ACTA Vote Tomorrow: Copyright Law Looks Dead, but It Won’t Lie Down
ACTA, the proposed anti-counterfeit treaty, is up for vote in European Parliament tomorrow.
After widespread protests in the wake of the defeat of SOPA and PIPA in the U.S., four of the major European parties now publicly oppose ACTA. But the largest, the conservative European People’s Party, is now saying it will ask tomorrow to delay the vote until the European Court of Justice verifies that ACTA is legal. That ruling could take up to a year.
EPP announced this new tactic via tweet this week:
ACTA would set up an international framework under which ISPs could be asked to block access to content, and companies could be fined for the somewhat vague notion of “commercial-scale” infringements.
Five out of five EU committees, including the international trade committee, have recommended that the European Parliament vote against ACTA.