In scenes reminiscent of the unrest caused by the proposed Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the US, protestors have taken to the streets in the UK and Europe to announce their opposition to the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). Executive director of campaigning organisation Open Rights Group which claims to protect "your rights in the digital age", has described ACTA as "undemocratic" and argues that "it's setting up dangerous new pressures to censor the internet."
ACTA is a multi-national treaty which aims to provide a more effective means of enforcing IP rights by harmonising enforcement standards and practices and greater international cooperation. The UK signed up to ACTA together with 22 European Member States on 26 January 2012, but it has yet to be ratified by the European Parliament and is due to be debated in June.
According to the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO), "Acta will not create new intellectual property rights, laws, or criminal offences in the UK or EU", but will simply establish "efficient and broadly common rules for how intellectual property right-holders can enforce their rights in practice." Amid widespread claims that ACTA will force Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to begin policing the internet, the European Commission (EC) has stated that it will not conflict with the E-Commerce Directive which prohibits the imposition of general obligations on ISPs to monitor the information they transmit and will not require changes in EU law.
Illegal downloads represent a scourge to the entertainment industry as a whole, with figures released by internet consultancy firm Envisional last year showing that the number of illegally downloaded films has increased by 30% in the last 5 years, and in 2010 illegal downloads were estimated to cost the music industry £219 million a year. So far BT and other ISPs have consistently resisted calls to "police" the internet and cut off access to piracy sites.
Given the stakes involved, the reassuring words of authorities such as the EC and the UKIPO are unlikely to soften the debate about balancing freedom of expression as a core value of the internet with the demands for a crackdown on online piracy.