The fiasco continues

[ladyofleithian]

Originally posted by electricdruid at The fiasco continues

ACTA in a Nutshell –

What is ACTA?  ACTA is the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. A new intellectual property enforcement treaty being negotiated by the United States, the European Community, Switzerland, and Japan, with Australia, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Mexico, Jordan, Morocco, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, and Canada recently announcing that they will join in as well.

Why should you care about ACTA? Initial reports indicate that the treaty will have a very broad scope and will involve new tools targeting “Internet distribution and information technology.”

What is the goal of ACTA? Reportedly the goal is to create new legal standards of intellectual property enforcement, as well as increased international cooperation, an example of which would be an increase in information sharing between signatory countries’ law enforcement agencies.

Essential ACTA Resources - 

• Read more about ACTA here: ACTA Fact Sheet
• Read the authentic version of the ACTA text as of 15 April 2011, as finalized by participating countries here: ACTA Finalized Text
• Follow the history of the treaty’s formation here: ACTA history
• Read letters from U.S. Senator Ron Wyden wherein he challenges the constitutionality of ACTA: Letter 1 | Letter 2 | Read the Administration’s Response to Wyden’s First Letter here: Response
• Watch a short informative video on ACTA: ACTA Video
• Watch a lulzy video on ACTA: Lulzy Video

Say NO to ACTA. It is essential to spread awareness and get the word out on ACTA.

Via Tumblr

And on another note:




Apparently, I actually heard about this new legislation (proposed, as far as I can tell) while I was at school -- the Anti Child Pornography Act. It's sort of a case (sort of like SOPA and the other bills, come to think of it) of "good intentions, fail execution". It wants to root out people who look at kiddie porn -- which I'll admit I'm for, for obvious reasons. The problem is how they go about it -- apparently, the government, as far as I can tell, keeps logs of your personal information, including things such as where you live, your name, etc. etc. as well as your browsing history from the moment you log on to the moment you log off -- for eighteen months. While the bill's well-intentioned, it runs the risk of falling into the whole illegal search and seizure category. I don't condemn them for wanting to act against pedophiles -- or, for that matter, online pirates. But I don't think we all need to suffer for it.

Also, even putting that aside, it provides exceptions to operators of public Wi-Fi networks and wireless providers, plus, the fact that it barely strikes at the root of the problem. Perhaps I'm just being pessimistic, perhaps I'm not getting the whole story, but I severely doubt this is the right way to "solve" the matter of people looking at child porn.

For more information, look here: http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2011/07/12/anti-child-porn-act-runs-into-trouble-over-privacy/. And I severely hope that nobody takes this the wrong way.

Comments

[theladyoffaerie.livejournal.com]

I often feel that they (governments) attack problems from the wrong end/angle. You hardly ever hear about them going after the people taking the photos for the child pornography...just the people sharing the photos. Constantly going after the people merely sharing the photos (which I still think is horrid don't get me wrong) - isn't actually going to tackle the core of the problem.

I feel the same way with online piracy - perhaps companies should be looking at WHY people download. I know the main reason in NZ is because we gets things so much later than everywhere else (like tv shows...we get them either half way through the current season...or years later...its really annoying, and the new Underworld movie isn't being released here TILL MARCH), and we don't have access to things like Netflix or the TV Shows part of the iTunes store (I know I'd probably use both if not at least one of them...maybe not iTunes..since they'd probably make me use QuickTime for it...).

Its like they wait for a problem, then try to bandaid it...without actually looking at the cause of teh problem -sigh-

[ladyhadhafang.livejournal.com]

This. Seriously.

[gwinna]

I like to watch Asian dramas, which in many cases are difficult to acquire legitimately, so I've been feeling pretty depressed about this whole business the past few days as more and more download sites are shutting down/blocking access/deleting files. What I want to know is, if all these countries can band together to make secret treaties which threaten people's rights in the name of stopping piracy, why can't they get together to make some kind of international online store where movies, music and tv shows from every country are available to everyone in the world as soon as they're available in the country of origin? Now that would do wonders to reduce piracy, and I'm sure make them a lot more money in the process, but Heaven forbid the entertainment industry should have to change with the times.

[forcewatcher.livejournal.com]

Wow... science fiction becomes tinfoil hat territory becomes mainstream news, and STILL the masses fail to believe.

So the question here is: what can we actually DO about it? Spreading the word on a global scale isn't enough. Without a plan, that merely causes fear and panic, which will make it easier on the bad guys.

[ladyhadhafang.livejournal.com]

That's a good question. Protests would work. Writing letters would work. Marching would work. *is thoughtful*

[forcewatcher.livejournal.com]

If this were a single country we were talking about, and if the Occupy Wall Street fiasco had actually proved anything other than political subterfuge, I might agree with you. But as you point out, this is now global. It's a whole new ball game.