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USTR Responds To Sen. Wyden About ACTA; Admits It Hopes ACTA Will Cover Patents Too
,----[ Quote ]
| Furthermore, the response confirms what
| became clear in the most recent leak, that
| the US sees ACTA as covering not just
| copyrights and trademarks -- but patents
| as well (though, some of the other
| participants are against including
| patents).
`----
http://techdirt.com/articles/20100303/0128078382.shtml
Danish Politicians Questioning Why Denmark Is So Against ACTA Transparency
,----[ Quote ]
| One of the really amazing things in
| witnessing the reactions among various
| politicians to the ACTA negotiations is
| realizing how out of the loop they are as
| well. They're often just as angry that
| things are being done in the name of their
| country that they have no visibility into.
| Of course, this adds to the impression
| that this whole process is not about
| figuring out what's best for the people of
| each country, but an end run around the
| democratic lawmaking process, pushed
| mainly by big industries (led by the
| entertainment and pharmaceutical
| industries).
`----
http://techdirt.com/articles/20100303/0114318381.shtml
The ACTA Transparency Scorecard
http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/4822/125/
By Its Fruit
,----[ Quote ]
| When the time comes, the apologists for
| ACTA will then be able to claim that it is
| not a wave of new legislation designed to
| shore up the business models of 20th
| century corporations at the expense of
| 21st century innovation and third-world
| needs. Instead they will claim ACTA merely
| âharmonises existing law globallyâ.
`----
http://webmink.com/2010/02/26/bad-acta/
Time To Redesign The Hotdog... But Watch Out For Patents
,----[ Quote ]
| So when he heard about this new pediatric
| warning, he went looking to see if any of
| the hotdog makers were offering pre-
| hollowed dogs -- and instead discovered
| that in 2006 someone had applied for a
| patent on hollow hot dogs. Seriously.
`----
http://techdirt.com/articles/20100226/1108538322.shtml
Recent:
Leaked ACTA Draft Treaty Reveals Plans for Net Clampdown
,----[ Quote ]
| In a separate leak that first appeared on
| blogs last week, the European Commission
| updated members of the European Parliament
| on the most recent face-to-face meeting
| between the signatory countries, which took
| place in Mexico at the end of last month.
|
| According to that leak, the Internet chapter
| of the treaty was discussed, but no changes
| to the position suggested by the U.S. last
| fall were agreed.
|
| "The internet chapter was discussed for the
| first time on the basis of comments provided
| by most parties to US proposal. The second
| half of the text (technological protection
| measures) was not discussed due to lack of
| time," the memo said, adding:
|
| "Discussions still focus on clarification of
| different technical concepts, therefore,
| there was not much progress in terms of
| common text. The U.S. and the E.U. agreed to
| make presentations of their own systems at
| the next round, to clarify issues."
`----
http://www.pcworld.com/article/189812/leaked_acta_draft_treaty_reveals_plans_for_net_clampdown.html?tk=rss_news
ITC Becomes Battleground in Nokia-Apple Patent Dispute
,----[ Quote ]
| The United States International Trade
| Commission (ITC) has agreed to investigate
| Apple's patent claims against Nokia, after
| already agreeing last month to do the same
| for Nokia's patent claims against Apple.
| With dueling lawsuits pending in federal
| court over the patent disputes, the ITC has
| become the battlefield du jour.
`----
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/blogs/bizfeed/189887/itc_becomes_battleground_in_nokiaapple_patent_dispute.html?tk=rss_news
USPTO's 1-Click Indecisiveness Enters 5th Year
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/02/20/205232/USPTOs-1-Click-Indecisiveness-Enters-5th-Year
Recent:
The Real Purpose of ACTA
,----[ Quote ]
| So it is obvious that whatever ACTA is, it
| isnât a trade agreement. I came to this
| conclusion before Christmas 2009, but didnât
| publish anything at the time, because I had no
| conclusive proof that it wasnât a trade
| agreement. Itâs obvious that something was
| being negotiated, but what?
|
| The situation reminded me of the World War 2
| Allied deception plans that were put in place
| to fool the Germans into thinking that the
| invasion of Europe would be anywhere other
| than Normandy.
