The ACTA Treay and how it will take away your internet and land your ass in jail!!
ACTA is being touted as an Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. It's not. It's a vastly reaching copyright enforcement law that will be far more powerful, malicious, destructive than DMCA. This treaty is being designed in SECRET by members or people, whom we do not know their names because of "national security" as agents of our government and 40 other nations.
As a citizen of this nation YOU DO NOT HAVE ANY RIGHT TO EVEN LOOK AT THE WHAT THE TREATY IS PROPOSING! As a worker of any big company you do, but you have to sign a non-disclousre agreement in compesation of being able to read it.
Why? Because the Government, Bush and Obama, have deemed this as a National Security necessary secret.
Other Nations have sued or been given a look at the all powerful secrety treat that is still in the works. It's been in the works since 2007. But us? Oh no, we are given the National Security excuse and told that is all we need to know.
Now we know. Now we are pissed and now we are scared. Because now we know, through a leaked document, what this treaty is about to propose.
Have any of you EVER downloaded music, video, images, wrote fanfiction? Because now through ACTA if you have and if you have been given a take-down notice by the propose owners of the copyright material that you have SUPPOSEDLY violated, then after three times your ISP will be ordered by the GOVERNMENT to take away your homesteads internet service.
That's right, your internet service of your instead house/apartment, etc.
That means even if you yourself have NEVER downloaded ANYTHING at all and only use your computer as a means to surf the internt to check your e-mail but your kid or husband has then ALL OF YOU lose your internet.
This is also most likely going to be in addition of some fine for violation of copyright law and even possibly JAIL TIME!
Don't believe me? Think I'm just over reacting to things?
Then read what the experts are saying:
* That ISPs have to proactively police copyright on user-contributed material. This means that it will be impossible to run a service like Flickr or YouTube or Blogger, since hiring enough lawyers to ensure that the mountain of material uploaded every second isn't infringing will exceed any hope of profitability.
* That ISPs have to cut off the Internet access of accused copyright infringers or face liability. This means that your entire family could be denied to the internet -- and hence to civic participation, health information, education, communications, and their means of earning a living -- if one member is accused of copyright infringement, without access to a trial or counsel.
* That the whole world must adopt US-style "notice-and-takedown" rules that require ISPs to remove any material that is accused -- again, without evidence or trial -- of infringing copyright. This has proved a disaster in the US and other countries, where it provides an easy means of censoring material, just by accusing it of infringing copyright.
* Mandatory prohibitions on breaking DRM, even if doing so for a lawful purpose (e.g., to make a work available to disabled people; for archival preservation; because you own the copyrighted work that is locked up with DRM)
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/11/03/se
Secret Copyright Treaty Will Ruin the Internet (November 04, 2009 - The Atlantic Wire - Carl Franzen)
Leaked details of a proposed international Internet treaty have tech bloggers throwing fits. Negotiators from the U.S. many other nations are meeting behind closed doors in Seoul this week to hammer out the details of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). The pact is designed to clamp down on the Internet's multifarious illegal file-swapping community by holding service providers accountable for their users' activities.
Bloggers are blasting the treaty, as you'd expect, but are also fulminating against the government's opacity, the companies' cooperation, and big news organizations for failing to sound the alarm:
* Patricio Robles, Econsultancy: "ACTA could be the worst thing for the internet- ever…Not only would ACTA be bad for citizens of the member nations, it would put businesses in those member nations at a significant disadvantage."
* Mike Masnick, Techdirt: "There is simply no reason for ACTA, at all. It is nothing but an attempt by the entertainment industry to put massive restrictions on the internet, place liability on lots of third parties, and do nothing to push themselves to adapt to a changing marketplace with new business models."
* Jolie O'Dell, ReadWriteWeb: "Are international treaties governing Internet content and intellectual property even necessary? Insofar as they fly in the face of normative cultural practices and contradict or tighten existing national laws, we find these suggested measures inflexible and unrealistic."
* Nicholas Deleon, CrunchGear: "Everything’s very hush-hush, of course, and you don’t hear a damn thing about it on TV, no. No, that’s filled with crackpots on the left and right claiming that health care will fix everyone’s problems automatically or destroy the country as soon as it’s signed into law. As if things this complicated could be debated in 30-second segments."
* James Love, Huffington Post: "At this point, Congress needs to stand up and put an end to this appalling spectacle of secret legislation on a global scale. How can politicians claim to be all for transparency, and allow this indefensible violation of the public right to know proceed?…Earth to politicians -- you work for us, not the International Chamber of Commerce. Make this negotiation public!"
