.

The issue will be back on the agenda as the EU rewrites its package of copyright rules 2014-2019. (There might also be a revision of the EU E-Commerce Regulations.) And it seems to return in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership treaty, TTIP.

And right now Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation wants to hold Australian ISP:s responsible for piracy.

This is an ongoing battle, maybe a never ending one. To kill ACTA was an important victory for a free and open Internet. But we must be aware that the IP industry has no intentions of giving up their lobby efforts to get various ACTA clones into legislation and international trade agreements.

/ HAX