Pirates face stark consequences in 2009

Posted on 17 Nov 2008 at 14:40

Pirates of digital material could face serious consequences as global authorities are holding negotiations to commence an international crackdown on piracy in 2009.

The discussions are being held by officials in the UK, US, Japan, the rest of the EU and ten other countries.

A US trade official said that the next round of talks, scheduled for mid-December, could seal the international anti-piracy alliance. The announcement suggests that the concerns of firms including Google are getting their way, after calling for tougher anti-piracy measures on creators and consumers of digital content.

Consumers have already been reassured that moves to target the pirates will not lead to draconian searches of laptops for illegally copied material by customs officials at airports.

"I think that there's a good prospect that it will come into force next year. It's certainly something we will be encouraging the next administration to move forward with," said deputy US trade representative John Veroneau.

He hopes to finish negotiations on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement pact by the end of 2008, but the parties involved insist they won't agree to a bad deal to meet that deadline.

"We are working hard to meet our goals for the ACTA. One very important goal has always been to ensure that the ACTA is a high-quality agreement," said Scott Elmore, a spokesman for the US trade representative's office.

Author: Robert Jaques

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