* Glyn Moody, Computerworld UK: "The whole ACTA saga is one of the most nauseating demonstrations of the contempt in which the Power-that-Be hold ordinary people and their interests. Sadly, it is not clear to me how to fight it…Any suggestions not involving insurrection?"
ACTA -- A Patriot Act For the Internet (November 04, 2009 - HuffPo - James Love)
Copyright Treaty Is Policy Laundering at Its Finest (November 04, 2009 - Wired.com - David Kravets)
LINKS on what ACTA is:
Lawfont.com: ACTA: here we go again? (Australia)
Lawfont.com: Geist on ACTA (Australia)
Electronic Frontiers Australia (Australia)
InternetNZ alarmed by latest ACTA leaks (New Zealand)
ip-watch.org
WikiLeaks: ACTA search
Wiki Leaks: Talk:Classified US, Japan and EU ACTA trade agreement drafts, 2009
Wiki Leaks: Classified US, Japan and EU ACTA trade agreement drafts, 2009
Petition to Obama - keionline.org
The ACTA Internet Chapter: Putting the Pieces Together
ACTA Negotiations, Day Two: What's On Tap
ACTA Internet Chapter Leak Signals Far-Reaching Copyright Policy
Leaked ACTA Internet Provisions: Three Strikes and a Global DMCA
ISPs Soon Forced to Police Your Internet Behavior?
Secret Anti-Piracy Treaty Turns ISPs into Pirates
EU Breaks Deadlock in Debate Over Right to Internet Access (November 05, 2009 - PC World - Paul Meller, IDG News Service)
That is it. I've had it about these fucking companies influencing laws and governments and getting their fucking way. I've had it.
I'm emailing my congressman. I'm linking to these articles. they have got to know this isn't about piracy anymore this uninforcable and its trying to censor the internet!!
I'm going to write out a long e-mail to my local newspapers.
It is time that we stood up and told these fuckers, no more. Just because I do a little downloading here and there does not mean I am not entitled to my rights as a human being.
this law will make it to where the burden of proof lies on me that I didn't break the law. It is almost impossible to defend against this law. They could say I illegally downloaded music when maybe I just ripped a cd I bought to play music on my computer.
Or about webpages or youtube. They could say that all the film about the Iran Riots and Protests is copywrited and if I uploaded any of it that I'm a pirate.
This, this is fucking insane.
As a citizen of this nation YOU DO NOT HAVE ANY RIGHT TO EVEN LOOK AT THE WHAT THE TREATY IS PROPOSING! As a worker of any big company you do, but you have to sign a non-disclousre agreement in compesation of being able to read it.
Why? Because the Government, Bush and Obama, have deemed this as a National Security necessary secret.
Other Nations have sued or been given a look at the all powerful secrety treat that is still in the works. It's been in the works since 2007. But us? Oh no, we are given the National Security excuse and told that is all we need to know.
Now we know. Now we are pissed and now we are scared. Because now we know, through a leaked document, what this treaty is about to propose.
Have any of you EVER downloaded music, video, images, wrote fanfiction? Because now through ACTA if you have and if you have been given a take-down notice by the propose owners of the copyright material that you have SUPPOSEDLY violated, then after three times your ISP will be ordered by the GOVERNMENT to take away your homesteads internet service.
That's right, your internet service of your instead house/apartment, etc.
That means even if you yourself have NEVER downloaded ANYTHING at all and only use your computer as a means to surf the internt to check your e-mail but your kid or husband has then ALL OF YOU lose your internet.
This is also most likely going to be in addition of some fine for violation of copyright law and even possibly JAIL TIME!
Don't believe me? Think I'm just over reacting to things?
Then read what the experts are saying:
* That ISPs have to proactively police copyright on user-contributed material. This means that it will be impossible to run a service like Flickr or YouTube or Blogger, since hiring enough lawyers to ensure that the mountain of material uploaded every second isn't infringing will exceed any hope of profitability.
* That ISPs have to cut off the Internet access of accused copyright infringers or face liability. This means that your entire family could be denied to the internet -- and hence to civic participation, health information, education, communications, and their means of earning a living -- if one member is accused of copyright infringement, without access to a trial or counsel.
* That the whole world must adopt US-style "notice-and-takedown" rules that require ISPs to remove any material that is accused -- again, without evidence or trial -- of infringing copyright. This has proved a disaster in the US and other countries, where it provides an easy means of censoring material, just by accusing it of infringing copyright.
