Bulgaria Says It Won't Ratify ACTA Unconditionally
Domestic | February 2, 2012, Thursday // 16:18| views
Bulgaria will express its reservations upon ratifying ACTA and it will be explicitly written down that the country will not amend its legislation as far as Internet is concerned, GERB MPValentin Nikolov said. File photo by BGNES
Bulgaria will ratify the ACTA trade agreement, but the country will keep its current legislation in the field of Internet services, it emerged on Thursday.
On Thursday, Bulgaria's Prime Minister Boyko Borisov met with representatives of the local IT sector, Internet Service Providers and MPs with his ruling centrist-right GERB to discuss the controversial agreement.
Bulgaria will express its reservations upon ratifying ACTA and it will be explicitly written down that the country will not amend its legislation as far as Internet is concerned, key GERB lawmaker Valentin Nikolov said after the meeting..
Bulgarian Economy and Energy Minister Traicho Traikov reiterated on Wednesday that ACTA was not a final agreement and is in the process of ratification where Bulgaria can hold debates and express reservations about it.
The agreement has already stirred international outcry, since it is expected to enable the entertainment industry to exert pressure on every Internet actor under threat of criminal sanctions.
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.
Bulgarian Internet users and ISPs alike have voiced their concern over the potential ratification of ACTA by the Bulgarian government, with a prostest being scheduled in Sofia on February 11.
On Thursday, the Bulgarian Association of Software Companies (BASSCOM) came up with a statement opposing "the adoption of АСТА (The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement) amid a total lack of transparency and no public dialogue on the document's impact on the economy and society".
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