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Hash: SHA1
[ACTA leak]
http://chaos.faxpad.org:9000/lqactatranscript2
The Digital Economy Bill: A taxation on salt
,----[ Quote ]
| MPs have the opportunity now to take the
| Digital Economy Bill in wash-up and do just
| what a wash-up implies: clean it out. If
| they donât, and if lobbies like BPI get
| their way, weâre in for a satyagraha.
`----
http://confusedofcalcutta.com/2010/03/29/the-digital-economy-bill-a-taxation-on-salt/
Lib Dems to fight Digital Economy Bill over 'wash-up'
,----[ Quote ]
| The Liberal Democrats will try to block the
| Digital Economy Bill from being fast-
| tracked into law before the election.
|
| On Tuesday afternoon, the party's chief
| whip Paul Burstow tweeted that he had told
| the government the Liberal Democrats will
| not support the bill as it is drafted
| because there is "not enough time for MPs
| to examine it in detail".
|
| The bill is expected to be become part of
| 'wash-up', a brief period at the end of a
| sitting parliament when outstanding
| legislation becomes the subject of back-
| room deals between the main two parties,
| the Conservatives and Labour.
`----
http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/regulation/2010/03/30/lib-dems-to-fight-digital-economy-bill-over-wash-up-40088498/
7 days to stop the Bill!
,----[ Quote ]
| ORG and 38 Degrees are pushing to get
| national advertising placed just before the
| debate on Tuesday next week: when
| Parliament will, in effect, allow the Bill
| to be passed into âwash upâ without proper
| democratic scrutiny, denying us a national
| discussion about the rights and wrongs of
| this Bill.
`----
http://www.openrightsgroup.org/blog/2010/7-days-to-stop-the-bill
New ACTA leak: 01/18 version of consolidated text
http://www.laquadrature.net/en/0118-version-of-acta-consolidated-text-leaks
Anti-ACTA poster on 4chan
,----[ Quote ]
| If you believed Rupert Murdochâs droppings
| and other offerings from the lamescream
| press corpse, youâd think the net was a
| minor event, a passing fancy which, while
| itâs having a certain effect on traditional
| media, isnât terribly important in the
| overall scheme of things.
|
| The reality is: modern 21st-century
| communications wielded person-to-person,
| direct, have already permanently unseated
| the old-style print and electronic media
| outlets. Increasingly, ordinary people are
| talking to each other one-on-one, or group-
| to-group, via blogs, citizen journalist
| sites, IM, chat, cellphones and other hand-
| helds, and so on.
|
| Rupert, et al, donât stand a chance.
|
| [...]
|
| Bottom line, although ACTA being touted as
| a trade agreenment, itâs the thin end of a
| wedge which would ultimately give the
| cartels what amounts to governmental-type
| control over what people do and how they do
| it not only online, but off.
|
| But for the first time in history, People
| Power rules. And they know it.
`----
http://www.p2pnet.net/story/37537
Delusional EU ACTA negotiator claims that three strikes has never been proposed at ACTA
http://www.boingboing.net/2010/03/22/delusional-eu-acta-n.html
Secret ACTA fights over iPod border-searches
,----[ Quote ]
| The copyright industries wanted border-
| searches on anything digital you were
| carrying that could be used to infringe
| copyright, from your phone to your iPod to
| the laptop that had your confidential
| client documents, your personal email, your
| finances, pictures of your kids in the
| bath, etc.
`----
http://www.boingboing.net/2010/03/23/secret-acta-fights-o.html
IFLA Position on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement
,----[ Quote ]
| IFLA and its members are gravely concerned
| by the extreme secrecy surrounding the ACTA
| negotiations and the complete lack of
| transparency related to ACTA's procedures,
| provisions, and priorities, which is
| unprecedented for a global-norm setting
| activity among democratic nations. The
| issues involved have many facets and should
| be discussed in an open and fair manner at
| WIPO, the appropriate forum for such
| topics.
`----
http://www.ifla.org/en/publications/ifla-position-on-the-anti-counterfeiting-trade-agreement
UK record lobby has vehement feelings on Digital Economy Bill debate, won't say what they are
,----[ Quote ]
| My latest Guardian column, "Does the BPI
| want MPs to debate the digital economy bill
| properly?" addresses the British
| Phonographic Institute's weird, vehement
| silence on Parliament's debate on its pet
| legislation, the dread Digital Economy
| Bill. Vehement silence? Oh yes.
