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ACTA: threats to Free Software
,----[ Quote ]
| Second, ACTA is not a trade agreement.
| Whatever the EU negotiators claim, the fact
| is that ACTA goes beyond current
| legislations and aims at creating
| internationally harmonized legislations on
| how âintellectual property rightsâ should
| be enforced. This is one of the reason why
| ACTA is creating its own body (the
| Committee) with its own executives (the
| Secretariat), independently from the World
| Trade Organization within which
| international trade agreements should be
| negotiated, and independently from World
| Intellectual Property Organization within
| which international treaties dealing with
| copyright, trademark and patents are
| usually negotiated (and open to NGOs like
| FSFE). The threat to Free Software is that
| there is absolutely no safeguards as to how
| the principles of freedom and sharing
| software would be kept intact.
`----
http://blogs.fsfe.org/hugo/2010/04/acta-threats-to-free-software/
ACTA Treaty Draft Text Released
,----[ Quote ]
| ACTA is also similar to another arcane law,
| the Digital Millennium Copyright Act
| (DMCA), which, under the guise of
| protecting "property rights," snuck in
| provisions that criminalize even the mere
| possession of technology that can be used
| to circumvent digital protection systems
| (see, e.g., my post TI Uses Copyright Law
| to Attack TI Calculator Enthusiasts).
| Likewise, under the guise or protecting
| property rights in inventions and artistic
| works (patent and copyright), it "seeks to
| provide legal authority for the
| surveillance of Internet file transfers and
| searches of personal property". As one
| group notes, "ACTA goes way, way beyond the
| TRIPS (the copyright/patent/trademark stuff
| in the World Trade Organization agreement),
| creating an entirely new realm of liability
| for people who provide services on the
| net". More invasion of personal liberty and
| property rights in the name of false,
| artificial property rights.
`----
http://www.againstmonopoly.org/index.php?perm=593056000000002878
One Act is over for ACTA: How Will the Drama End?
,----[ Quote ]
| This is certainly a victory for
| transparency, if only a partial one. It's a
| victory because it would never have
| happened had not countless organisations
| and individuals protested loudly and
| repeatedly against this travesty of
| democracy whereby we would be presented
| with a fait accompli once the trade
| agreement had been signed. It's a victory
| because certain of the worst clauses,
| present in the leaked version of a couple
| of months ago [.pdf], seem to have
| disappeared according to a thorough
| analysis on Ars Technica.
`----
http://www.computerworlduk.com/community/blogs/index.cfm?blogid=14&entryid=2922
â Going Open
,----[ Quote ]
| âparticipants have reached unanimous
| agreement that the time is right for making
| available to the public the consolidated
| text coming out of these discussionsâ â
| About time too. They couldnât keep it
| secret any longer because too many people â
| including those inside the process â
| thought it was a disgrace. I wonder if they
| had to surrender any principles to the US
| in order to gain that unanimous agreement?
| Weâll know on Wednesday, after which the
| âyouâre wrong and Iâll not tell you whyâ
| defence for ACTAâs apologists is also off
| the table.
`----
http://webmink.com/2010/04/18/links-for-2010-04-18/
Recent:
Netizens: How ACTA will make a criminal of you
,----[ Quote ]
| The 'Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement'
| (ACTA) might sound like it's aimed
| exclusively at the crooks selling pirated
| DVDs at the markets, but it's really about
| curbing the behaviour of individual internet
| users, according to one of Australia's
| leading legal academics.
`----
http://www.itnews.com.au/News/171910,netizens-how-acta-will-make-a-criminal-of-you.aspx
Q & ACTA, with Michael Geist
,----[ Quote ]
| With the Wellington round of the
| controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Trade
| Agreement (ACTA) talks underway, organised
| opposition to the proposed treaty on
| intellectual property rights and enforcement
| is also gathering in the New Zealand
| capital.
|
| Long-standing ACTA critic Dr Michael Geist
| from Canada is also in Wellington, and
| iTnews.com.au caught up with him there and
| asked him a few questions on the proposed
| treaty and what it means for all of us.
