Dutch Minister Verhagen is free to discuss signing ACTA

Yesterday, the Dutch Parliament rejected a motion of D66 MP Kees Verhoeven to prohibit Minister Verhagen to speak during the meeting of the WTO, where the Minister would discuss signing the "Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement", or the anti-piracy treaty ACTA.

The motion was filed because Verhagen refused to disclose documents on the negotiations between the countries in the drafting of the treaty. The Americans insisted on confidentiality of the documents. Some Dutch parties such as the Dutch Democratic Party (D66), the Green Party (GroenLinks), the Social Party (SP) and the Labour Party (PvdA) wanted access to the documents before the discussion on signing ACTA in the Parliament. However, a majority in the Parliament decided that Minister Verhagen is free to discuss the Dutch signing.

Today, the 27 EU countries decide if they will sign the anti-piracy treaty ACTA. Then the treaty must be discussed in the parliaments of 27 countries. In the Netherlands, this discussion is scheduled in the first quarter of next year.

Read more about ACTA on FutureofCopyright.com:

• ACTA does not entail obligatory implementation of “Three Strikes”
• EU, Switzerland and Mexico will not sign ACTA yet
• Mexico against controversial ACTA

Reference: Webwereld

By: Karen Groen