`----
http://www.boingboing.net/2010/03/29/uk-record-lobby-has.html
Leaked ACTA Text Shows Possible Contradictions With National Laws
,----[ Quote ]
| âNo changes in domesticâ law promised the
| partners currently negotiating the Anti-
| Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. A leaked
| 56-page recent consolidated version of the
| much-discussed agreement shows that this
| might not be completely true. The draft
| version with a lot of bracketed text shows
| that some countries are more open about the
| potential need to change their domestic
| laws than others.
`----
http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/2010/03/29/leaked-acta-text-shows-possible-contradictions-with-national-laws/
Three core reasons for rejecting ACTA
,----[ Quote ]
| These three points have been repeatedly
| documented in each and every piece of
| information that has been disclosed, since
| the beginning of the ACTA process:
|
| * ACTA is policy laundering1 in which
| an international negotiation is used to
| circumvent democratic debates at
| national or European level and adopt
| policy that the Parliaments will have
| no choice but to reject completely or
| adopt as a whole. Congress might not
| even be consulted in the case of the
| United States2.
| * The promoters and drafters of ACTA
| have created a mixed bag of titles3,
| types of infringement and enforcement
| measures, in which life-endangering
| fake products and organized crime
| activities are considered together with
| non-for-profit activities that play a
| role in access to knowledge,
| innovation, culture and freedom of
| expression. ACTA would create a de
| facto presumption of infringement.
| * In the negotiations, the EU is
| pushing the worse parts of the former
| directive proposal on criminal
| sanctions for IPR enforcement (IPRED 2,
| withdrawn because of uncertain legal
| basis), that is criminal sanctions for
| abetting or inciting to infringement.
`----
http://www.laquadrature.net/en/three-core-reasons-for-rejecting-acta
Toward an ACTA Super-Structure: How ACTA May Replace WIPO
,----[ Quote ]
| For the past two years, most of the ACTA
| discussion has centered on two issues: (1)
| substantive concerns such as the
| possibility of three strikes and a
| renegotiation of the WIPO Internet
| treaties; and (2) transparency issues. The
| leak of the comprehensive ACTA text
| highlights the fact that a third issue
| should be part of the conversation. The
| text reveals that ACTA is far more than a
| simple trade agreement. Rather, it
| envisions the establishment of a super-
| structure that replicates many of the
| responsibilities currently assumed by the
| World Intellectual Property Organization.
| Given the public acknowledgement by
| negotiating countries that ACTA is a direct
| response to perceived gridlock at WIPO,
| some might wonder whether ACTA is
| ultimately designed to replace WIPO as the
| primary source of international IP law and
| policy making.
`----
http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/4910/125/
The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement
,----[ Quote ]
| The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, a
| plurilateral agreement negotiated outside
| of the WTO's processes and protections, is
| the biggest set of new laws to hit
| international Intellectual Property. Many
| organizations have had serious concerns
| about the potential civil liberty and
| economic impact of ACTA. A draft text of
| ACTA has been leaked here.
|
| [...]
|
| 6) Seizure of goods at the border: a
| potentially injured party may apply for the
| suspension of the release of potentially
| infringing goods- and that one application
| is valid for ONE YEAR from the date of
| application. This places the work burden on
| the government as opposed to the private
| companies who fear infringement (regulatory
| capture). Singapore proposes an alternative
| that applies to specific shipments and
| lasts for 60 days only.
`----
http://balkin.blogspot.com/2010/03/anti-counterfeiting-trade-agreement.html
Digital Economy: The Mandelson letters
,----[ Quote ]
| Last September, as debate raged about the
| government's plans to crack down on illegal
| file-sharing - and the extent to which they
| might have been influenced by lobbying -
| the BBC put in a freedom-of-information
| request to the Department for Business. We
| requested information about any
| correspondence relating to online piracy or
| illegal file-sharing.
|
| Now, after a long wait, we've been supplied
| with a stack of letters to and from Lord
| Mandelson and other ministers relating to
| this issue. Those looking for a smoking gun
| - perhaps a despatch from a Hollywood
| tycoon warning "Cut 'em off or else!" - may
| be disappointed.
|
| But the letters do show a sustained
| campaign of lobbying in favour of the
| Digital Economy Bill by music-industry
| trade bodies - and by opponents trying to
| persuade Lord Mandelson that some of its
| measures will be damaging to civil
| liberties, as well as being costly and
| ineffective.
`----
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/rorycellanjones/2010/03/digital_economy_the_mandelson.html
LibDem MPs won't fight for debate on Digital Economy Bill
,----[ Quote ]
| Rather than calling for a full debate on
| the bill's provision allowing the record
| industry to take away your family's
| internet access if they believe (but can't
| prove) you've infringed on copyright, the
| LibDems have joined the other parties in
| supporting a short, 45-minute half-day
| second reading.
|
| After that, the Digital Economy Bill will
| disappear into "wash up," a fast-track, no-
| debate way of passing bills, usually
| reserved for bills that everyone agrees on
| and that need to get pushed through before
| an election.
