ACTA calls to urgently rethink patents and copyright

Whatever the final text will be after the next negotiation rounds, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) will remain an illegitimate agreement, by its elaboration process (beyond any democratic control) as well as its content (further strengthening of an outdated set of legislation). Access to medicine in the poorest countries and protection of citizens’ fundamental rights in their usage of Internet and digital technologies are too crucial issues to be left out to the hazards of closed-doors negotiations.

In the age of globalized exchanges, the sharing of information improves our societies and saves lives. ACTA is emblematic of an outdated repression of the sharing of information and knowledge. Without awaiting the end of the negotiations, we urge governments negociating ACTA to:

* rethink copyright from scratch to guarantee the potentiality of democratic participation, access to culture and innovation allowed by the networked sharing of information, while guaranteeing fundamental freedoms.

* rethink the patent system to adapt it to a world where three major pandemics kill 15,000 persons per day because of the lack of accessible treatment for all.

ACTA belongs to the past.