Roy Schestowitz wrote:
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> Leak of Classified ACTA Dox Reveals Dissent
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
> | If true, these are to the credit of the EU delegation, which is clearly
> | trying to limit at least some of the most damaging aspects of ACTA.
> `----
>
> http://opendotdotdot.blogspot.com/2009/02
leak-of-classified-acta-dox-reveals.html
If democracy isn't working inside ACTA, then more leaks are needed.
Furthermore, politicians should insist under FoI regulations
that all be disclosed after they receive information.
No politician should deal with ACTA members until they promise
to open up the entire proceedings.
Democacy and its institutions are not for greedy shadowy
figures to buy into when they feel like it.
> Recent:
>
> Is the EU Acting Duplicitously Over ACTA?
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
> | It is clear that the scope of this treaty is far reaching: indeed, there
> | is a clear attempt to use it to slip in very powerful clauses that would
> | over-ride national and international legislation. This is simply
> | unacceptable. Moreover, if it turns out that the EU is *not* fighting
> | the above moves, it is nothing short of scandalous that it should be
> | acting in such a duplicitous fashion over ACTA ? in which case, those
> | responsible for following this course should be called on to resign.
> `----
>
> http://opendotdotdot.blogspot.com/2009/02
is-eu-acting-duplicitously-over-acta.html
>
>
> Draft copyright code disputed by both sides
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
> | A draft ISP Copyright Code of Practice, aimed at clarifying sanctions
> | against illicit downloaders of copyright works, has been released for
> | public comment ? and internet industry sources are already critical of
> | the effort.
> |
> | The 29-page document (with a further four pages of suggested alternative
> | wording on procedures for disputing an accusation) was drawn up by the
> | Telecommunications Carriers Forum in consultation with internet service
> | providers and organisations representing copyright owners.
> `----
>
> http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/news/3AEAB8C121BA14C3CC25755300750218
>
>
> ACTA Proposal Would Criminalize Substantial Non-Commercial Infringement
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
> | With various governments still insisting that ACTA negotiations must be
> | done in near total secrecy, various folks are working hard to at least
> | shine some sunlight on the details. Michael Geist discusses what he's
> | been able to piece through, and it's not pretty. The only good news is
> | that everything is still in the early stages, and there's some
> | disagreement among the participating trade reps concerning how certain
> | things should work. However, that's about the only good news.
> `----
>
> http://techdirt.com/articles/20090203/1526293627.shtml
>
>
> 88% of YouTube is New and Original Content, Professor Says
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
> | If you can watch it without dropping your litigation against YouTube,
> | Viacom, you need to see a doctor right away. Seriously. I hope YouTube
> | lawyers play it for the judge if you insist on going to trial.
> |
> | Watch the part about the song that ended up being professionally
> | released. It made the company some money. Cluestick: there is more than
> | one business model, for those who can get with the new. Sooner or later,
> | your shareholders will be furious with you if you don't course-correct
> | and modernize. Yes. They will. Eventually, your shareholders will be
> | YouTubers, you know. And you'll be what media used to be.
> `----
>
> http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20080803232159314
>
>
> Canada's Private ACTA Talking Points
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
> | While the Canadian government has dutifully followed the U.S. line on
> | ACTA with bland releases following each of the four 2008 negotiation
> | sessions, newly obtained documents under the Access to Information Act
> | reveal that the Canadian delegation may be speaking out on some of the
> | public concerns that have been raised around transparency and the
> | exclusion of many countries from the negotiation process [download
> | here]. The documents include several noteworthy revelations:
> |
> | First, the documents confirm that the leaked ACTA document from last
> | year was indeed the ACTA Discussion Paper distributed among governments.
> | At the time, there was some question as to whether this was an industry
> | wish-list or a government document. The Canadian documents confirm that
> | this was a government document, a suggested intervention notes that "we
> | would like to raise the issue of communications. As you all know by
> | now, the ACTA Discussion Paper has been leaked . . . "
> `----
>
> http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/3653/125/
>
>
> Does ACTA Secrecy Violate European Law?