* Mandatory prohibitions on breaking DRM, even if doing so for a lawful purpose (e.g., to make a work available to disabled people; for archival preservation; because you own the copyrighted work that is locked up with DRM)
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/11/03/se
Secret Copyright Treaty Will Ruin the Internet (November 04, 2009 - The Atlantic Wire - Carl Franzen)
Leaked details of a proposed international Internet treaty have tech bloggers throwing fits. Negotiators from the U.S. many other nations are meeting behind closed doors in Seoul this week to hammer out the details of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). The pact is designed to clamp down on the Internet's multifarious illegal file-swapping community by holding service providers accountable for their users' activities.
Bloggers are blasting the treaty, as you'd expect, but are also fulminating against the government's opacity, the companies' cooperation, and big news organizations for failing to sound the alarm:
* Patricio Robles, Econsultancy: "ACTA could be the worst thing for the internet- ever…Not only would ACTA be bad for citizens of the member nations, it would put businesses in those member nations at a significant disadvantage."
* Mike Masnick, Techdirt: "There is simply no reason for ACTA, at all. It is nothing but an attempt by the entertainment industry to put massive restrictions on the internet, place liability on lots of third parties, and do nothing to push themselves to adapt to a changing marketplace with new business models."
* Jolie O'Dell, ReadWriteWeb: "Are international treaties governing Internet content and intellectual property even necessary? Insofar as they fly in the face of normative cultural practices and contradict or tighten existing national laws, we find these suggested measures inflexible and unrealistic."
* Nicholas Deleon, CrunchGear: "Everything’s very hush-hush, of course, and you don’t hear a damn thing about it on TV, no. No, that’s filled with crackpots on the left and right claiming that health care will fix everyone’s problems automatically or destroy the country as soon as it’s signed into law. As if things this complicated could be debated in 30-second segments."
* James Love, Huffington Post: "At this point, Congress needs to stand up and put an end to this appalling spectacle of secret legislation on a global scale. How can politicians claim to be all for transparency, and allow this indefensible violation of the public right to know proceed?…Earth to politicians -- you work for us, not the International Chamber of Commerce. Make this negotiation public!"
* Glyn Moody, Computerworld UK: "The whole ACTA saga is one of the most nauseating demonstrations of the contempt in which the Power-that-Be hold ordinary people and their interests. Sadly, it is not clear to me how to fight it…Any suggestions not involving insurrection?"
ACTA -- A Patriot Act For the Internet (November 04, 2009 - HuffPo - James Love)
This week 40 or so countries are meeting in South Korea to consider text for a new international agreement on the enforcement of intellectual property rights. It is called the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). The term "counterfeiting" is designed to demonize the agreement critics as friends of organized crime, much like the name of the Patriot Act seemed better than the "Elimination of Civil Liberties Act." It is really an agreement that addresses a wide range of intellectual property enforcement issues -- involving patents, copyrights, trademarks and other IPR. (Details here)
If you are a lowly member of the public, the text is secret. The names of persons who attend the meetings are secret. The titles of the documents are secret. If you represent a big firm or law firm -- pretty much any big firm it seems, the U.S. government will show you documents after you sign a non-disclosure agreement - curbing your right to speak out on the contents of the documents you see.
Some details of the negotiation have leaked out, most recently from a memo by Euopean Union describing the Obama Administration proposal for a new global system of Internet controls and liabilities. Michael Geist, Gwen Hienz of EFF, and a few journalists -- most living outside of the U.S., have written about ACTA.
The entire U.S. tech sector has been publicly silent, as the Obama administration has co-oped them into trading silence for access to the secret documents.
At this point, Congress needs to stand up and put an end to this appalling spectacle of secret legislation on a global scale. How can politicians claim to be all for transparency, and allow this indefensible violation of the public right to know proceed?
A large number of organizations and people have written President Obama asking that he end the secrecy of the negotiation. It is doubtful this will happen unless newspapers write about the issue (aren't they big advocates of the right to know?), members of Congress weigh in, or if the critics of the secret negotiation can mobilize public opinion.
There is a lot at stake. Civil rights, privacy, rules for injunctions and damages against businesses and individuals, chilling of speech, the first sale doctrine, the global movement of medicines and other commodities, etc, will all be impacted by this ridiculously secret negotiation.
Earth to politicians -- you work for us, not the International Chamber of Commerce. Make this negotiation public!