`----
http://www.boingboing.net/2010/03/27/libdem-mps-wont-figh.html
Outrageous Treaty Nonsense, or The Copyright Tail Wagging the Internet Dog
,----[ Quote ]
| Iâve been remiss, as the VCâs (sort-of)
| copyright/Internet law guy, in not
| commenting previously about a truly
| outrageous bit of executive branch over-
| reaching on Hollywoodâs behalf. I am
| referring to the ongoing negotiations about
| ACTA, the multilateral âAnti-Counterfeiting
| Trade Agreement.â [See Jonathan Adlerâs
| posting earlier today about ACTA here] The
| US Trade Representativeâs office has been
| conducting these negotiations entirely in
| secret (on some ridiculous trumped-up
| ânational securityâ rationale) for several
| years now on this Agreement; a current
| draft was recently leaked to the press, and
| it confirms many peoplesâ worst fears.
| Hereâs my attempt at a summary of whatâs
| going on â if youâre interested in more
| details (and I hope you are), Iâve listed
| at the end of this posting some excellent
| sources of further information.
`----
http://volokh.com/2010/03/26/outrageous-treaty-nonsense-or-the-copyright-tail-wagging-the-internet-dog/
The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement
,----[ Quote ]
| In short, ACTA is geared up to do almost
| exactly what I predicted in a "Recent
| Development" in YJIL last year (The Origins
| and Potential Impact of the Anti-
| Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), 34
| Yale J. Intâl L. 261 (2009)). It amps up IP
| protection and criminal sanctions, without
| respecting existing international
| institutional process and involving the
| interests of developing countries.
`----
http://balkin.blogspot.com/2010/03/anti-counterfeiting-trade-agreement.html
Some More Lowlights From The Leaked ACTA Draft: Whole Thing Can Be Rammed Through With 5 Votes
,----[ Quote ]
| Michael Geist points us to a rather
| thorough review, by Margot Kaminski, of
| some of the more troubling aspects of the
| leaked ACTA draft. Kaminski highlights 24
| different points, but we'll just pick out a
| few key ones. For example, she notes that
| ACTA would create an express lane for
| intellectual property cases in the courts,
| and questions: "Why should copyright take
| precedent over other cases and have such a
| fast turnaround?" There are a few
| concerning things about border searches.
| While ACTA negotiators and defenders keep
| insisting that ACTA won't mean border
| searches for individuals, the draft
| highlights a few things that are troubling.
| For example, the US, Canada and New Zealand
| want to change the exemption criteria for
| border searches from the current "small
| quantities of goods of a non-commercial
| nature" to the much lower standard of
| "reasonably attributable to personal use of
| the traveler." In other words, this does,
| in fact, grant more powers to customs and
| border patrol to search laptops and iPods
| and the like, if there's any indication of
| more information that is "reasonably
| attributable to personal use," -- though,
| that standard seems quite vague and
| subjective.
`----
http://techdirt.com/articles/20100326/0325598729.shtml
ACTAâs beginning of the end
,----[ Quote ]
| Secondly, Devigne denied the second item in
| the answer to Hammerstein, who asked about
| the Commissionâs name and shame list. It
| seems riddiculous to deny such an approach
| and plan given the âGlobal Europeâ strategy
| contents, also given earlier statements
| from the directorate. They would no do
| that, indicated Devigne. How pathetic!
|
| Oh, and letâs not mention the desasterous
| performance of Devigne regarding admitting
| that they wonât respect the parliamentâs
| resolution on limit to counterfeiting.
| There he stressed being in line with the
| acquis again.
`----
http://arebentisch.wordpress.com/2010/03/28/acta-s-beginning-of-the-end/
Anti-counterfeiting agreement raises constitutional concerns
,----[ Quote ]
| The much-criticized cloak of secrecy that
| has surrounded the Obama administration's
| negotiation of the multilateral Anti-
| Counterfeiting Trade Agreement was broken
| Wednesday. The leaked draft of ACTA belies
| the U.S. trade representative's assertions
| that the agreement would not alter U.S.
| intellectual property law. And it raises
| the stakes on the constitutionally dubious
| method by which the administration proposes
| to make the agreement binding on the United
| States.
