ACTA up
The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is a treaty being negotiated by Australia, Canada, the European Union, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, South Korea, and the United States. Despite the name, the treaty’s main concern is not just the protection of brand names against generic knock-offs, but also the protection of intellectual property.
The problem is that this treaty is being negotiated in secret, so no-one knows what is going to be in it. That said, the few available indications are so ominous that the Free Software Foundation has launched a campaign (via) to raise public awareness of the possibilities.
Although the proposed treaty’s title might suggest that the agreement deals only with counterfeit physical goods (such as medicines), what little information has been made available publicly by negotiating governments about the content of the treaty makes it clear that it will have a far broader scope, and in particular, will deal with new tools targeting “Internet distribution and information technology”.
What we know so far is that the proposed agreement would empower security officials at airports and other international borders to conduct random searches of laptops, MP3 players, and cellular phones for illegally downloaded or ripped music and films. Travellers with infringing content would be subject to a fine and may have their devices confiscated or destroyed.
A document leaked to Wikileaks also includes a provision to force Internet service providers to provide information about suspected copyright infringers without a warrant, making it easier for the record industry to sue music file sharers and for officials to shut down non-commercial BitTorrent websites.
As it stands, the proposals look very much like a shopping list from groups such as the Recording Industry Association of America and the Motion Picture Association of America, both of which have been lobbying governments in the United States and other countries for similar measures for years. And the agreement is completely out of control even before the negotiations are concluded as it would create its own governing body. So existing international institutions such as the World Trade Organization, the World Intellectual Property Organization and the United Nations would have no oversight.
Wednesday 23 Jul 2008 | Paul | Corporate Maneuverings, Politics, Technology
