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IP Enforcement As US Foreign Policy
,----[ Quote ]
| The United States Chamber of Commerce, the largest US business group, on
| Monday issued a release applauding a new bill introduced into the US House of
| Representatives by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman
| (Democrat, California) that would “enhance State Department resources and
| training for intellectual property enforcement efforts in countries not
| meeting their international obligations,” the Chamber said.
`----
http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/2009/05/18/ip-enforcement-as-us-foreign-policy/
Patents Bill
,----[ Quote ]
| I will begin by looking briefly at software. The bill proposes that software
| should be patentable; the opposite direction to that being pursued by the
| European Union. This is a very bad idea. The foremost theorist in this area
| is Richard Stallman. Stallman eloquently argues that the use of software
| patents stifles creativity, massively reduces efficiency, and can lead to
| whole areas of software usefulness remaining unexplored. Software patents are
| a substantial cause of software incompatibility, for example. He draws an
| analogy with the composition of a symphony. Suppose someone had patented
| particular chord progressions, sequences of notes, or combinations of
| instruments playing at the same time. What sort of problem would Beethoven
| have had? We regard him as a brilliant and innovative composer, but he wrote
| symphonies using a musical vocabulary comprised of very many musical ideas
| developed by multiple composers. Stallman argues that even a genius software
| programmer must draw on a standard vocabulary of programming ideas. If
| software patents are permitted, then the programmer cannot draw on such ideas
| without infringing patents. The consequences are that whole areas of software
| development are avoided lest software developers breach patents, and in other
| areas inefficient or otherwise unsatisfactory programmes remain in use
| because it is not technically feasible to develop better options because of
| this restriction. In this area patents are clearly a brake and a hindrance on
| innovation.
`----
http://theyworkforyou.co.nz/bills/patents/2009/may/05/first_reading#9c
Recent:
Golan Case May Put US In Violation Of International Copyright Treaties
,----[ Quote ]
| By limiting copyright restoration, the ruling might prevent the US from
| fulfilling its obligations under the Berne Convention and the World Trade
| Organization Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property
| Rights (TRIPS).
`----
http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/2009/05/08/golan-case-may-put-us-in-violation-of-international-copyright-treaties/
EFF sues Obama administration for promised access to secret copyright treaty
documents
,----[ Quote ]
| Rebecca from the Electronic Frontier Foundation sez, "The U.S. government is
| still blocking the release of information about a secret intellectual
| property trade agreement with broad implications for privacy and innovation
| around the world, despite the Obama administration's promises to run a more
| open government. The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) could
| establish far-reaching customs regulations over Internet traffic in the guise
| of anti-counterfeiting measures, but no one knows for sure the state of this
| pact, as the government is hiding the details. EFF is calling on the feds to
| change their minds, and will keep fighting this in court."
`----
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/05/06/eff-sues-obama-admin.html
European Commission On ACTA: TRIPS Is Floor Not Ceiling
,----[ Quote ]
| The EU Commission is “committed to improve the international legal framework
| for IP protection” and sees “ACTA as one way to reach that goal,” Devigne
| said. There was no intention to duplicate TRIPS. Rather, “we want to go
| beyond it,” he said, adding, “TRIPS is the floor, not the ceiling.”
`----
http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/2009/04/22/european-commission-on-acta-trips-is-floor-not-ceiling/
The ACTA draft treaty is covering patent infringement
,----[ Quote ]
| Wikileaks has published some drafts of the secret ACTA treaty, which aims to
| give better guns to Patent Trolls. The draft mentions that it covers all the
| rights covered by TRIPS, so it will cover also patents.
`----
http://www.digitalmajority.org/forum/t-147082/the-acta-draft-treaty-is-covering-patent-infringement
Goodbye WIPO, Hello ACTA?
,----[ Quote ]
| What is really remarkable about this is that Greve can even be asking WIPO to
| consider free software and open standards: a few years ago, such a thing
| would have amounted to blasphemy.
| Sadly, there is another sign that WIPO is becoming more accommodating to the
| ideas behind free software: the fact that there seems to be a move to come
| up with an alternative forum for promoting intellectual monopolies where it
| will not be so easy to participate.
`----
http://www.computerworlduk.com/community/blogs/index.cfm?entryid=2101&blogid=14
New ACTA copyright treaty dodges the UN, poor countries and activists
,----[ Quote ]
| Michael Geist sez, "The World Intellectual Property Organization may be best
| known for the Internet treaties that led to the DMCA, but in recent years
| groups like EFF, KEI, and Public Knowledge has helped to open things up and
| move toward a Development Agenda that better balances international
| intellectual property policy. That progress may be threatened by the
| Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, which officials now acknowledge is
| designed to exclude WIPO, developing countries, and NGOs."
`----
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/04/14/new-acta-copyright-t.html
Leaked ACTA Draft: More Power to the RIAA
,----[ Quote ]
| A recent draft of the controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement
| (ACTA) surfaced on Wikileaks this weekend. Among other things, the draft aims
| to strengthen the power and rights of the entertainment industry and other
| copyright holders, by letting them choose how they want to be compensated for
| copyright infringements.