`----
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/25/AR2010032502403.html
A few ACTA notes
,----[ Quote ]
| After speaking with people in or close to
| the negotiations, European Commission and
| Spanish Presidency of the EU, this is some
| of what I have gathered despite dealing
| with very tight-lipped people:
|
| 1. The negotiations are not going that
| well and many issues are still wide open.
| It is doubtful they could wrap up soon.
|
| 2. There is a significant problem in making
| US and EU legislation compatible on a
| number of issues. One of the important
| topics of contention, but not the only one,
| is probably the differences between US
| âfair useâ and the âcommercial scaleâ, term
| the EU negotiators seem adamant on leaving
| very ambiguous to be interpreted later a la
| carte, even with all the risks involved.
`----
http://www.tacd-ip.org/blog/2010/03/24/a-few-acta-notes/
Report From The Field: ACTA Negotiations Not Going Well
,----[ Quote ]
| As well they should. This is a point that
| we've raised repeatedly, noting not just
| the similarities between the methods used
| for censorship in authoritarian countries
| and ACTA, but also in the way that those
| countries will almost certainly use ACTA to
| justify their own censorship.
`----
http://techdirt.com/articles/20100324/1434058701.shtml
Digital economy bill to be pushed through parliament next month
,----[ Quote ]
| The controversial digital economy bill will
| be pushed through in the "wash-up" leading
| up to an election, after the government
| confirmed that it will receive its second
| reading in the Commons on 6 April â the
| same day that Gordon Brown is expected to
| seek Parliament's dissolution.
`----
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/mar/25/digital-economy-bill-commons
Entertainment Industy letter to Obama on ACTA
,----[ Quote ]
| Just in case anyone does not appreciate how
| difficult it will be to change the USTR
| direction on ACTA, note that today the USTR
| proudly put this letter on the USTR Blog:
|
| http://www.ustr.gov/about-us/press-office/blog/2010/march/new-information-ustrgov/acta
|
| (Maybe best to first skip down to see who
| signed it).
`----
http://keionline.org/node/816
USTR Wants People To Know That At Least Someone Likes ACTA
,----[ Quote ]
| But, really, it's incredibly telling that
| the USTR is only willing to promote the
| letters it's received in support of ACTA,
| isn't it? Lots of people have been
| contacting the USTR with concerns about
| ACTA, and those don't get highlighted on
| the website at all. It's as if the USTR
| wants to make it clear that it works for
| the RIAA and the ITA, rather than the
| citizens of the country. It's reached the
| point where it's obvious that the USTR's
| focus is not on creating a good trade
| agreement, but on the trade agreement that
| some lobbyists wanted. It seems obvious
| that the USTR is not interested in
| understanding the complaints, but only in
| getting ACTA finished.
`----
http://techdirt.com/articles/20100325/0414308715.shtml
ACTA Draft: No Internet for Copyright Scofflaws
,----[ Quote ]
| The United States is nudging the
| international community to develop
| protocols to suspend the internet
| connections of customers caught downloading
| copyrighted works, according to a leaked
| draft of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade
| Agreement.
`----
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/03/terminate-copyright-scofflaws/
Written Declaration 12/2010 signatories list
http://www.laquadrature.net/wiki/Written_Declaration_12/2010_signatories_list
[Digital Economy Bill protests photo]
http://www.flickr.com/photos/amilm/4460287733/sizes/l/
File-sharing and the War on the Internet
,----[ Quote ]
| Well, as I pointed out yesterday, the
| reason for this cognitive dissonance is
| that the Digital Economy Bill should really
| be called the *Analogue* Economy Bill: it
| seeks to preserve the old way of doing
| business in the world of music and films,
| where people bought CDs and DVDs - physical
| objects that cost money to make. Today, by
| contrast, the marginal cost of producing an
| MP3 file, say, is as near zero as to make
| no difference.
`----
http://www.computerworlduk.com/community/blogs/index.cfm?blogid=14&entryid=2874
ACTA Set To Cover Not Just Copyrights & Trademarks, But Seven Areas Of IP
,----[ Quote ]
| 1. Copyright and Related Rights
| 2. Trademarks
| 3. Geographical Indications
| 4. Industrial Designs
| 5. Patents
| 6. Layout-Designs (Topographies) of
| Integrated Circuits
| 7. Protection of Undisclosed Information
`----
http://techdirt.com/articles/20100322/1217518658.shtml
ACTA to cover seven catagories of intellectual property
,----[ Quote ]
| The ten defined terms include:
|
| * days
| * intellectual property (See below)
| * Council (ACTA Oversight Council)
| * measure
| * person (natural or juridical)
| * right owner (includes federation or
| assicaitons that have legal standing or
| authoirty to assert rights)
| * territory
| * TRIPS Agreement
| * WTO
| * WTO Agreement
`----
http://keionline.org/node/812
I Feel Like Iâm Taking Crazy Pills: EUâs Latest ACTA Proposal Outlaws the Internet
,----[ Quote ]
| Sometimes a story is so insane that you
| canât help but wonder if someone has
| slipped you some crazy pills. See, for
| example, the Google prosecution in Italy. I
| honestly thought that story could not be
| topped. But lo and behold, it appears that
| the EU has proposed to add third-party
| CRIMINAL liability to the Anti-Counterfeit
| Trade Agreement (ACTA). This essentially
| outlaws the entire Internet. Insanity.
