An Intellectual Property (IP) And Internet Law Resource.

The Federal Government is strictly going to toughen rules which could make the information on Canadian ipods, laptop computers or other personal electronic devices illegal while traveling with such devices. A strict regulations on Internet service providers may also be imposed on those companies that hand over customer information without a court order.

The new plan which is called the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) would be adhered strictly by Canada to enable it to join other countries including the United States and members of the European Union in order to form an International coalition against copyright infringement.. The agreement is being chalked out to match the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The agreement proposes any content that may have been copied from a DVD or Digital video record would be open for scrutiny by officials, even if the content was copied legally. Since Federal trade agreements do not require parliamentary approval, anyone found with infringing content in their possession would be open to a fine.

The trade agreement includes “civil enforcement” measures which give security personnel the authority to order ex parte searches as well as other preliminary measures. Besides this, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) also proposes imposing new sanctions on Internet service providers to hand over personal information pertaining to “claimed infringement” or “alleged infringers” (users who may be transmitting or sharing copyrighted content over the Internet).

The new agreement which is expected to be tabled at July’s meeting of G8 nations in Tokyo (Japan) will also curtail the lengthy delays on the part of court which requires the right holders to present evidence to prove and identify the infringer who is sharing copyrighted material over the Internet.