|
| So if ACTA is a deception plan, what is it
| hiding?
|
| [...]
|
| The main points I got from her recording were:
|
| 1. ACTA would not require any changes to IP
| laws. Note that this is impossible if the
| Treaty actually had anything to do with IP,
| but he was adamant on this point.
| 2. He kept mentioning Prince William. He
| seemed to thing that Prince William would
| become King of the United States, as well
| as England, Canada, Australia, and Mexico.
| 3. He was under the impression that no one
| would accept Prince Charles as King, due to
| his marriage to a divorced woman, an
| exceptionally archaic viewpoint as far as I
| am concerned.
| 4. He then confirmed that ACTA would
| require changes to laws. When she
| questioned him on this, as he had said
| earlier that it wouldnât require changes,
| he said âI said it wouldnât require changes
| to IP laws, I didnât say it wouldnât
| require changes to other lawsâ.
| 5. He then proceeded to mumble about how
| paranoid the Americans were, and how wrong
| they were about the âNew World Order.â
`----
http://madhatter.ca/?p=283
Time To Change (Or Ditch) The USTR Special 301 Process That Pressures Other Countries To Adapt US IP Laws
,----[ Quote ]
| In the meantime, EFF and Public Knowledge have
| teamed up to ask the USTR to change the
| process and, at the very least, stop taking
| the word of industry lobbyists as if it were
| gospel. They also suggested that the USTR be
| more flexible in allowing countries to set
| their own IP policy -- noting, amusingly, that
| the US itself famously didn't implement its
| "international obligations" in the Berne
| Treaty for decades, because the country felt
| differently about certain aspects of copyright
| law. Hell, even today we're not in full
| compliance with Berne. But for some reason the
| USTR acts as if other countries need to fall
| in line with US IP policy, even as we've
| chosen to go in a different direction when we
| felt it was warranted.
`----
http://techdirt.com/articles/20100219/0130078234.shtml
Illicit File-Sharing and Streaming of TV Shows Increases
,----[ Quote ]
| A new report by a consultancy firm
| specializing in analyzing consumer consumption
| of digital media reveals that during the last
| quarter of 2009, increasing numbers of Swedes
| accessed unauthorized movies and TV shows
| online. The research indicates that the
| downward trend provoked by the introduction of
| the IPRED legislation is over.
`----
http://torrentfreak.com/illicit-file-sharing-and-streaming-of-tv-shows-increases-100217/
Infographic: buying DVDs vs pirating them
,----[ Quote ]
| I rip all my kid's DVDs (not least because she
| has a tendency to scratch them to hell), and
| the difference between firing up a movie on a
| laptop and it just starting versus trying to
| explain to a toddler why Daddy has to spend
| five minutes pressing next-next-next menu-
| menu-menu is enormous.
`----
http://www.boingboing.net/2010/02/18/infographic-buying-d.html
Book Publishers Circulating 'Talking Points' To Counter Arguments That Ebook Prices Need To Go Lower
,----[ Quote ]
| For a while now, we've been discussing how the
| pricing on ebooks doesn't make much sense, and
| almost certainly needs to fall. Like many
| industries, the book business could learn a
| lot from other businesses that have realized
| that drastically lowering the price on digital
| goods can massively increase sales, and better
| maximize profits. But, instead, book
| publishers seem to be pushing in the opposite
| direction, and trying to push the price of
| digital books up. We recently wrote about a NY
| Times article that suggested consumers might
| revolt if the publishers keep moving in this
| direction, which is actually supported by
| reports of how consumers are reacting to
| publishers' anti-consumer activities with
| regards to ebooks.
`----
http://techdirt.com/articles/20100218/0029098218.shtml
Alvaro asks 9 questions to the Commission about ACTA, including
3 strikes and transparency
,----[ Quote ]
| Alexander Alvaro (ALDE) has asked 9 questions
| about ACTA, including 3 strikes and
| transparency, or the access by the INTA
| committee to the drafts documents. He is also
| asking about changes to substantive patent
| law (read software patents here).