|
| Background: Third party civil liability for
| copyright infringement is an emerging, but
| still controversial, doctrine as applied to
| the Internet. A site may be liable if it
| has incited and/or facilitated the
| violation of copyright, see Grokster. The
| limits of this doctrine are still being
| tested: it is not clear what level of
| hosting or facilitating actually triggers
| liability. For an example of this endemic
| uncertainty, the  512 of the DMCA creates
| a safe harbor for ISPs, provided that the
| ISP expeditiously removes infringing
| content after the ISP is put on notice.
| However, it is unclear what material is so
| obviously infringing that its very presence
| should put the ISP on notice (this is the
| controversial âred flagâ test).
`----
http://www.citmedialaw.org/blog/2010/i-feel-i%E2%80%99m-taking-crazy-pills-eu%E2%80%99s-latest-acta-proposal-outlaws-internet
The broad threats of ACTA
,----[ Quote ]
| DEMOCRACY:
|
| ACTA aims to create a new model of global
| governance that bypasses the normal
| procedures of multilateral international
| institutions, the European Parliament and
| national legislatures.
|
| A FAIRER WORLD:
|
| ACTA is a vast protectionist initiative to
| defend a few economic interests of the
| richest countries and to limit access to
| knowledge and other socially essential
| goods like medicines in the developing
| nations. Poorer countries will be forced to
| agree to ACTA's unfair provisions as a
| condition for free trade agreements and
| other bilateral accords.
|
| ACCESS TO AFFORDABLE, SAFE MEDICINE:
|
| ACTA willfully confuses fake, fraudulant
| drugs with legal, generic drugs under the
| same suspicion and same possible
| confiscation. Draconian border measures and
| criminal enforcement imposed on third
| countries will create barriers to trade in
| essential, life-saving medication and other
| goods.
`----
http://www.tacd-ip.org/blog/2010/03/22/the-broad-threats-of-acta/
ACTA and the European Commission: The great escape
,----[ Quote ]
| Members of Act Up-Paris and La Quadrature
| du Net attended this morning a Â
| stakeholders meeting  on ACTA hosted by
| the European Commission. Questions asked by
| the public faced a wall of condescendence
| and disdain. Luc Devigneâs answers did not
| reassure us. On the contrary, they
| strenghtened Act Up-Paris, April and La
| Quadratureâs concerns that ACTA could
| endanger access to medicine, Free Software
| and freedom of expression on the Net, while
| circumventing democratic processes.
`----
http://www.laquadrature.net/en/acta-and-the-european-commission-the-great-escape
ACTA â Stakeholdersâ Consultation Meeting
http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/press/index.cfm?id=517
ACTA New Zealand meeting agenda
http://keionline.org/node/809
ACTA: an unseen treaty in the making
,----[ Quote ]
| Le Monde diplomatique has just obtained a
| copy of section 2 of the ACTA treaty
| project, titled âBorder Measuresâ and
| consisting of a dozen pages outlining, in
| very detailed practical terms, the future
| of customs practices with respect to âgoods
| suspected of infringing intellectual
| property rightsâ.
`----
http://mondediplo.com/blogs/acta-an-unseen-treaty-in-the-making
EU defends itself from attack on ACTA
,----[ Quote ]
| At a public hearing in Brussels today, the
| EU executive tried to reassure business and
| civil liberties groups that the EU would
| impose criminal sanctions only on
| counterfeit goods "on a commercial scale,"
| but not on "proverbial housewife file-
| sharing," meaning by private individuals.
`----
http://www.euractiv.com/en/infosociety/eu-defends-itself-attack-acta-news-368771
EU Negotiators Insist That ACTA Will Move Forward And There's Nothing To Worry About
,----[ Quote ]
| The talking points from ACTA negotiators
| seem clear. When accused of being
| secretive, deny it and insist that you're
| being open. If really pushed on the matter,
| blame mysterious, nameless "others" for
| keeping the documents secret. Then, when
| specific items in the text are brought up,
| insist that these are being misrepresented,
| and if only you could see the real text
| (which you can't, because it's a secret)
| you'd know that it was all blown out of
| proportion. Then, finally, insist that ACTA
| won't change any laws. Of course, if that
| were the case, there would be no need for
| ACTA at all.