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
> | One of the most problematic aspects of the negotiations around ACTA, the
> | Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, is how the entire process has been
> | shrouded in secrecy. Those involved in the process try to brush off this
> | complaint by saying something along the lines of "but we always
> | negotiate treaties this way!" but that's hardly a good reason to do so
> | -- especially when the impact of ACTA could be wide ranging.
> `----
>
> http://techdirt.com/articles/20090114/1056313412.shtml
>
>
> ACTA Negotiators Hold Closed Door Meeting To Say They Need To Be More
> Transparent
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
> | One of our biggest complaints with ACTA, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade
> | Agreement that was initially written by the entertainment industry, and
> | is being used to effectively sneak through new copyright law
> | requirements around the world (every time you hear an industry supporter
> | claim that copyright laws must be changed to live up to "international
> | obligations" you know they're leaving out the part where it was the same
> | industry that wrote those international treaties), is that the whole
> | thing is being negotiated in secret.
> `----
>
> http://techdirt.com/articles/20081221/1552013181.shtml
>
>
> EU Council refuses to release secret ACTA documents
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
> | Heaven forbid that these consumers turn out to be also citizens that
> | want to have a say in what their buying power is being exchanged for.
> | After all, they might think that criminalising themselves in case they
> | put a home movie of their children dancing to Britney Spears' latest
> | song on Youtube might not be such a good idea. Paying higher
> | subscription fees for Internet access so that Internet Service Providers
> | can install filtering devices resulting in lower speeds and censored web
> | access may not sound very attractive either. And neither does giving
> | patent trolls free reign, with compliments of the various governments.
> `----
>
> http://press.ffii.org/Press_releases
EU_Council_refuses_to_release_secret_ACTA_documents
>
>
> Anti-piracy agreement re-discusses copyright infringement liability
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
> | The Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII) has strongly
> | criticised the secret negotiations concerning the Anti-Counterfeiting
> | Trade Agreement (ACTA) and the package of measures for counteracting
> | infringements of the rights to intangible goods considered by the EU
> | Commission. The foundation considers it particularly questionable that
> | Brussels intends to renegotiate the current liability regulations and
> | exemptions for internet providers in the E-Commerce Directive.
> `----
>
> http://www.heise.de/english/newsticker/news/118367
>
>
> ACTA of Hypocrisy
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
> | Basically, it's a case of the lady protesting too much: earnestly
> | assuring us that it doesn't intend to bring in a shopping list of legal
> | nasties - criminalisation of infringement, summary injunctions for those
> | suspected of infringing, "three strikes and you're out", etc. - but
> | convincing no one.
> |
> | [...]
> |
> | And yet, strangely, getting rid of monopolies is something that the
> | people working so feverishly on ACTA simply cannot contemplate - despite
> | all the economic evidence that it is the solution to so many of the the
> | problems they claim to be addressing.
> |
> | Counterfeiting bad, monopolies good.
> `----
>
> http://opendotdotdot.blogspot.com/2008/11/acta-of-hypocrisy.html
>
>
> Government Keeps ACTA Consultation Results Under Wraps
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
> | Earlier this year, many Canadians were taken aback by reports of a
> | secret trade agreement that conjured up images of iPod-searching border
> | guards and tough new penalties for every day activities. The
> | Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, currently being negotiated by
> | Canada, the United States, Japan, the European Union, and a handful
> | other countries, generated sufficient public concern such that
> | then-Industry Minister Jim Prentice specifically denied any links
> | between the treaty and proposed new legislation.
> |
> | While the ACTA debate has largely disappeared from the public radar
> | screen, the negotiations continue. Over the summer, I reported about
> | attempts to establish a private consultation committee composed of
> | industry groups that excluded public interest organizations. The status
> | of the consultation committee remains unknown, but my latest technology
> | law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) reports on newly
> | obtained documents [13 MB] under the Access to Information Act that
> | provide additional insights into the secretive nature of the
> | negotiations as well as the results of a limited public consultation
> | conducted by the Department of Foreign Affairs in the spring...
> `----
>
> http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/3489/135/
>
>
> ACTA is a fuel for patent trolls?
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
> | ACTA, a multi-lateral treaty currently being discussed secretly behind
> | closed doors, might export the dangerous IPRED1 directive to the United
> | States, which allow patent trolls in Europe to preventively freeze bank
> | accounts of a company in case of "suspicion of infringement".
