The Malta Anti-ACTA Group has prepared a press release which should be sent to the press TODAY, and are asking whether MLUG would like to be included in this PR.
This has not gone out to press yet, but it has to go out soon. Are there any objections? If everyone is ok with this I'll tell them to go ahead. --- The Malta Anti-Acta Group (MAAG) would like to inform the general public of its reasons for opposing the Acta Treaty. It would also like to announce a public protest to be held on Saturday 11 February at 11am, City Gate Valletta. Various organisations, including Moviment Graffitti, Alternattiva Demokratika Zghazagh, Front Kontra c-Censura, Forum Zghazagh Laburisti, Kunsill Studenti Junior College, Malta Alliance for Freedom, ir-Realtá Collective, MOVE Progressive Students and Pulse, support and will be attending the demonstration. The Acta Treaty has been negotiated behind closed doors without engaging public debate and has suffered from numerous problems of transparency. This treaty establishes a committee which operates outside the normal framework of the World Trade Organisation and which has powers to amend the treaty itself in a way which potentially circumvents the normal democratic process. The MAAG is worried that this treaty would result in disproportionate actions against intellectual property rights infringement becoming the norm. The ambiguous nature of the treaty also makes the measures introduced for protecting intellectual property rights liable to abuse. In particular, the implementation of these measures can have a detrimental effect on the rights to privacy of individuals, forcing ISPs to reveal personal information about alleged infringers. The treaty also paves the way for courts to consider ordering compensation for infringements consisting of amounts based on questionable criteria defined arbitrarily by rights holders themselves. The ambiguous language used in ACTA also puts generic medicine at the risk of being targeted unjustly as a counterfeit product, stopping the distribution of essential medicines to those who require them most. This is further aggravated by the border control provisions in the treaty, which would also allow for the interruption of the transit of these medicines between two non-signatory countries whenever they pass through a signatory country. For these reasons MAAG is urging the public to attend the protest on Saturday to express its concern regarding a treaty which poses a threat to democratic processes, right to privacy, Freedom of Expression and medicinal distribution. Reuben Zammit Tel: 79091379
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