`----
http://techdirt.com/articles/20100323/0251578669.shtml
To: EC's Directorate General for Trade
,----[ Quote ]
| Without much fanfare, the European
| Commission has arranged an "ACTA
| Stakeholdersâ Consultation Meeting". Of
| course, the big problem is that it's in
| Brussels, and few of us can afford to take
| a day off work to attend - unless we are
| professional lobbyists, of course, who get
| *paid* huge sums to attend.
`----
http://opendotdotdot.blogspot.com/2010/03/to-ecs-directorate-general-for-trade.html
Big ACTA Leak: Full Consolidated Text
,----[ Quote ]
| La Quadrature du Net has obtained another
| ACTA document - and it's a biggie, but at
| the moment only a 56-page PDF. You can help
| convert it into text.
`----
http://opendotdotdot.blogspot.com/2010/03/big-acta-leak.html
ACTA's De Minimis Provision: Countering the iPod Searching Border Guard Fears
,----[ Quote ]
| The E.U. version:
|
| Where a traveler's personal baggage
| contains goods of a non-commercial nature
| within the limits of the duty-free
| allowance and there are no material
| indications to suggest the goods are part
| of commercial traffic, each Party may
| consider to leave such goods, or part of
| such goods, outside the scope of this
| section.]
|
| Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and
| Singapore support alternative wording:
|
| Where a traveler's personal baggage
| contains trademark goods or copyright
| materials of a non-commercial nature within
| the limits of the duty-free allowance {Aus:
| or where copyright materials or trademark
| goods are sent in small consignments} and
| there are no material indiciations to
| suggest the goods are part of commercial
| traffic, Parties may consider such goods to
| be outside the scope of this Agreement.]
|
| Japan favours the following:
|
| Where a Party excludes from the application
| of the provisions in this Section small
| quantities of goods of a non-commercial
| nature contained in traveler's personal
| luggage, the Party shall ensure that the
| quantitites of goods eligible for such
| exclusion shall be limited to the minimum
| allowed within its available resources.]
|
| And Canada, New Zealand, and the U.S. would
| also support this approach:
|
| Where a traveler's personal baggage
| contains goods of non-commerical nature in
| quantities reasonably attributable to the
| personal use of the traveler there are no
| material indications to suggest the goods
| are part of commercial traffic, each Party
| may consider that such goods are outside
| the scope of this section]
`----
http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/4900/125/
The EU ACTA Consultation: European Commission vs. European Parliament
,----[ Quote ]
| The European Commission hosted a
| fascinating consultation on ACTA today.
| Luc Devigne, the lead European negotiator,
| opened with a brief presentation and
| proceeded to field questions for over an
| hour. The full consultation video is
| available online. The discussion touched
| on many issues including Devigne arguing
| that the WTO consistently blocked any
| attempt to address IP enforcement issues
| and stating that the treaty is limited to
| enforcement and not new substantive
| provisions (this assumes that anti-
| circumvention rules are a matter of
| enforcement, not substance).
`----
http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/4894/125/
10,000 people call for proper debate on the Digital Economy Bill
,----[ Quote ]
| So far, over 10,000 people have written to
| their MPs demanding that the government
| does its job and holds a proper debate on
| the Digital Economy Bill. If you haven't
| done so already, send a letter to your MP
| now, and ask your friends to do the same.
| It's a simple, quick and easy process. You
| can either email the standard letter
| provided on that site, or write your own.
`----
http://www.pirateparty.org.uk/blog/2010/mar/23/10000-people-call-proper-debate-digital-economy-bi/
Your life will some day end; ACTA will live on
,----[ Quote ]
| The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement
| (ACTA) isn't just another secret treatyâ
| it's a way of life. If ACTA passes in
| anything like its current form, it will
| create an entirely new international
| secretariat to administer and extend the
| agreement.
|
| Knowledge Ecology International got its
| hands on more of the leaked ACTA text this
| week, including a chapter on "Institutional
| Arrangements" that has not leaked before.
| The chapter makes clear that ACTA will be
| far more than a standard trade agreement;
| it appears to be nothing less than an
| attempt to make a new international
| institution that will handle some of the
| duties of groups like the WTO and WIPO.
`----
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/03/your-life-will-some-day-end-acta-will-live-on.ars
Let's kill the Digital Economy Bill
,----[ Quote ]
| THE PEOPLE have the chance to rise up and
| crush the Digital Economy Bill before the
| UK Government grovels before the
| entertainment cartels.
|
| Thanks to people power society 38 Degrees
| and the Open Rights Group, Internet users
| who object to the threat of disconnection
| can write to their MPs and prevent the
| Government from rushing the bill through.