> `----
>
> http://stopsoftwarepatents.org/forum/t-101929
acta-is-a-fuel-for-patent-trolls
>
>
> ACTA = ISP liabilities, Criminal sanctions for file sharing, and cheap
> guns for Patent Trolls
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
> | According to a leaked document authored by the European Commission DG
> | Trade, the secret ACTA treaty will reopen the debate on the liabilities
> | of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) over content, as well as trying to
> | achieve criminal sanctions in the EU under the French Presidency
> | Sarkozy. France has already criminal sanctions for file sharers, and a
> | law project on file sharing and "graduated response" has been recently
> | passed the Senate. ACTA might also export the dangerous IPRED1 directive
> | to the United States, which allow patent trolls in Europe to
> | preventively freeze bank accounts of a company in case of "suspicion of
> | infringement".
> `----
>
> http://www.digitalmajority.org/forum/t-101919
acta-isp-liabilities-criminal-sanctions-for-file-sharing-and-cheap-guns-for-patent-trolls
>
>
> FFII opposes stealth legislation, demands ACTA documents
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
> | The Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII) has
> | requested 12 secret Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) documents
> | from the EU Council. Behind closed doors, the EU, US, Japan and other
> | countries are negotiating ACTA. The negotiating parties plan on making
> | the ACTA text public only after the parties have agreed to it.
> `----
>
> http://press.ffii.org/Press_releases/FFII_opposes_stealth_legislation
2C_demands_ACTA_documents
>
>
> ACTA and other monsters discussed behind Council closed doors
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
> | The Council is discussing measures to curb infringements of progress
> | bars and others counterfeited shoes. ACTA and other monsters are
> | discussed behind Council closed doors.
> `----
>
> http://www.digitalmajority.org/forum/t-94989
acta-and-other-monsters-discussed-behind-council-closed-doors
>
>
> ACTA-ion and ReACTA-ion
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
> | Basically, it is an attempt to bring in yet more punitive measures
> | against alleged infringements of intellectual monopolies, with less
> | judicial oversight and no pesky European privacy protection.
> |
> | But the trouble with these kinds of crude instruments, cooked up in
> | haste without much deep consideration of their knock-on effects, is that
> | they can backfire.
> |
> | Here, for example, is a letter to the US Trade Representative from a
> | bunch of big names, including Amazon, eBay and Yahoo. They have noticed
> | a few tiny probs with ACTA:
> |
> | 'We appreciate your objective of protecting the intellectual property of
> | American rightsholders from infringement overseas. However, in light of
> | these European decisions, there is a very real possibility that an
> | agreement that would require signatories to increase penalties for
> | ?counterfeiting? and ?piracy? could be used to challenge American
> | companies engaging in online practices that are entirely legal in the
> | U.S., that bring enormous benefit to U.S. consumers, and that increase
> | U.S. Exports.'
> |
> | Is this rich, or what? Here we have a trade agreement that is
> | essentially trying to export the insanely aggressive US system for
> | dealing with alleged infringements to the rest off the world, but when
> | it works the other way ? with European norms exported to the US ?
> | suddenly, that's a problem.
> `----
>
> http://www.computerworlduk.com/toolbox/open-source/blogs
index.cfm?entryid=1128&blogid=14
>
>
> Research firm emails 20,000 addresses in the clear
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
> | Today's doofus is investor research company Digital Look. It sent a mail
> | yesterday morning which revealed 22,129 email addresses.
> `----
>
> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/08/12/email_blunder_redux/
>
>
> Stop the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
> | I just heard about the proposed ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade
> | Agreement) over at Free Software Daily and from the Free Software
> | Foundation. Right now the governments of the United States, the European
> | Commission, Japan, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea,
> | Canada, and Mexico are secretly negotiating this new treaty which aims
> | to increase the enforcement of intellectual property laws yet again.
> `----
>
> http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/community_posts
stop_anti_counterfeiting_trade_agreement
>
>
> ACTA's Unspeakable Acts
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
> | Since neither the EU nor the UK government has deigned to let us
> | peasants know anything about the current ACTA negotations, I was
> | interested to see New Zealand's government releasing a statement...