`----
http://www.digitalmajority.org/forum/t-218021/alvaro-asks-9-questions-to-the-commission-about-acta-including-3-strikes-and-transparency
Tell USTR balanced copyright is important
,----[ Quote ]
| Under the Special 301 process the U.S.T.R.
| seeks input from U.S. copyright, trademark,
| and patent owners about whether policies and
| practices in foreign countries deny them
| adequate IP protection. The process has
| generally been used by IP holders to complain
| not only about lax enforcement in other
| countries, but also about limitations and
| exceptions in their laws that are beneficial
| to libraries, to education, to innovation,
| and to the public interest generally. The
| ability to comment in the Special 301 process
| is not limited to IP owners only. Any member
| of the public is free to file comments. If
| you believe in the importance of balanced
| copyright policies, file comments with the
| USTR and make your voice heard.
`----
http://www.publicknowledge.org/node/2891
USTR suggests fears over ACTA are based on âmisconceptionsâ
,----[ Quote ]
| Documents leaked late last year containing
| sections of the draft agreement led to
| speculation that the treaty would focus
| more on copyright reform, in light of
| increased digitization, than on trademarks
| and the fight against counterfeiting (see
| âLeaks drive fears over ACTAâ).
`----
http://www.worldtrademarkreview.com/daily/Detail.aspx?g=084a0f1a-c782-4033-b6ec-c65ff5e04a4d
Report: Three-Strikes On ACTA Agenda
,----[ Quote ]
| Three-strikes style measures to tackle
| illegal file-sharing are being secretly
| discussed at the anti-counterfeiting trade
| agreement (ACTA) talks in Mexico.
`----
http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/e3i1422a94252b075b896593d2ff5f8eb8d
USTR Insists Gov't Isn't Keeping ACTA Secret
,----[ Quote ]
| Okay. Pick your jaws up off the floor. That
| last sentence is so ridiculous and so
| false; it's amazing he thought that he
| could get away with it. Exactly which
| governments have "sought public comments"
| on ACTA? The answer? None. Why? Because no
| government has yet revealed what ACTA is
| officially. Hell, in the most recent ACTA
| negotiations, held in Mexico, the
| government wanted to force the public to
| sign NDAs just to attend a public meeting,
| and then had industry representatives
| mocking public concerns and demanding that
| a blogger leave the proceedings for live
| Tweeting the meetings. Yes, "sought public
| comments" indeed. Does he think that if he
| says day is night people just believe him?
| And the idea that the government is "far
| from keeping [ACTA] secret" is pure
| hogwash. A comparison of ACTA secrecy to
| similar negotiations suggest that ACTA is
| being kept exceptionally secret.
`----
http://techdirt.com/articles/20100204/2358088061.shtml
Only Idiots Assume by Liam Mullone and Hils Barker
http://www.dontdisconnect.us/category/winners/
Digital Economy Bill bill could 'breach rights'
,----[ Quote ]
| An influential group of MPs and peers has
| said the government's approach to illegal
| file-sharing could breach the rights of
| internet users.
`----
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8500876.stm
UGA employee accused of extortion
,----[ Quote ]
| A UGA employee is accused of trying to bilk
| money from students in exchange for
| covering up alleged computer violations,
| according to university police.
`----
http://www.ajc.com/news/uga-employee-accused-of-289635.html
ACTA Attacks Internet! Let's Attack ACTA!
,----[ Quote ]
| Negotiations on the Anti-Counterfeiting
| Trade Agreement (ACTA)1 will take place
| from January 26th to January 29th in
| Mexico. ACTA aims at controlling the
| Internet, while conveniently circumventing
| democratic processes. Unelected negotiators
| - carrying out the orders of the
| entertainment industries - are attacking
| the very essence of the Internet. Let's
| attack ACTA! Let's expose its negotiators
| to make them face their responsibilities!
`----
http://www.laquadrature.net/en/acta-attacks-internet-lets-attack-acta
ACTA and three strikes
,----[ Quote ]
| Luc Devigne for instance advocates for the
| French âthree strikesâ rule concerning
| ISPs. Such measures are not yet part of the
| acquis communautaire, in fact in the course
| of the Telecom package such measures were
| generally rejected, though the European
| Parliament could not overrule the French
| national decision to implement such
| measures (âHadopiâ). Sarkozyâs Hadopi rules
| are in troublesome constitutional waters,
| we will see.