`----
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1597057/let-kill-digital-economy-bill
If ACTA Gets Approved, Expect China To Use It As Justification For Censorship
,----[ Quote ]
| While one of ACTA's biggest supporters,
| Rep. Howard Berman, is now pushing for laws
| to stop companies aiding in China's
| censorship, he might want to consider that
| a better plan would be to back down on
| ACTA. If ACTA passes, it seems quite likely
| that China would then use it as
| justification for its own "great firewall"
| censorship program. Already, we're seeing
| that China is looking to use plans for
| internet filters in Australia to its own
| advantage by comparing that system to its
| own -- and you can bet China would be
| thrilled to be able to use a US-backed
| concept to support its continued
| censorship.
`----
http://techdirt.com/articles/20100315/0229228556.shtml
ACTA: the new institution
,----[ Quote ]
| KEI has access to yet undisclosed sections
| of the negotiating ACTA text. The text is
| organized in 6 chapters. The longest is
| Chapter 2 on "legal framework for
| enforcement of intellectual property
| rights." The second longest is Chapter 5,
| on "Institutional Arrangements." In ten
| pages of text, the ACTA negotiators have
| set out a plan to create a new institution
| to administer, implement and modify ACTA.
| ACTA is seen as playing an important role
| that will rival in some ways the WIPO or
| WTO.
`----
http://keionline.org/node/807
New ACTA Leaks: Criminal Enforcement, Institutional Issues, and International Cooperation
,----[ Quote ]
| New ACTA leaks have emerged this week that
| fill in the blanks about the remainder of
| the still-secret treaty. While earlier
| leaks provided extensive detail on the
| Internet and civil enforcement chapters,
| these latest leaks shed new light into the
| criminal enforcement section, the chapter
| on ACTA institutional issues, and
| international cooperation.
`----
http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/4886/125/
Would the actions of the Digital Economy Bill be tolerated âofflineâ?
,----[ Quote ]
| Thereâs a race on, and no itâs not the
| Cheltenham festival. Should the election be
| held on the 6th of May as is expected then
| parliament will be duly dissolved around
| the 6th of April, which leaves only 10 days
| of parliamentary time to debate all the
| remaining laws trying to be passed. It is
| this reason that when the Lords finally
| passed the Digital Economy Bill on the 15th
| of March they spent a significant portion
| of time discussing the issue of the âwash-
| upâ, or a (relatively) clandestine period
| of legislative discussion that occurs in
| the twilight between an announcement of an
| election being made, and parliament being
| closed down for the impending election.
|
| [...]
|
| The Digital Economy Bill is a step back for
| all of us, and another shot in the foot for
| our very democracy; a heavy handed approach
| to a relatively small issue. So again, if
| you havenât done so please write to your MP
| and let them know you simply want them to
| do their duty in representing you and
| protecting you against hastily crafted law
| that isnât in your best interests. If weâre
| lucky then we may make sure that it is only
| the few uncontroversial parts of this law
| that make it on to the books.
`----
http://liberalconspiracy.org/2010/03/18/would-the-actions-of-the-digital-economy-bill-be-tolerated-offline/
Don't rush through extreme web laws
,----[ Quote ]
| Weâve teamed up with Open Rights Group to
| make it easy for you to write to your MP
| urging them to stop the Government rushing
| the bill through. Itâll take you less than
| 2 minutes. Just enter your postcode above
| (so we can find your MP) and click
| âparticipateâ to get started.
`----
http://www.38degrees.org.uk/page/speakout/extremeinternetl
Just As It Tries To Kick People Offline, The British Gov't Wants To Move All Public Service Online
,----[ Quote ]
| Just as it considers kicking people offline
| via the Digital Economy Bill, it looks like
| the UK is getting set to move all sorts of
| government services online -- giving every
| UK citizen a unique webpage, where they can
| access all sorts of personalized gov't
| services.
`----
http://techdirt.com/articles/20100321/2131548645.shtml
Rush to pass digital bill will 'sidestep democracy'
,----[ Quote ]
| A group of senior public figures have
| called on the government to abandon its
| plan to push through controversial digital
| economy bill before the election, amid
| claims that the move could "sidestep" the
| democratic process.
|
| Earlier this week the government revealed
| that it wants to force the digital economy
| bill - which includes the controversial
| "three strikes" rule to cut off the
| internet connections of those accused of
| illegal file sharing - into the statute
| books in the next few weeks.