> `----
>
> http://opendotdotdot.blogspot.com/2008/08/actas-unspeakable-acts.html
>
>
> Free Software leader slams NZ copyright
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
> | ?New Zealand?s law does not go as far as the DMCA in the US, but it is
> | unjust nonetheless,? he says.
> |
> | ?DRM is nearly always the result of a conspiracy of companies to
> | restrict the technology available to the public. Such conspiracy should
> | be a crime, and the executives responsible for it should be sentenced to
> | prison.?
> |
> | Stallman?s other mission here is to promote the Free Software Movement.
> | The creator of the GPL licence, under which most free software is
> | distributed, is at pains to correct misunderstandings of what the term
> | ?free software? means and to draw a distinction between it and the open
> | source movement.
> `----
>
> http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/news/0064FE274A08BA2CCC25749A00383CB3
>
>
> Act Now on ACTA
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
> | One of the things that has amazed me recently is the power of the letter
> | ? or, more specifically, the power of the letter when sent to an MP or
> | MEP. Naively, I would have expected a deafening silence from these
> | exalted beings in receipt of my ever so 'umble communications, but by
> | and large they are astonishingly quick to respond, often with personal
> | replies. From this I draw an important lesson: that it is always worth
> | writing to your Mps/MEPs about things that matter to you.
> |
> | Against that background, over the next few weeks, I aim to present a few
> | worthy causes to readers of this blog that they might like to take up
> | with representatives. Remember, finding the latter ? and sending stuff
> | to them ? is trivially easy thanks to the wonders of the WriteToThem
> | site, so there's no excuse for not joining in.
> `----
>
> http://www.computerworlduk.com/toolbox/open-source/blogs
index.cfm?entryid=1084&blogid=14
> http://tinyurl.com/5nbhw2
>
>
> Sysadmins slam ACMA web filtering study
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
> | The Guild also expressed concerns about the false positives encountered
> | during the ACMA test. The most accurate filter tested incorrectly
> | blocked three percent of requests, but when scaled up to the traffic
> | volumes of a medium to large ISP this would mean over 3000 requests
> | would be blocked every second.
> `----
>
> http://www.itwire.com/content/view/19763/1054/
>
>
> IETF tackling P2P data traffic in Tokyo even though the same content is
> available on a server in London.
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
> | There are a number of possible solutions: The P4P working group at Yale
> | University has conducted initial testing in the Verizon and Telefonica
> | networks. On the other side of the pond, an EU supported research
> | project is working on a solution called Network-Aware P2P TV Application
> | Over Wise Networks. In spring, Berlin computer science professor Anja
> | Feldmann presented the concept of an "oracle" server, which would
> | deliver a rating list of the closest P2P nodes.
> |
> | [...]
> |
> | Another SIP expert, Henning Schultzrinne of Columbia University, raised
> | the possibility of giving end users more control over data traffic
> | costs. Currently, users face the disheartening possibility of risking a
> | hefty bill for P2P traffic. At his university, it is standard operating
> | procedure to block access to users who have exceeded their 252 gigabyte
> | monthly volume.
> `----
>
> http://www.heise.de/english/newsticker/news/113590/from/rss09
>
>
> Why We Must React to ACTA
>
> ,----[Quote ]
> | The name of the ?Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement? ? ACTA ? is
> | indicative of the overall approach being taken. First, this is a trade
> | agreement, which means that it by-passes many of the more open processes
> | for drawing up international agreements. This has allowed it to be
> | discussed in secret, amongst a cosy club of interested parties and their
> | chums ? notably, those in industries based on exploiting intellectual
> | monopolies.
> |
> | Moreover, this is an invitation-only club, which has led to the
> | exclusion of most developing countries, and hence most of the world in
> | terms of population. It is nothing less than cyber-imperialism by the
> | rich countries that for so long have imposed their agendas on the rest
> | of the globe, but which finally see their traditional hegemony
> | threatened by the rise of new powers ? and new ideas. ACTA is a
> | last-ditch attempt to lock the world into an old and outdated mindset.
