International trade agreements and intellectual property

ACTA showed us how intellectual property and copyright policy may become embroiled in trade policy. Since the demise of ACTA in the European Union, following the European Parliament's rejection of it, there have been attempts to slide it in to other trade agreements. Notably, the US in its update of the NAFTA agreement known as USMCA, has an updated chapter on IPR enforcement. It was under discussion for the proposed US-UK agreement, but this has been put on hold under the Biden Administration. I have likewise put any posts on this deal on hold.

If you like the articles in this section and you are interested in ACTA and copyright enforcement policy, you may like my books A Copyright Masquerade: How Corporate Lobbying Threatens Online Freedoms and The Copyright Enforcement Enigma - Internet Politics and the ‘Telecoms Package’

Confidentially TTIP – but is it private?

Monica Horten

Published on 07 March 2014

Part 2 of a series of 3 postings on the leaked EU TTIP discussion document

Just as the European Parliament is about to vote on new data protection rules, TTIP touches on another aspect of privacy.

Has a discussion on communications traffic data slipped into the EU-US trade talks (TTIP)? It seems as though it might have done. Iptegrity previously reported on the re-work of telecoms law that is signalled by a series of provisions in a European Commission document that is to form the basis of discussion at the TTIP talks. Within that context, the issue has slipped in via a back door.

Lex AT&T? EU Commisson’s TTIP proposal to revise telecoms law

Monica Horten

Published on 04 March 2014

Part 1 of a series of 3 postings on the leaked EU TTIP discussion document

The European Union could give away unlimited rights to foreign telecoms companies to buy up rivals in Europe as part of the proposed new transatlantic trade deal (TTIP). This is one of an astonishing set of proposals revealed in a Commission document leaked by the German newspaper Die Zeit last week. The leaked document further indicates a possible re-write of the EU telecoms framework, outlining a ‘mini’ version of the EU Telecoms Package for discussion.

A TTIP Christmas wish

Monica Horten

Published on 24 December 2013

Dear Santa, please bring us a new narrative …. Thanks, TTIP negotiators

*** Iptegrity wishes all readers a very happy Christmas!***

The European authorities want industry to come up with a counter-narrative to civil society in what would appear to be fear of an ACTA protest Mk2. This was revealed in a cosy Brussels soirée held at the American Chamber of Commerce to discuss the intellectual property content of the EU-US trade agreement known as TTIP. It has also been revealed that industry has given to the negotiators a veritable Christmas list of copyright enforcement measures they would like to see in TTIP.

Iptegrity in brief

Iptegrity.com is the website of Dr Monica Horten. I’ve been analysing analysing digital policy since 2008. Way back then, I identified how issues around rights can influence Internet policy, and that has been a thread throughout all of my research. I hold a PhD in EU Communications Policy from the University of Westminster (2010), and a Post-graduate diploma in marketing. I’ve served as an independent expert on the Council of Europe Committee on Internet Freedoms, and was involved in a capacity building project in Moldova, Georgia, and Ukraine. I am currently (from June 2022) Policy Manager - Freedom of Expression, with the Open Rights Group. For more, see About Iptegrity