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Netherlands jumps off ACTA train

Also: new leaks detail ‘EC failures’ in negotiation

ACTA’s European disintegration continues, with the Dutch house of representatives rejecting the treaty.

The Netherlands parliament has decided (Google translation) that the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement can be interpreted in ways that are inimical to privacy and Internet freedom, and that it therefore should not be signed.

The decision seems to represent the parliament moving ahead of the government, which had only decided to delay signing the treaty until after the European Court had given its rulings on the document.

The European Parliament is due to vote on the treaty in June.

The motion passed by the Netherlands’ house of representatives, D66, also asks the parliament to vote against future ACTA-like conventions. Copyright policy, the motion states, should focus on increasing the supply of legal content on the Internet.

In the latest ACTA leak, the European Digital Rights Association has published meeting notes from confabs in Paris in 2009, Rabat in 2009, Seoul in 2009, and Guadaladjara in 2010. EDRI is claiming that the documents “provide an extensive guide to the failures of the European Commission to negotiate effectively on behalf of European citizens and businesses”.

In particular, EDRI says the documents show that the European presidency chose not to brief EU states on the progress of ACTA, in spite of promises of transparency. ®

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