garyopa
10-07-2011, 12:14 PM
The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement was signed today!
http://www.maxconsole.com/maxconsole/contents/RKSID00000000000000000055/icon.jpg
Major countries met today in Japan and signed the ACTA, which is trade agreement aimed at stopping all forms of counterfeiting world-wide!
Today marks a change in the way international trade and shipping will be handled between various countries, for over a few years USA has been pushing a number of other countries to meet in secret and work out a new trade agreement that would stamp out all forms of counterfeiting world-wide, and today in Japan, 8 major counteries (Canada, Australia, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Singapore and the United States) signed this historic agreement called ACTA aka (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement).
Now each of those countries have to intruduce the necessary legislation to implement the agreement, and some countries already have like Canada with (Bill C-11) which is in front of the govt. now being debated, but in the US, officials from the US Trade Representative's office have defended ACTA by saying it's an executive agreement, rather than a treaty, meaning it wouldn't require any changes to the existing laws, to be able to enforce it.
There are significant questions about the authority of president's or elected official to enter into an international trade agreement over a matter which local laws or constitutions don't agree with the many of ACTA's provisions and would clearly violate fundamental rights that are recognized in places like the EU.
Time will only tell if this will change history and trade, or if we will contiune to see a flood of counterfeit products being imported, which the entertainment industry lobbyists have been pushing to have this agreement signed in the hopes it will stop all the piracy of video gaming products.
NEWS REFERENCE: ACTA Information (http://alturl.com/kn285) and GamePolitics (http://alturl.com/dk8vr) and International Trade Canada (http://alturl.com/4bxsn)
http://www.maxconsole.com/maxconsole/contents/RKSID00000000000000000055/icon.jpg
Major countries met today in Japan and signed the ACTA, which is trade agreement aimed at stopping all forms of counterfeiting world-wide!
Today marks a change in the way international trade and shipping will be handled between various countries, for over a few years USA has been pushing a number of other countries to meet in secret and work out a new trade agreement that would stamp out all forms of counterfeiting world-wide, and today in Japan, 8 major counteries (Canada, Australia, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Singapore and the United States) signed this historic agreement called ACTA aka (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement).
Now each of those countries have to intruduce the necessary legislation to implement the agreement, and some countries already have like Canada with (Bill C-11) which is in front of the govt. now being debated, but in the US, officials from the US Trade Representative's office have defended ACTA by saying it's an executive agreement, rather than a treaty, meaning it wouldn't require any changes to the existing laws, to be able to enforce it.
There are significant questions about the authority of president's or elected official to enter into an international trade agreement over a matter which local laws or constitutions don't agree with the many of ACTA's provisions and would clearly violate fundamental rights that are recognized in places like the EU.
Time will only tell if this will change history and trade, or if we will contiune to see a flood of counterfeit products being imported, which the entertainment industry lobbyists have been pushing to have this agreement signed in the hopes it will stop all the piracy of video gaming products.
NEWS REFERENCE: ACTA Information (http://alturl.com/kn285) and GamePolitics (http://alturl.com/dk8vr) and International Trade Canada (http://alturl.com/4bxsn)