By Andrew Reid and Trish Hepworth

Effective responses to online copyright infringement are a hot topic, with countries around the world working out the best way to curb piracy without placing undue burdens on consumers and internet intermediaries. However our flexibility to consider new or novel approaches to the issue is being curtailed as we sign up to prescriptive Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) which detail the response deemed 'appropriate' at the time.