Australian internet advocacy groups are gravely concerned by secret treaty negotiations which could “criminalise” the online conduct of both ISPs and end users.

The sixth round of discussions on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) have begun in Korea, putting an international focus on copyright enforcement – but groups such as the Internet Industry Association fear the “less than transparent” talks could give unheard-of powers to music and film studios at the expense of ISPs and end users.

The ACTA talks bring together countries including Australia, New Zealand, the US, Japan, and the European Union on the premise of developing international standards to combat copyright piracy. The forum has come under fire for keeping its agenda under wraps, but leaks of documents apparently up for discussion have fuelled concerns that the ACTA may force carriers to introduce “three strikes” rules forcing ISPs to disconnect users suspected of copyright infringement.

Reports have claimed that the ACTA would force ISPs to follow ‘notice and takedown’ regimes (issuing infringement notices and disconnecting users suspected of copyright infringement) if they wished to be covered by safe harbour laws protecting them from legal action from copyright holders.

Internet Industry Association CEO Peter Coroneos told CommsDay he was concerned about the transparency of the process. “A lot of anxiety has arisen from leaked documents that... contain pretty scary proposals about scope of recommendations and the criminalisation of conduct many ordinary consumers may be engaging in,” he said.

Coroneos said the lack of transparency around the talks gave rise to fears that ACTA’s agenda was “not broadly representative of a wide range of interests.” “Our US colleagues believe [talks] are skewed towards content owners and rights holders – while they have their views, so do access providers, intermediaries and users of services.”

“Who’s agenda is this, who drives it, what opportunities do we have for input, what accountability is going to be built into any proposals, what opportunities are there for countervailing views to be put, how do we avoid creating any situation which might be hostile to the internet and new business models?” Coroneos asked. The IIA has created list of six principles it hopes to be followed in the talks, including the presumption of innocence for end users accused of infringements, and safeguards against liability for intermediaries (like ISPs or libraries). The list has the backing of the Australian Digital Alliance, consumer group Choice, and the Australian Library and Information Association.

LINK TO IINET CASE IN FEDERAL COURT: Electronic Frontiers Australia spokesman Geordie Guy (rught)noted parallels between the ACTA talks and a Federal Court case where iiNet is being sued by copyright holders for allegedly failing to prevent infringements on its network.

“It really does appear as though there is something of a multiple-front offensive being launched by rights holders to protect their rights – it does seem, in a large part to encompass expecting people outside of the police and the judiciary to do that for them,” he said. “One of the things that iiNet is relying on... is the fact that there are other pieces of legislation that prohibit them from policing copyright in the way that copyright lobby groups expect them to.” Guy said the ACTA amounted to “copyright holders expecting others to look after their copyright for them.”

Appearing at the talks, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has stated that “Australia seeks an enhanced, practical international standard on IPR enforcement with broad international support,” but also noted that “taking part in the negotiations does not oblige Australia to join any resulting treaty.” The ACTA negotiations will continue until Friday.