`----
http://torrentfreak.com/leaked-acta-draft-more-power-to-the-riaa-090414/
Classified US, Japan and EU ACTA trade agreement drafts, 2009
,----[ Quote ]
| The file presents US, Japan and EU drafts of the controversial international
| copyright and patent trade agreement, ACTA ("Anti-Counterfeiting Trade
| Agreement"). The documents were obtained by Wikileaks staff.
`----
http://wikileaks.org/wiki/Classified_US%2C_Japan_and_EU_ACTA_trade_agreement_drafts%2C_2009
Call the Obama administration and ask for your copy of ACTA now!
,----[ Quote ]
| The Obama administration wants to be called about the status of negotiations
| of ACTA. Call the Obama administration and ask for your copy of ACTA now!
`----
http://www.digitalmajority.org/forum/t-144960/call-the-obama-administration-and-ask-for-your-copy-of-acta-now
Canada's ACTA Briefing, Part One: ACTA Is A Response to WIPO Gridlock
,----[ Quote ]
| The Canadian government provided its first major briefing on the
| Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement this morning. There were attendees from
| all sides of the issue as well as an (unlisted) representative from the U.S.
| Embassy. The meeting started with a bang as Don Stephenson, an Assistant
| Deputy Minister at DFAIT, noted the two sources of ACTA.
`----
http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/3830/125/
China and ACTA: Why Is The Problem Not Made Part Of The Solution?
,----[ Quote ]
| Section 2. Border Measures:
| Under discussion is whether border measures should apply not only to
| importations (as TRIPs prescribes) but also to export and transit of goods;
| Another possible point of contention is whether travelers can import
| counterfeit or pirated goods for their personal use (de minimis exception);
| It is no surprise that ACTA tries to solve some of the points, which
| especially has frustrated the US (which among other reasons brought a claim
| against China at the WTO: DS 362): measures to ensure that infringing goods
| are not released into free circulation and the destruction of goods that have
| been determined to infringe intellectual property rights.
`----
http://ipdragon.blogspot.com/2009/04/china-and-acta-why-is-problem-not.html
A little bit of good news from France
,----[ Quote ]
| In Spain, as in France, Italy and all over Europe, local "artists" are very
| active on the anti-freedom of downloading campaign, attributing the bad
| economic performances of the European (respectively, Spanish, French, ...)
| movie industry to the use of P2P software and downloading. As everyone knows,
| before P2P appeared the European movie industries were thriving and their
| movies were dominanting the world market.
`----
http://www.againstmonopoly.org/index.php?perm=593056000000000836
The Latest Act in the ACTA Farce
,----[ Quote ]
| The rest, unfortunately, is the usual mixture of half-truths and outright
| fibs. But this constant trickle of such documents shows that they are taking
| notice of us, and that we must up the pressure for full disclosure of what
| exactly is being negotiated in our name.
`----
http://opendotdotdot.blogspot.com/2009/04/latest-act-in-acta-farce.html
Canadian ACTA Consultation Report Revealed
,----[ Quote ]
| In an earlier post, I noted that the Department of Foreign Affairs will be
| holding a consultation meeting on ACTA next week. DFAIT first consulted on
| ACTA in the spring of 2008. While I discussed some of the findings based on
| documents obtained under the Access to Information Act, I did not previously
| have access to the entire draft report. I do now (through ATIP) - it is
| posted below for research and news reporting purposes.
`----
http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/3800/125/
Consumer Interest Groups Ask Obama To Stop Appointing RIAA Lawyers
,----[ Quote ]
| With the Obama administration appointing a whole bunch of copyright
| maximalists to various positions (despite an early indication that perhaps he
| recognized issues with copyright law), a bunch of public interest and
| consumer interest groups have gotten together to write a letter to Obama,
| asking him to recognize that he seems to be filling every open slot with a
| very heavily biased viewpoint which could do significant harm towards
| innovation. Some of the letter may be inspired by the rumored candidates for
| the IP Czar position -- all of whom also fall into the copyright maximalist
| camp. Though, the fact that it's taken Obama so long to appoint this position
| (upsetting the Senators who wrote the law requiring the position in the first
| place) suggests (at the very least) he isn't considering this to be a
| priority.
`----
http://techdirt.com/articles/20090402/1801344362.shtml
Battle over top-secret treaty heats up
,----[ Quote ]
| Next week, the Department of Foreign Affairs will conduct one of the stranger
| consultations in recent memory. Officials have invited roughly 70 stakeholder
| groups to discuss an international intellectual property treaty that the U.S.
| regards as a national security secret and about which the only substantive
| information has come from a series of unofficial leaks.
|
| Since then-minister David Emerson announced Canada's participation in the
| Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement negotiations in October 2007, the ACTA
| has been dogged by controversy over the near-total lack of transparency.
