Europe close to enacting Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement

Members of the European Parliament have approved the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), overcoming yet another hurdle and making its progress into law an increasing certainty.

The members welcomed the proposals as a "step in the right direction" in dealing with copyright theft and infringement, but warned that the agreement may still need some work.

Final approval lies with the European Commission, but the MEPs insisted that ACTA's implementation should have "no impact on fundamental rights and data protection, nor on ongoing EU efforts to harmonise intellectual property rights enforcement or on e-commerce".

However, while the EC confirmed in a statement to the European Parliament that neither personal searches nor the so-called 'three strikes' procedure for illegal downloaders will be introduced by this agreement, the approval was greeted with dismay by rights organisation La Quadrature du Net.

"This vote is a terrible blow to EU citizens. It shows that the conservatives and some of their allies can get the Parliament to vote in favour of ACTA," said Jérémie Zimmermann, spokesperson for the group.

"All citizens concerned with democratic law-making, the preservation of the online ecosystem, freedom of speech, privacy and access to medicines should work with their elected representatives to make sure that the Parliament does not give its assent to ACTA."

Parliament has the opportunity to reject ACTA as a whole at this upcoming stage.