EC pledges openness in ACTA negotiations

The European Commission has pledged to make ACTA more transparent

The European Commission (EC) has said that it will increase transparency around international intellectual property proposals designed to clamp down on European illegal file sharers.

However, French digital rights group La Quadrature du Net has claimed that the EC does not have the power to do so, and has accused the body of ignoring the threat to internet freedom posed by the proposals.

La Quadrature du Net has also opened up the proposals to the public by publishing a 56-page draft copy of the confidential agreements (PDF) on its web site.

The Anti Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) has been secretly negotiated by the European Union, the US, Japan and other countries since 2007, and is due to be agreed this year.

Seven rounds of negotiations have taken place so far, but nothing has been finalised. The next meeting is due to be held in New Zealand.

Leaked documents from the negotiations contain controversial proposals for disconnecting illegal downloaders from the internet, which has caused outrage among digital rights groups, trade unions and even members of the European Parliament.

These groups have argued that the process should be made transparent because the leaked proposals affect the freedoms and privacy of European citizens.