The Anti-counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) that was discussed this week in a secret meeting in Switzerland,  threatens fundamental principles of European telecoms law, in particular the  ‘mere conduit' provision, according to Europe's leading telecommunications companies. It's an ‘outside-in' change to EU law by international treaty, they say.

An alliance of European telecoms groups has taken an unusually strong  stand against ACTA. The alliance is  led by the economically powerful ETNO, whose members include Deutsche Telekom, France Telecom and BT, and ETNO is joined by  European associations of ISPs, mobile operators, e-commerce and Internet companies, and cable companies.

In a joint statement, they   say  that ACTA  could jeopardise key provisions in the acquis communitaire  including the important mere conduit principle which underpins the Internet in Europe. They advise  that ACTA contains a series of provisions which contradict the EU acquis, and which would also hinder

Read more: Europe's telcos oppose 'outside - in' ACTA threat

Ofcom's proposal to exclude small ISPs from the Digital Economy Act 3-strikes measures is not quite what it seems. One interpretation is very interesting in the context of  the online service provider ‘policy' provision in ACTA.

More information is now appearing about how the UK's Digital Economy Act 3-strikes provisions will work in practice. Reports from the  discussions with the regulator, Ofcom, on 3-strikes measures suggest that small ISPs will be exempted.  On the surface, this would be a good thing. However, when one examines the detail, there is a caveat -  the exemption will only apply if they do not carry infringing traffic.

This caveat should be carefully assessed.

Ofcom has already determined that it will go after ISPs which carry traffic from alleged infringers. Exactly how it will decide which ISPs are

Read more: UK regulator plans a taste of ACTA for small ISPs

The French audio-visual collecting society, SACD, says the dispute over ACTA transparency is “ a dialogue of the deaf”. The SACD, which lobbied heavily for the copyright enforcement provisions in the Telecoms Package, now seems to be suggesting that there is no point to ACTA (Anti-counterfeiting Trade Agreement). We should ask why they might say this?

The SACD, in a recent posting on its website, came out in support of the beleaguered European Commission (DG Trade), which has been put under pressure by the Parliament and EU citizens to come clean on the secret ACTA negotiations.

The SACD is critical of  academics, Internet activists and the European Parliament, who have apparently all been

Read more: 'What is the point of ACTA?' asks French collecting society