European Commission spills the beans on ACTA

The EC said that ACTA stops short of a three-strikes rule for illegal downloaders

The European Commission (EC) has gone public on the latest talks on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), which were held in New Zealand this week.

The controversial negotiations have been carried out in secret, much to the dismay and anger of interested parties and citizens.

However, the EC has revealed a number of significant details, some of which could be at odds with the UK's Digital Economy Act.

"While the participants recognise the importance of responding effectively to the challenge of internet piracy, they confirmed that no participant is proposing to require governments to mandate a 'graduated response' or 'three strikes' approach to copyright infringement on the internet," the EC said.

ACTA seeks to create a worldwide accord on dealing with copyright theft, and the latest negotiations were attended by representatives from Australia, Canada, the European Union, the EU Presidency, EU Member States, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland and the US.

A publicly available draft text will be released early next week.