`----
http://www.itnews.com.au/News/171926,q--acta-with-michael-geist.aspx
How ACTA could sneak in a three strikes system
,----[ Quote ]
| Internet users that download pirated
| material can expect a "three strikes system"
| in the wake of ACTA even if it isn't
| legislated, according to one of Australia's
| top legal authorities on the controversial
| trade agreement.
|
| As reported yesterday on iTnews, University
| of Queensland law lecturer Kimberlee
| Weatherall has written a 37-page
| comprehensive analysis of the latest leaked
| draft text of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade
| Agreement (ACTA) and concluded that netizens
| do indeed have a lot to be concerned about.
|
| Despite assurances from Australia's
| Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
| (DFAT) that Australia has no intention of
| introducing a "three strikes" system
| compelling ISPs to disconnect users
| suspected of file-sharing, Weatherall's
| reading of the leaked draft of ACTA suggests
| the agreement will likely allow rights
| holders to achieve the same result through
| different means.
`----
http://www.itnews.com.au/News/171980,how-acta-could-sneak-in-a-three-strikes-system.aspx
IIA to ask members to sign ACTA petition
,----[ Quote ]
| Internet Industry Association (IIA) chief
| executive officer Peter Coroneos has said he
| plans to ask his members to sign a
| declaration calling for more transparency in
| the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement
| (ACTA) talks being held this week in
| Wellington, New Zealand.
|
| The agreement aims to establish
| international standards on how to enforce
| intellectual property rights given the
| changes the internet has brought to
| copyright. There have been a number of
| rounds nutting out details for the
| agreement, involving delegations from
| multiple countries such as Australia,
| Canada, the European Union, Japan, Korea,
| Mexico, Singapore, Switzerland, Morocco and
| the US.
`----
http://www.zdnet.com.au/iia-to-ask-members-to-sign-acta-petition-339302365.htm?omnRef=NULL
The Wellington Declaration
,----[ Quote ]
| This week marks the start in Wellington New
| Zealand of the next round of ACTA
| negotiations, nominally the US-led Anti-
| Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. The scope
| of the agreement, however, has extended
| well beyond trade in fake medicines and
| knock-off Gucci handbags into the technical
| realms of file-sharing, ISP liability,
| disconnection, and DRM. Such issues have
| been contentious where they've arisen in
| New Zealand, France, the UK, USA, and
| elsewhere, yet negotiators seem ignorant of
| consumer and technology concerns. To
| correct this, the open PublicACTA
| conference two days ago drafted and
| released the Wellington Declaration.
`----
http://radar.oreilly.com/2010/04/the-wellington-declaration.html
The PublicACTA Conference Webcast
http://www.r2.co.nz/20100410/
Breaking! Live webcast on ACTA-negotiations available
https://www.bof.nl/2010/04/12/breaking-live-webcast-on-acta-negotiationsavailable/
U.S.: No ACTA Transparency Unless Other Countries Cave on Substance
,----[ Quote ]
| The U.S. Trade Representative issued a
| release just prior to the launch of the New
| Zealand round of ACTA negotiations that has
| left no doubt that the U.S. is the biggest
| barrier to official release of the ACTA
| text. The full text of the release is
| couched in terms of improving transparency,
| but is really a thinly-veiled shot at the
| European Union's public demands for release
| of the text. The U.S. statement:
|
| "In this upcoming round of ACTA
| negotiations, the U.S. delegation will be
| working with other delegations to resolve
| some fundamental issues, such as the scope
| of the intellectual property rights that
| are the focus of this agreement. Progress
| is necessary so that we can prepare to
| release a text that will provide meaningful
| information to the public and be a basis
| for productive dialogue. We hope that
| enough progress is made in New Zealand in
| clearing brackets from the text so that
| participants can be in a position to reach
| a consensus on sharing a meaningful text
| with the public."
`----
http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/4949/125/
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