On 29 May 2012, a majority of the Dutch parliament voted for three resolutions in the fight against ACTA. In short, the parliament requested the Dutch government to make the final decision to not sign or ratify ACTA (resolutions 1 and 2 below) and not to sign any new treaties similar to ACTA and to adapt its copyright policy to the internet (resolution 3 below). We have translated the Dutch resolutions below.

This is obviously a very important development in the movement against ACTA, as ACTA needs to be ratified by the European and the national parliaments to enter into full effect. It also sends a strong message to the European Parliament which will in the coming months vote on ACTA.

1. Resolution of the Members Bemmel and Elissen (21 501-30, No. 286), 29 May 2012 (original Dutch text in PDF)

The House of Representatives, – observes that a number of countries have already announced that they will definitely not sign the ACTA-treaty,

– observes that rapporteur Martin has now acknowledged that the risks associated with this treaty outweigh the benefits,

– observes that this treaty interferes with the liberties of the individual internet user,

– observes that the Netherlands to date is one of the countries that has not yet signed the treaty,

– requests the Dutch government to make the final decision that it will not sign ACTA. Van Bemmel (PVV – Party for Freedom)

Elissen (PVV – Party for Freedom)

2. Resolution of the Members Verhoeven and Schaart (21 501-30, No. 287), 29 May 2012 (original Dutch text in PDF)

The House of Representatives, – observes that the government intends to present the ACTA-treaty to the House of Representatives for ratification,

– observes that the present text of the ACTA-treaty leaves too much room for extensive interpretation with negative consequences for the privacy and internet freedom of citizens and innovation for enterprises,

– requests the government to make the final decision that it will not ratify the ACTA-treaty in the Netherlands. Verhoeven (D66 – Democrats 66)

Schaart (VVD – People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy)

3. Resolution of Member Verhoeven (21 501-30, No. 288), 29 May 2012 (original Dutch text in PDF)

The House of Representatives, – observes that treaties like ACTA lead to a further formalization of copyrights rules on the international level,

– observes that such treaties are very difficult to modify and as a result can be an extra impediment for future reforms of copyright law,

– observes that strict enforcement of intellectual property on the internet is no solution for the ongoing difficulties regarding copyright law and interferes with internet freedom,

– requests the government to vote against new similar treaties,

– requests the government to focus the copyright policy on economic growth opportunities offered by the internet through, amongst others things, new revenue models for legal content. Verhoeven (D66 – Democrats 66)

Here is the initial blogpost in Dutch.