Reuters have reported that consumer rights bodies in the US have been expressing concern regarding a new Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement that is being negotiated between America and Canada, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, South Korea, Switzerland and the EU.
They say the Trade Agreement, which has been under negotiation for just under a year now, and which is supported by the music and movie industries, could result in unnecessary intrusions into the lives and property of innocent people as they move between countries signed up to the executive agreement. New measures might include the searching of digital music players at customs to check if illegal music is being moved between countries, and cross-border measures to force internet service providers to play a more proactive role in combating the illegal distribution of digital music and movie content.
One of the particular concerns raised by bodies like digital rights group Public Knowledge is that these new measures are being introduced via an 'executive agreement' rather than a 'treaty'. The distinction is crucial because the latter would require Congress approval, but the former does not. Explaining those concerns, Susan Sell of the Institute For Global And International Studies at George Washington University told Reuters: "If it were a treaty it would be subject to congressional approval. I don't see the accountability. Consumers have not been invited into this process. It's a handful of industry and there's no balance".
Some also question the practicalities of some of the measures being proposed by those drafting the agreement. Reuters quote one US customs official as saying his department already has the authority to search digital media devices, but that the practicalities of doing so means few custom officials are going to that keen to do so on a regular basis.
But the agreement has the support of much of the US record industry, and even more so the movie industry, who see the global agreement as a way of boosting their bid to ensure stronger legal protection against growing online piracy, and may be even a way to compensate in those territories where domestic copyright law has not been helpful in fighting illegal file sharing, in particular Canada.
Negotiations are due to resume next month with the aim to have everything completed by the end of the year so the agreement can be signed off before President George Bush leaves office. Some legal experts reckon having a controversial global trade agreement of this kind completed on that timescale is unrealistic, though others say the unmovable deadline of Bush's departure from office will provide an incentive on the Americans' part to get a move on.