International travellers face having their laptop computers,
mobile phones, iPods and USB memory sticks scanned and copied at
will by customs officials under a
proposed global anti-counterfeiting trade deal.
Japan and the US are pushing for the so-called
Anti-Counterfeiting
Trade Agreement (ACTA) to be finalised by the end of the
year.
Participants have kept details of the agreement secret but
details have emerged in leaked documents and consultation papers
published by an the Australian Digital Alliance, an association of
ISPs, librrians and others.
A submission by ADA
to the Australian government revealed proposals to extend
customs' powers to search, seize and destroy material that
infringed copyright and the facilities used to produce the copies.
Other proposals were to criminalise infringements and to open
infringers to higher fines and claims for damages.
"One of the worst case scenarios was this idea that you might be
able to search someone's laptop or iPod for infringing content at
the border or at the airport", Laura Simes, executive director of
ADA, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation last week.
Malcolm Hutty, spokesman for the London Internet Exchange, an
association of internet service providers (ISPs), who saw the early
proposals, said that companies and individuals could have their
security and privacy breached if proposed search powers allowed
border authorities to read, copy and retain files.
He criticised another proposal to make ISPs do "deep packet
inspection" to determine the content of internet traffic.
"We do not want mandated technological blocks such as deep
packet inspection and filtering that would inhibit the internet
community's capacity and openness to technological innovation," he
said.
Negotiators from the US, Japan, the European Union, Australia,
Canada, Mexico and other countries last met in Washington in late
July.
"All the parties negotiating here are kind of sworn to secrecy,"
Simes said.
A
document, dated 29 July, the day the conference began, was
leaked to the whistleblower website
Wikileaks. It
recommended letting customs authorities suspend the import, export
and trans-shipment of goods suspected of being pirated, without a
court order. They want to increase "significantly" warrantless
inspections to find counterfeit or pirated goods,
An EU
statement after the meeting said participants discussed civil
remedies for intellectual property rights (IPRs) infringements, the
availability of preliminary measures, preservation of evidence,
damages, legal fees and costs. They agreed to continue talks on
border enforcement of IPRs.
Adam Morallee, a solicitor at law firm Mishcon de Reya, who
often acts for brand owners, said rights holders were entitled to
protect their rights and their assets.
The EU said it is negotiating to protect citizens against health
and safety risks from counterfeit drugs and food, as well as to
protect holders of intellectual property rights in music, film and
video recordings as well as software.