In what critics are calling a “sneaky” move, Mexico this week signed a polemic international anti-piracy trade agreement that seeks to protect intellectual property rights.
But opponents say the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) will restrict Internet freedoms and could lead to government agencies forcing servers to provide information on their clients’ browsing habits.
The Mexican government has been under huge pressure from the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property to sign the accord, which has been signed by eight other nations but ratified by none.
Piracy is rampant in Mexico, where stalls in tianguis (open-air markets) openly hawk illegal CDs, DVDs and computer programs, as well as pirate copies of fragrances, clothes, sunglasses and other items.The treaty will standardize the laws of participating nations regarding intellectual property theft and help coordinate the prosecution of offenders.
Its detractors say the accord does not clearly distinguish between the criminalization of private Internet users and those profiting from copyright theft on a massive scale.
Mexico’s ambassador to Japan signed the agreement this week in Tokyo in representation of the Mexican government but the treaty will need to be ratified by Mexico’s Senate, which has been debating ACTA since 2009.
Supported by the National Action Party (PAN) and opposed by the left-wing senators, the treaty’s future in Mexico will depend on the stance of the new intake of Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) members elected on July 1, who will form the majority in the chamber. The party’s executive committee and president-elect Enrique Peña Nieto have yet to take a public stand on the issue.
Some senators may be influenced by the European Parliament’s recent overwhelming vote to reject ACTA – a decision that some observers believe will herald the eventual demise of the treaty.