Michael Geist on ACTA in the European Parliament

Professor Michael Geist speaking on ACTA (Youtube 10 min)

ACTA expert and Canadian law professor Michael Geist made a brilliant appearance before the European Parliament’s workshop on ACTA earlier today. In a couple of weeks he will publish a report on ACTA. Today, he presented a few key findings from the report in a ten minute opening remark.

He started with his conclusion:

This report concludes that ACTA’s harm greatly exceeds its potential benefits. Given ACTA’s corrosive effect on transparency in international negotiations, the damage to international intellectual property institutions, the exclusion of the majority of the developing world from the ambit of the agreement, the potentially dangerous substantive provisions, and the uncertain benefits in countering counterfeiting, there are ample reasons for the public and politicians to reject the agreement in its current form.  In doing so, governments would help restore confidence in the global intellectual property system and open the door to a new round of negotiations premised on transparency, inclusion, and evidence-based policy-making.

The rest of the presentation was crystal clear and to the point, and highlighted some of the issues that have led to this conclusion. This is a must read for anybody taking part in the ACTA debate. The applause he received at the end was well deserved.

Read the full remark by Michel Geist on ACTA

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