SECRECY:
What's particularly disturbing about this is the degree to which the administration has tried to keep negotiations secret. They did invite 42 people to review and comment on the document, subject to very strict nondisclosure agreements so they couldn't talk about what they had seen. Of those 42 people, 40 of them represent large corporate entities and 2 represent public interest groups.
ACCOUNTABILITY:
In addition to having no transparency, we'll also have no accountability because ACTA is designed as an executive agreement instead of a treaty, which means that it doesn't require congressional approval.
MOTIVATION:
Based on what we've been able to piece together, the internet provisions have nothing to do with addressing counterfeit products, but are instead a reflection of entertainment and content industry demands for stricter copyright laws that would apply to the internet on a global scale. This is blatant Corporatism that could cost us our internet and our privacy.
POTENTIAL OUTCOMES:
One of the provisions would hold internet service providers liable for any copyrighted material that is transmitted or stored on their network. There are additional provisions that exempt ISPs from this liability IF they comply with rules that require them to take action based on the mere allegation of wrongdoing - without the need for evidence or a trial. So, If I post a copyrighted image on my site, even if it falls under fair use and I'm not doing anything illegal, the copyright holder of the image could force my ISP to take down the content - without having to prove it violates the copyright.
The rules appear to reference Three Strikes and Graduated Response policies, both of which require action based on the mere allegation of wrongdoing, without the need for evidence or a trial. I should also point out that Three Strikes has been the top priority of the entertainment industry for years, so it's clear their lobbyists have been effective in influencing this agreement.
All of this is based on leaked information since nothing's been made available to the public, we've been left to cobble together bits and pieces, along with the draft of of the agreement, and the picture that's emerging has some pretty alarming implications. We don't know how much of this is going to be included in the final version, or what changes will be made, but the goal seems pretty clear - and it seems solely designed for the benefit of the entertainment industry.
LEARN MORE & TAKE ACTION:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/11/reining-in-acta
http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/3786/125/
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/features/view/feature/Secret-Copyright-Tr...
The reason for is money. I
The reason for is money. I believe it is clear as a day. Well, they just defend the rights of people who have money. Last year I read a very interesting book about copyright. I found it at the pdf search engine http://pdf.rapid4me.com . It is a science fiction. Well, the president was going to sign a similar decree but at the end it was proven that it will cause a lot of damage. If you want people in the country to have a low level of education then you should restrict the access ro information. It is strange and appalling if to consider what is their aim with such initiatives.
As a Canadian following this
As a Canadian following this issue it was extremely interesting to learn that this agreement would not require congressional ratification.
I'm a non-programmer who has been attempting to translate deep packet inspection to ordinary Canadians over the last few months in my public service blog Stop Usage Based Billing, and I was very impressed at your simple explanation of why DPI is dangerous.
Our DSL ISP Bell Canada has been using DPI to identify BitTorrent activity so they can throttle it. However, they are also throttling encrypted internet traffic on the assumption that it may be BitTorrent traffic.
Another really bad thing that I am afraid will come out of this is that all the amazing uses of BitTorrent will be stopped dead out of fear.
http://stopusagebasedbilling.wordpress.com/2009/11/24/d-bittorrent/
Just because it doesn't require congressional approval doesn't mean that you can't complain to your elected representatives. The reason they try to keep laws like this dark is because it's easier to curtail freedom in the dark. Complain loud and spread the word.
Fabulous Job Shelly! And you
Fabulous Job Shelly! And you claim your not good on camera. Thanks for keeping us alert to the blatant attacks on our freedoms
Damn, that's some scary
Damn, that's some scary shit.
Great job of bringing this to our attention. What can we do about it? If the president doesn't need congressional approval on this one, I'm guessing there's little point in contacting our congresspeople. So what other avenues of action exist?
Your site rocks.
you know there all a bunch of
you know there all a bunch of babbling baffoons just contemplating how they may exploit and take away your freedoms in the guise of ' peacefulness, commerce, prosperity, sustainability, security ' etc etc ad infinitem .. BS is what it comes down to, and that doesnt stand for Bachelors of Science ! ;)
people who create content and have a genuine concern : .. maybe find another line of work if your sole income is based on people liking your stuff and buying 'official' copies of it .. perhaps multiple income streams is a better model for your paying the bills ? or is this a corporate greed thing .. the monopolization of the wires and the total controlling by big brother new world order is more like it ...
BTW nice legs Shelly .... :)
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