`----
http://arebentisch.wordpress.com/2010/01/27/acta-and-three-strikes/
Early Day Motion Calling for ACTA Transparency
,----[ Quote ]
| Yesterday I was asking you to write to your
| MPs about the Digital Economy Bill. If you
| haven't already done that, perhaps you
| could tack on a request for them to support
| this Early Day Motion...
`----
http://www.computerworlduk.com/community/blogs/index.cfm?blogid=14&entryid=2757
ACTA Guide, Part Three: Transparency and ACTA Secrecy
,----[ Quote ]
| Part Three of the ACTA Guide (Part One on
| the agreement itself, Part Two on the
| official and leaked documents) focuses on
| the issue that has dogged the proposed
| agreement since it was first announced -
| the lack of transparency associated with
| the text and the talks. As yesterday's
| public letter from NDP MP Charlie Angus and
| the UK cross-party motion highlight,
| elected officials around the world have
| latched onto the transparency issue and
| demanded that their governments open ACTA
| to public scrutiny. Reviewing the ACTA
| transparency issue involves several
| elements: the public concern with ACTA
| secrecy, the source of the secrecy, and the
| analysis of whether ACTA secrecy is common
| when compared to other intellectual
| property agreements.
`----
http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/4737/125/
PROPOSED INTERNATIONAL ANTI-COUNTERFEITING TRADE AGREEMENT
,----[ Quote ]
| That this House is deeply concerned by the
| secrecy surrounding international
| negotiations on the Anti-Counterfeiting
| Trade Agreement (ACTA); notes that any
| agreement reached could affect the measures
| to protect copyright online currently being
| debated in the Digital Economy Bill;
| believes that if the companies affected by
| the agreement are party to the discussions
| and able to influence decisions,
| parliamentarians who represent the public
| and are responsible for legislation in
| these areas should also be kept up-to-date
| with developments and be able to contribute
| to the debate; seeks assurances from the
| Department for Business, Innovation and
| Skills that the provisions of the Digital
| Economy Bill will not be superseded by
| ACTA; and urges the Government to work to
| achieve release of details of the
| negotiations to hon. Members as soon as
| possible.
`----
http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=40290&SESSION=903
CTA: The new era of transparency
,----[ Quote ]
| How is that possible? It cannot be found out
| because the mandate is not made public. Magic,
| it reminds me of the charlatans who say they
| live without food and water supply, and it is
| their personal secret what makes them survive.
`----
http://arebentisch.wordpress.com/2010/01/24/acta-the-new-era-of-transparency/
Activist ejected from "public" meeting on secret copyright treaty for tweeting
,----[ Quote ]
| The latest round of negotiations over the Anti
| Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA -- a
| secret treaty that contains provisions
| requiring nations to wiretap the Internet,
| force ISPs to spy on users, search laptops at
| the border, and disconnect whole households
| from the net on the basis of mere accusation
| of copyright infringement) is just kicking off
| in Mexico, and activists from around Mexico
| and the world have converged on the meeting to
| demand transparent, public negotiations of
| this critical treaty.
`----
http://www.boingboing.net/2010/01/22/activist-ejected-fro.html
'Public' Consultation Over ACTA In Mexico Almost Required NDAs, Blogger Removed For Tweeting
,----[ Quote ]
| The room, then, was mostly industry people,
| who were apparently concerned as to why
| everyday citizens were in attendance, and they
| even booed a lawyer who questioned the human
| rights angle. As for Geraldine, she tried
| twittering the event, and the industry folks
| demanded she leave (and had a guard escort her
| out). It's almost like they're trying to make
| themselves into a caricature of businesses
| plotting to harm the public.
`----
http://techdirt.com/articles/20100122/1026457875.shtml
Obama Names Craig Mundie to Sci-Tech Advisory Council
http://microsoftontheissues.com/cs/blogs/mscorp/archive/2009/04/27/obama-names-craig-mundie-to-sci-tech-advisory-council.aspx
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