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National Friday 10 February 2012 - 15:54

Labour MEP declares opposition to ACTA

Labour MEP Joseph Cuschieri says he will vote against Anti-Counterfeiting Treaty Agreement

Demonstrators against ACTA - tomorrow a protest will be held in Valletta, and Labour MEP Joseph Cuschieri has said he will vote against the agreement.

Labour MEP Joseph Cuschieri has taken a stand against the "defective" Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, a day before a demonstration against the controversial treaty signed by the Maltese government.

Cuschieri, who recently took his place inside the European Parliament as Malta's sixth MEP, said ACTA - a transnational instrument that enforces global copyright laws - was "defective and imperfect" because of the secret negotiations between countries and multinational corporations that produced the treaty.

"The truth is that much of what we know about it was leaked and it had to be the pressure created by civil society that these leaks brought to light the publication of the treaty.

"The public was not informed of the negotiations and the Maltese government signed this agreement without any discussion with civil society and all interested stakeholders," Cuschieri said.

The MEP also said he will vote against ACTA when the treaty is up for debate in the European Parliament.

Cuschieri also highlighted the fact that countries from where counterfeiting trade mainly originated, namely India and China, had not signed ACTA.

The MEP said ACTA's article 27 also directed internet service providers to disclose internet subscribers' data to right-holders who fear their copyright has been infringed.

"Citizens have every right to be concerned and protest at this opaque wording. How will the exchange of information be surveilled and monitored?" Cuschieri asked.

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  • 9 Comments
Posted by: franco — 11/02/2012 12:29:43
@john bonello, is it reasonable to limit or worse subdue the freedom of expression because of fake medicines or fake anything? The police have all the required tools at their disposal to take care of this. In my uneducated opinion ACTA as is formulated today is simply a tool for certain quarters to keep the world population in line. You might dub this as a conspiracy theory but in all fairness look at the act properly and don't rely on liars like some local MEPs.
Posted by: ALGAN — 11/02/2012 08:36:57
This is not an agreement about protecting IP rights but given the unethicl behaviour of large multinationals it is all about monopolizing the market and being in a position to keep prices artificially high. The biggest culprits when it comes to stealing IP rights is not a teenager or a student copying some music or oa poor sick patient in third world countries who canot afford proprietary medicines but is the big companies themselves for they are always in constant litigation with each other claiming their patents and rights have been infringed. Give them just a sprinkling of legal ground to stand on and you can be sure that their high profile lawyers will stretch the interpretation of the act to enable them to continue ethically abusing and overcharging the consumer under all sorts of excuses. The fact is that infringement of IP rights can only be controlled when a fair affordable price is charged for goods and services and when the price is within the reach of the consumer in a specific country. The proper forum should be the transparent WTO not a devious amorphous structure where civil society is ignored.
Posted by: gene2 — 11/02/2012 07:53:25
@John Bonello.You are completly wrong.As other countries are against ACTA,why we are in favour ?.Hope that there is no personal interest playng infront of your arguments !!!! The medicines saga are the tip of the iceberg.
Posted by: Jcb33 — 11/02/2012 03:49:51
How dare film makers, artists or anybody that invests in creativity stop us pirating their works for free. I want to be able to walk into my local shop and take what I want without paying, just like millions do on the internet. I don't care if struggling artists can't feed their families because of piracy. They should be thankfull we take the time to listen to their music - infact they should pay us! I don't care if a young director manages to make a minor hit film with promising sales where he might just cover his costs - only for it to be posted on the piratebay and kill any chance he had of paying the cast, cameras, makeup, lighting and moving forward with new projects. In a similar vein I think my boss shouldn't bother paying me, after all I steal everything so I couldn't hold it against my boss for doing the same. Why should I be paid for my hard work? Best of all, because I now work for free I am not taxable and no longer contribute to the running of schools, roads and hospitals.
Posted by: John Bonello — 10/02/2012 22:27:12
@rcasha : My friend, the ACTA talks about Fake Medicines and not generic medicines. In this case of fake medicines as an example, these compete directly with generic medicines (some of which are produced by pharmaceutical companies in Malta), and trick customers in believing something is a medicinal product when in some cases there were even reports of pills which were nothing but lumps of sugar. @Astrolux_boy....Hekk hu Safe ghal Business mela il-labour jekk sejjer jahseb b' dan il mod. Nispera illi id-dirigenti tal-PL ma jaqblux mieghek ( kif Joseph iddikjara warakollox) ghax problemi kbar ekonomici jkollna.
Posted by: Astrolux_boy — 10/02/2012 19:28:24
@ john bonello: jaqaw inti xi business man? Forsi timprota xi prodotti minn barra u qed tigi affettwat? Mela hawn gewwa Malta tista tlahhaq biex tixtri l-original ta' kollox? Biex bil-paga li ghandna ghax lanqas biex nghixu ma hu jibqalna ghax hlief kontijiet u iktar kontijiet u gholi ta' prodotti mhux ikun hawn u Alla jbierk il-paga tibqa l-istess. Hallina Sur Bonello halli nkomplu nghixu jekk ihallina dan il-Gvern.
Posted by: rcasha — 10/02/2012 19:13:11
@John Bonello: And did you know that the laws in question considers generic medicines as counterfeits? Almost all medicines produced by the pharmaceutical industry in Malta are generics - that is they contain the exact same ingredients, are produced to the same high standards, but cost less because they are not the original label. Also, did you know that where copyright is concerned, the law allows for certain uses under "fair use" clauses but ACTA strips away these rights? Don't drink the kool-aid John.
Posted by: man in the street — 10/02/2012 18:43:31
The demonstration against the treaty is not against counterfeit goods like clothes and medicine but about the free use of internet, mainly by our students. If the EU wants to have ACTA approved, they should have removed references to internet and limited it to such goods. I, too, would not like to pay good money for a counterfeit T-shirt, shoes or medicine, but why drag internet into the matter? Shame on those countries (including Malta) who have subscribed to such a treaty and shame on those MEPs who will vote in its favour.
Posted by: John Bonello — 10/02/2012 17:32:51
Mr Cuschieri "Most of ACTA is not about the internet. It is about counterfeit and fake goods like clothes and medicines which end up illegally on the market". Are you aware that by your decision you are helping directly illegal trade and those businesses that make a profit from selling counterfiet goods at the detriment of the law abiding businesses. Shame on those MEP's taking this stand. This is not about politics, it is about the right to develop goods and services, and protect them legally from those willing to make easy money on someone else hard work.