In a document, published online at the address http://ec.europa.eu/italia/attualita/primo_piano/commercio/acta_informazioni_it.htm,
the European Commission answers to the protests following the signing by the
European Union of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (so called ACTA), that took place on January 26th.

It is interesting to note that, among the 10 most common misinformation about the ACTA treaty, most are related to privacy and to feared risk of penalties for
criminal behavior on the Internet, while few apparently show an interest over
the effects of the new Trade Agreement on the protection of copyright online.

In fact, as the European Commission patiently explains in the document above, the text of the agreement (also available at the same link), is the result of careful negotiation, and introduces adequate and flexible tools to facilitate development and trade of copyrighted goods online, along with measures to enforce and stimulate international cooperation against unlawful distribution of such works.

In any case, says the Commission, the text of the Agreement is made not to require any “invasive” harmonization of EU law, since it largely reproduces
contents and updates that were already present in the European legislative
framework, as a result of previous trade agreements.

Meanwhile, Slovenia, Poland and Lithuania have openly expressed their disagreement to the signature of the ACTA treaty.

The mass media are still confused about contents and purposes of the international convention, yet the feeling is that of a lost opportunity for a constructive dialogue on the measures to implement the agreement, so to ensure its uniform application.