Bulgarian EconMin Refuses Comments on ACTA Initiative

Politics » DOMESTIC | January 31, 2012, Tuesday // 11:58
Bulgarian EconMin Refuses Comments on ACTA Initiative: Bulgarian EconMin Refuses Comments on ACTA Initiative Bulgaria's Economy and Energy Minister, Traicho Traikov, has been the one to propose to the cabinet to sign the ACTA agreement. Photo by BGNES

Bulgaria's Economy and Energy Minister, Traicho Traikov, refused Tuesday to offer any comments on how the cabinet had made the decision to sign the controversial ACTA international agreement.

Transcripts from the meeting of the Council of Ministers from January 11 reveal that it had been precisely Traikov who had made the proposal, which stirred much discontent in Bulgaria, both because it had not been discussed by the members of the cabinet and because the public had been kept entirely in the dark about the decision to sign ACTA, until prominent Bulgarian bloggers and lawyers stirred large-scale noise about it. They lashed out at the signing of ACTA because they believe the agreement will bind countries to install legal regulations that excessively and unduly broadly penalize Internet users.

ACTA has already raised an outcry internationally.

On January 26, the Bulgarian government signed in Tokyo the international ACTA agreement, vowing to make downloading content similar to forgery of brands.

The agreement was sealed by Bulgarian ambassador to Japan Lyubomir Todorov, based on a decision by the Bulgarian cabinet taken hastily on January 11.

22 out of the 27 EU member states have signed ACTA, along with countries such as the USA, Japan, Canada, Australia, South Korea and Switzerland.

Among EU Member States, Germany, Cyprus, Estonia, Slovakia and the Netherlands have postponed their signing.

ACTA, abbreviation for Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, mandates that signatory countries implement legislation to criminalize certain types of downloading content such as music and movies, from sites not sanctioned by rights owners, such as torrent trackers.

According to the agreement, such actions will be classified as similar to counterfeiting, and will carry heavier sanctions, including confiscation.

The treaty also will require Internet providers to provide information about the traffic of their users.

In order to become effective in Bulgaria, ACTA must first be ratified by the European Parliament and then by the Bulgarian Parliament, which is expected to happen no earlier than June.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!

Domestic » Be a reporter: Write and send your article
Tags: Economy and Energy Minister, Traicho Traikov, proposal, ACTA, Internet, piracy, Japan, counterfeit, forgery, download, music, movies, torrent, European parliament

Advertisement
Advertisement
Bulgaria news Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency - www.sofianewsagency.com) is unique with being a real time news provider in English that informs its readers about the latest Bulgarian news. The editorial staff also publishes a daily online newspaper "Sofia Morning News." Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency - www.sofianewsagency.com) and Sofia Morning News publish the latest economic, political and cultural news that take place in Bulgaria. Foreign media analysis on Bulgaria and World News in Brief are also part of the web site and the online newspaper. News Bulgaria