> `----
>
> http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/why-we-must-react-acta
>
>
> Related:
>
> Senators Plan To Unveil New IP Bill
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
> | Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy and ranking member
> | Arlen Specter will join Sens. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., and George Voinovich,
> | R-Ohio, on Thursday in unveiling new legislation intended to boost
> | government efforts to crack down on counterfeiting and piracy.
> `----
>
> http://techdailydose.nationaljournal.com/2008/07
senators_plan_to_unveil_new_ip.php
>
>
> FSF organizes against Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
> | "At the moment, the campaign's mostly information," Lee says. "What we
> | want to do is get more people involved who can help us build public
> | awareness and also build up the information on ACTA."
> |
> | Other ways that free software users can help the FSF campaign, Lee
> | suggests, include local campaigns that contact your elected
> | representatives and starting grass root organizations to help create a
> | world-wide action network. Lee also stresses the importance of
> | translating information from English to help resistance to ACTA in
> | non-English speaking countries.
> |
> | "It's early days for the campaign," Lee says. "It's an ongoing battle,
> | but ultimately we're going to ride this through and see ACTA defeated.
> | But we need people to get involved to help us do this."
> `----
>
> http://www.linux.com/feature/142403
>
>
> ACTA threatens free software
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
> | 1. It makes it more difficult to distribute free software: Without file
> | sharing and P2P technologies like BitTorrent, distributing large amounts
> | of free software becomes much harder, and more expensive. BitTorrent is
> | a grassroots protocol that allows everyone to contribute to legally
> | distributing free software.
> | 2. It will make it harder for users of free operating systems to play
> | media: Consumers will no longer be able to buy media without DRM -- and
> | DRMed media cannot be played with free software.
> | 3. It increases the chances of getting your devices taken away: Portable
> | media players that support free formats are less common than devices
> | which support DRM, such as the iPod. Will this make them suspicious to
> | border guards?
> | 4. It creates a culture of surveillance and suspicion, in which the
> | freedom that is required to produce free software is seen as dangerous
> | and threatening rather than creative, innovative, and exciting.
> `----
>
> http://www.fsf.org/campaigns/acta
>
>
> The right to peer inside your iPod
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
> | An agreement on intellectual property rights to be ratified by the G8
> | heads of government highlights conflicts between ownership and privacy
> `----
>
> http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jul/10/intellectualproperty.law
>
>
> Microsoft could force your mobile into silence
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
> | Microsoft is developing a new technology that could force mobiles into
> | silent mode, or even prevent calls from being made.
> |
> | [...]
> |
> | Phone jammers, which work in small spaces, are banned in the UK and come
> | with
> || a hefty fine for use.
> `----
>
> http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications
microsoft-could-force-your-mobile-into-silence-393006
>
>
> Digital copyright: it's all wrong
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
> | The ACTA draft is a scary document. If a treaty based on its provisions
> | were adopted, it would enable any border guard, in any treaty country,
> | to check any electronic device for any content that they suspect
> | infringes copyright laws. They need no proof, only suspicion.
> |
> | They would be able to seize any device - laptop, iPod, DVD recorder,
> | mobile phone, etc - and confiscate it or destroy anything on it, merely
> | on suspicion. On the spot, no lawyers, no right of appeal, no nothing.
> `----
>
> http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/technology
digital-copyright-its-all-wrong/2008/06/09/1212863783566.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
> http://tinyurl.com/6ylvpx
>
>
> Embattled ACTA Negotiations Next Week In Geneva; US Sees Signing This Year
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
> | Criticism from NGOs
> |
> | Canadian law expert David Fewer, staff counsel at the University of
> | Ottawa?s Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic, told the
> | Ottawa Citizen that the discussion paper was very close to a potential
> | Christmas wish-list by Hollywood companies.
> |
> | Knowledge Ecology International (KEI), in an earlier statement filed to
> | USTR, warned against a lack in differentiation and clearness of core
> | terms, like counterfeiting, infringement or piracy. ?Is Microsoft a
> | ?pirate? for insisting on the right to continue to infringe the z4
> | patents in order to use an infringing DRM technology to protect
> | Microsoft software itself from infringement by unauthorised uses?? KEI
> | asked in its statement.
> `----
>
> http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/index.php?p=1071
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