`----
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/mar/19/digital-bill-open-letter
The BPI's China-like clauses in the Digital Economy Bill
,----[ Quote ]
| In other words, the Secretary of State gets
| to decide what counts as misuse, and
| reputational damage. Clauses 20 and 21 give
| further powers to take over management of a
| registry and change it's constitution,
| again by fiat.
`----
http://epeus.blogspot.com/2010/03/bpis-china-like-clauses-in-digital.html
A state-sponsored book-burning parade.
,----[ Quote ]
| For months, my head has been jammed with
| anger and ideas about the Digital Economy
| Bill that's in the last stages of being
| rushed through parliament. I keep meaning
| to discuss it on this blog, and I haven't.
| Not because I don't care - actually, this
| piece of legislation offends me personally
| and politically more than anything Labour
| have done since they took us into Iraq -
| but because I care so profoundly that I
| don't think anything I can say can really
| do it justice. Pathetically, I'm also a bit
| intimidated by the volume of clever stuff
| that's been already been said about
| corporate copyright protection, and I'm
| scared that if I try to express how I feel
| I'll reveal myself as a Stupid Shouty Girl
| who Doesn't Understand. But I've got to at
| least acknowledge that this matters to me.
| It matters because the Digital Economy Bill
| is one of the most significant assaults on
| human rights that Labour has managed to
| execute in its twelve-year trigger-happy
| showdown with British civil liberties.
`----
http://pennyred.blogspot.com/2010/03/state-sponsored-book-burning-parade.html
Debate: Will The Digital Economy Bill Undermine Our Basic Rights?
http://debatewise.org/debates/1784-will-the-digital-economy-bill-undermine-our-basic-rights
The Digital Economy Bill: A wise move?
,----[ Quote ]
| In one corner, we have the major record
| labels saying filesharing is theft that has
| "cost" billions; in the other we have the
| rest of the market showing that they donât
| agree. That cost includes the death of a
| retail market, which would seem an
| inevitable part of all downloading, not
| just illegal downloading. Music is
| downloaded (legally and illegally) on a
| scale that record sales never matched and
| there is evidence to show that consumers
| who download and share the most music are
| also the people who are buying it. Some
| companies want to grasp the opportunities
| the internet gives, but not adjust to its
| challenges.
`----
http://www.labourlist.org/digital-bill-a-wise-move-lisa-ansell
Brits: last chance to demand debate on Digital Economy Bill -- act now!
,----[ Quote ]
| We're in the final days for the British
| Digital Economy Bill. This Thursday, the
| House of Commons will decide whether to
| subject the bill to line-by-line debate
| (which will probably kill it or at least
| delay it until after the election), or
| whether to pass it without any real
| scrutiny or debate. Given that the DEB will
| touch every part of British life, from
| education to civic engagement to health to
| law enforcement to justice, it's insane to
| think that Parliament might pass it without
| even examining what it says.
`----
http://www.boingboing.net/2010/03/23/brits-last-chance-to.html
BPI Boycott
http://www.bpiboycott.org.uk/
BPI lobbyist Mollett tries for parliament
,----[ Quote ]
| What does the Parliamentary candidacy of
| the BPI's main spokesperson tell us about
| the links between the BPI (the four major
| record labels) and the Labour party?
|
| [...]
|
| Mollett is unlikely to be elected. In fact,
| Mollett stands a greater chance of scaling
| the north face of the Eiger than he does of
| winning leafy Farnham under a Labour
| banner. But his candidacy tell us more
| about the close ties between the
| organisation he lobbies for - the BPI - and
| the Labour party. The BPI, for which
| Mollett is head of corporate
| communications, has lobbied extensively
| for the Digital Economy Bill, and wrote at
| least one amendment. The BPI is currently
| trying to get the bill through Parliament
| without a debate, before the election. It
| is lobbying for the bill to either be
| voted through by lazy and uncaring MPs, or
| that in the so-called âwash-up' before the
| election, a deal will be done which ensures
| it goes through. A leaked email recently
| exposed the BPI's attitude (see also my
| previous article on the BPI email).
`----
http://www.iptegrity.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=490&Itemid=9
The Pirate Party UK Launches its 2010 Election Manifesto
http://www.pirateparty.org.uk/blog/2010/mar/22/pirate-party-uk-launches-its-2010-election-manifes/
U.K. Anti-Piracy Law To Allow Appeals
,----[ Quote ]
| The U.K. government says it will add
| measures to the Digital Economy Bill that
| will create an appeals procedure for those
| accused of online copyright infringement.
`----
http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/e3i6e499b206b4e48ab41bbdef479321201
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