Copyright Treaty Is Policy Laundering at Its Finest (November 04, 2009 - Wired.com - David Kravets)
The language in the Sept. 30 memo shows the United States wants ISPs around the world to punish suspected, repeat downloaders with a system of “graduated response” — code for a three-strikes policy that results in the customer eventually being disconnected from the internet with the ISP alone deciding what constitutes infringement and fair use.
While the proposal specifically says that three strikes wouldn’t be mandated, it might as well be. That’s because companies that refused to implement the policy would be ejected from the “safe harbor” that otherwise protects them from copyright infringement lawsuits over the actions of their customers.
Currently, the DMCA grants immunity or a “safe harbor” to internet companies that promptly remove allegedly infringing content at the request of the copyright holder. Only if they fail to do so can they be held liable in court, and face up to $150,000 in damages per infringement.
Under the U.S. proposal described in the memo, removing infringing content would no longer be enough to qualify for safe harbor. Companies would have to actively work to combat the flow of unauthorized copyrighted material through their pipes, and specifically implement the “graduated response” program.
Here is the key paragraph:“On the limitations from 3rd party liability: to benefit from safe-harbours, ISPs need to put in place policies to deter unauthorized storage and transmission of IP infringing content (ex: clauses in customers’ contracts allowing, inter alia, a graduated response). From what we understood, the US will not propose that authorities need to create such systems. Instead, they require some self-regulation by ISPs.”
Threat Level obtained the document on condition it not be posted, and we haven’t independently verified its authenticity, or that it accurately reflects the positions of the U.S. trade representatives. The document indicates the U.S. refused to turn over anything in writing itself, and briefed EU representatives on the plan orally in the hope of avoiding leaks.
The Obama administration has been obsessively secretive about the draft ACTA treaty — even, at one point, claiming national security could be jeopardized if the proposed treaty’s working documents were disclosed to the public. Now, it seems, we know what the administration is hiding.
Obama hasn’t asked Congress to implement a three-strike policy, which could anger consumers and watchdog groups. But if the administration gets three strikes written into ACTA, and the United States signs and ratifies the treaty, Congress would be obliged to change the DMCA to comply with it, while the administration throws its hands in the air and says, “It wasn’t our idea! It’s that damn treaty!”
That practice is common enough to have a name: policy laundering.
~
The three-strike language would be gold to companies like MediaSentry, which browse peer-to-peer networks for infringing content, and identify a user’s IP address and ISP. MediaSentry’s work was crucial in the RIAA’s 6-year-long litigation campaign that amounted to about 30,000 copyright lawsuits against individual file sharers using Kazaa, Limewire and other services.
LINKS on what ACTA is:
Lawfont.com: ACTA: here we go again? (Australia)
Lawfont.com: Geist on ACTA (Australia)
Electronic Frontiers Australia (Australia)
InternetNZ alarmed by latest ACTA leaks (New Zealand)
ip-watch.org
WikiLeaks: ACTA search
Wiki Leaks: Talk:Classified US, Japan and EU ACTA trade agreement drafts, 2009
Wiki Leaks: Classified US, Japan and EU ACTA trade agreement drafts, 2009
Petition to Obama - keionline.org
The ACTA Internet Chapter: Putting the Pieces Together
ACTA Negotiations, Day Two: What's On Tap
ACTA Internet Chapter Leak Signals Far-Reaching Copyright Policy
Leaked ACTA Internet Provisions: Three Strikes and a Global DMCA
ISPs Soon Forced to Police Your Internet Behavior?
Secret Anti-Piracy Treaty Turns ISPs into Pirates
EU Breaks Deadlock in Debate Over Right to Internet Access (November 05, 2009 - PC World - Paul Meller, IDG News Service)
That is it. I've had it about these fucking companies influencing laws and governments and getting their fucking way. I've had it.
I'm emailing my congressman. I'm linking to these articles. they have got to know this isn't about piracy anymore this uninforcable and its trying to censor the internet!!
I'm going to write out a long e-mail to my local newspapers.
It is time that we stood up and told these fuckers, no more. Just because I do a little downloading here and there does not mean I am not entitled to my rights as a human being.
this law will make it to where the burden of proof lies on me that I didn't break the law. It is almost impossible to defend against this law. They could say I illegally downloaded music when maybe I just ripped a cd I bought to play music on my computer.
Or about webpages or youtube. They could say that all the film about the Iran Riots and Protests is copywrited and if I uploaded any of it that I'm a pirate.
This, this is fucking insane.
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