`----
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Battle+over+secret+treaty+heats/1446367/story.html
Distorted amendment 138 tries to present graduated response as legal
,----[ Quote ]
| The Council of EU is trying to reintroduce a distorted version of amendment
| 138 to “Telecoms Package”1. It could be interpreted by the archaic industries
| promoting "graduated response" as authorizing any administrative authority to
| order restrictions on fundamental rights and freedom. Such a legalization of
| parallel administrative justice, comparable to the French “graduated
| response” is unacceptable. The European Parliament must strongly reject this
| huge threat to EU citizen's freedom.
`----
http://www.laquadrature.net/en/distorted-amendment-138-tries-to-present-graduated-reponse-as-legal
ACTA Stakeholders' Consultation Meeting
,----[ Quote ]
| Directorate General for Trade of the European Commission is organising a
| meeting to inform and consult interested parties about the negotiation of a
| plurilateral Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).
|
| The goal of ACTA is to provide an improved framework for countries committed
| to intellectual property protection, in view of effectively addressing the
| challenges of IPR infringement today.
`----
http://lists.essential.org/pipermail/a2k/2009-March/004079.html
The ACTA Timeline (or Everything You Need To Know About ACTA But Your
Government Won't Tell You)
,----[ Quote ]
| October 2007 - The United States, European Union, Japan, South Korea, Mexico,
| New Zealand, Switzerland, and Canada announce plans to negotiate ACTA.
|
| November 2007 - April 2008 - Governments conduct initial consultations on
| ACTA. Australia consults in November 2007 on whether to participate. The
| U.S. consults in February 2008. Canada consults in April 2008.
|
| The results of the Canadian consultation are not released to the public but
| an Access to Information request uncovers a report on the results that note
| that "individual Canadian citizens were generally critical of Canada’s role
| in the formal negotiation of ACTA." Individual responses cited the lack of
| transparency associated with the process, the absence of evidence that a new
| treaty is needed, the exclusion of developing countries from the
| negotiations, and the concern that ACTA might undermine Canadian law.
`----
http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/3786/125/
US Wrestles With Transparency As Europeans Urge Release Of ACTA Texts
,----[ Quote ]
| The parliaments of Sweden and the European Union are urging the European
| Union to make public all documentation related to a secretive global
| anti-counterfeiting treaty, while the United States has claimed the papers
| are a matter of national security and therefore a state secret. But now the
| US has decided to undertake a review of its transparency.
`----
http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/2009/03/27/us-wrestles-with-transparency-as-europeans-urge-release-of-acta-texts/
Obama Administration Claims Copyright Treaty Involves State Secrets?!?
,----[ Quote ]
| When the Obama administration took over, there was a public stance that this
| administration was going to be more transparent -- especially with regards to
| things like Freedom of Information Act requests. The nonprofit group
| Knowledge Ecology International took that to heart and filed an FOIA request
| to get more info on ACTA. The US Trade Representative's Office responded
| denying the request, saying that the information was "classified in the
| interest of national security pursuant to Executive Order 12958." This is a
| treaty about changing copyright law, not sending missiles somewhere. To claim
| that it's a national security matter is just downright scary. As KEI points
| out, the text of the documents requested have been available to tons of
| people, including more than 30 governments around the world and lobbyists
| from the entertainment industry, pharma industry and publishing industry.
`----
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090313/1456154113.shtml
ACTA: questions in the European Parliament
,----[ Quote ]
| Whether the European Parliament will be able to scrutinise ACTA -
| Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement - is the topic of an oral question
| tabled for the March session of the European Parliament. The question, from
| Swedish MEP Jens Holm , asks whether the final draft of of any forthcoming
| agreement will be published by the Council before final agreement and whether
| the European and national Parliaments will be able to scrutinise the text. A
| third question asks that the Council should not agree and rubber stamp the
| ACTA during the Parliament's recess for the elections.
`----
http://www.iptegrity.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=260&Itemid=9
ACTA: An Attack on Common Sense?
,----[ Quote ]
| James Love has published some details about the current ACTA negotiations.
| Copyright ideologues have been (successfully) pushing for extreme legislation
| for several years. Each time new legislation is passed, it is only a
| stepping stone towards even more extreme legislation. Any reasonable person
| picked up from the 70s and dropped in the 00s would be stunned by how
| completely copyright ideology has infected the legislative process. Indeed,
| by germinating in international fora, it subverts the process. Copyright
| ideologues use international treaties to enforce or extend domestic
| legislation, bypassing local legislatures and then requiring them to enact
| the provisions. Any time anyone objects about the disparity between the
| ideology and reality, they are slapped down with “International Obligations”.
`----
http://brendanscott.wordpress.com/2009/02/16/acta-an-attack-on-common-sense/
More ACTA Papers Locked Away
,----[ Quote ]
| In my earlier posting from November last year I had reported on the secrecy
| of the ongoing ACTA negotiations wherein also the EU is involved. Just in
| order to make clear that important issues are at stake but carefully hidden
| from the general public, here is a small compilation of papers dated after
| November 21, 2008, and known to the EU Council but not published up to now...
`----
http://www.ipjur.com/blog2/index.php?/archives/25-More-ACTA-Papers-Locked-Away.html
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
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
Related:
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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