The Pirate Bay
ACTA has been receiving a lot of flak recently, but for the wrong reasons. Most of the arguments raised against ACTA by much of the internet - forced ISP surveillance, stifling of innovation in generic medicine - are actually factually inaccurate. The real threats posed by ACTA are not from heavy handed provisions; they actually result from lack of transparency and subtle politicking.
Just got two letters back from MEPs
Both of them contain a lot of information that I already knew but they both also say that they’re concerned as well and about much the same things as us:
Secondly we stressed that ACTA must target only commercial and not
individual counterfeiters. In our opinion the need to address serious
counterfeiting should not lead to any erosion of civil liberties. In
this regard I and other Labour MEPs object to any ‘three strike’ rule
whereby Internet service providers can suspend the Internet connection
of copyright infringers after two warnings. Equally my colleagues and I
do not support so called border measures such as the searching by
Customs of travellers’ iPods or laptops for illegally downloaded files.
…
Please be assured that the Parliament’s commitment to transparency also
applies to our consideration of the ACTA agreement in the International
Trade committee. Once the Parliament analysis and discussions in
Parliament begin, debates and considerations of the text will be fully
open to the public and streamed live on the European Parliament website.
-David Martin, MEP
I have sent emails to 24 different UK MPs about ACTA.
They may not read them but I am trying.
I’ve also sigend every single petition I can and have seen about ACTA.
So if you’ve not done anything, please do.
I’m doing my best but we all need to do this to get our voices heard.
Emailing MPs is great and better than signing petitions for getting this stuff heard - however I’d reccommend contacting MEPs as well since they’re the ones who’ll be voting on ACTA come the summer.
Hopefully I’m not treading on your toes. :(
Guys. ACTA. IS. NOT. A. LAW. OR. A. BILL.
It cannot be enforced. All it is,is a international agreement between the countries that signed it,that online piracy should be ended. The Obama Administration signed ACTA back in 2011. The question isn’t why they didn’t inform us(even though it was a bullshit move,but that’s a totally different story),the question is why haven’t we seen anything happen? And as in that,I mean look at Youtube. For example, hundreds of people make video game playthrouhgs. Nothing has happened. BECAUSE IT CAN’T BE ENFORCED. IT’S JUST AN AGREEMENT,NOT A BILL. Bills like SOPA and PIPA were shut down because of US. The People. We’ll just shut them down again. So relax.
Yep, this.
(Source: masyafbakesale)
Oooh, what is this? Let’s read and go through it, si?
Here are some things I don’t understand:“Recent studies suggest that millions of legitimate jobs are destroyed each year by counterfeiting and piracy across the globe and that the value of counterfeit and pirated goods could grow to an estimated Euro 1.26 trillion by 2015”
Sounds alarming. Though I would suggest proper citations before you refer to such studies. You know, citations? Giving credit where credit is due? Something we University students spend hours doing to avoid any kind of plagiarism?“ACTA does not target private, noncommercial activities of individuals, nor is its purpose to institute the monitoring of individuals or to intrude into their private spheres.”
No? I thought ISPs were responsible for what was viewed or is that also a misconception? It doesn’t seem to be clarified in this document however. The only mention of ISPs is:
“ACTA does not mandate governments to require ISPs to terminate users’ Internet connections”
What, then?This document doesn’t seem to clear up anything for me. If anything I feel a little insulted. ‘Explanations’ are given without referencing to and quoting from the actual text/proposal, which would have been an asset in clearing up these so-called misconceptions.
All quotations in bold from:
http://www.inta.org/Advocacy/Documents/ACTA%20-%20Why%20You%20Should%20Support%20It%202012.pdf
Huh. Skimmed that document (too tired to read it properly right now) and they do make some good points (especially about the misinformation) but they don’t back them up from the text of ACTA itself which is kind of important. Oh and the ‘friendly’ font pisses me off.
“ACTA does not target private, noncommercial activities of individuals, nor is its purpose to institute the monitoring of individuals or to intrude into their private spheres.”
Having read the agreement I think this is probably intended to be the case but the actual language is so vague that I couldn’t see anything that would stop them from applying it to, well, anything. :/ I don’t doubt that the EU doesn’t intend to pass much in the way of scary SOPA-esque leglislation right away but the potential ramifications of ACTA still scare me, especially in the US.
Also, this is the text of ACTA re ISPs:
A Party may provide, in accordance with its laws and regulations, its competent
authorities with the authority to order an online service provider to disclose
expeditiously to a right holder information sufficient to identify a subscriber whose
account was allegedly used for infringement, where that right holder has filed a legally sufficient claim of trademark or copyright or related rights infringement, and where such information is being sought for the purpose of protecting or enforcing those rights. These procedures shall be implemented in a manner that avoids the creation of barriers to legitimate activity, including electronic commerce, and, consistent with that Party’s law, preserves fundamental principles such as freedom of expression, fair process, and privacy.
Make of that what you will…
(Source: sverigempreg)
Guys I ain’t gonna shut up about this. VOLUNTEERS FOR ANTI-ACTA LONDON PROTEST URGENTLY NEEDED!!
PROTEST HAS BEEN PUSHED BACK TO 11TH FEBRUARY!!!!!
CURRENTLY RECRUITING! ALL ROLES URGENT! Apply on the Main Page.
- A Deputy (Very urgent!!)
A deputy is someone second in charge, below the convener. The deputy will be required to join the meetings beforehand with the convener, the police and the council. The deputy will also be needed to help spread signals and communication throughout the event and attend to any distress amongst our group.
I also need the deputy to sign the 3175 form for me as I have issues with my landlord.
- Marshals (at least 1 to every 10 people)
Marshals are required to monitor and keep the protest under control. They will need to know the route well and may need to attend one meeting before the protest. Marshals must wear either a BRIGHT red coloured armband or a jacket. Marshals are also responsible for reporting any violent/illegal behaviour to both the authorities and the convener.
- First Aiders
First aiders must have some form of experience in First Aid. They will be required to carry a kit with them and attend to any injuries and distress amongst the group. First Aiders will wear a BRIGHT green armband or a jacket, preferably with a cross.
- Spokesmen/Black Bloc (front liners)
These people will be the ones confronting the police. They will need to be dressed in all black. The black clothing is to make the crowd larger, and also to make identification harder amongst the individuals. These people are also responsible for holding the largest banners.
- Observer
Will be required to monitor activities ahead and report to the front line. Close communication needed, also with the convener and the deputy who are responsible to deliver the message to the rest of the group. Knowledge of London streets encouraged.
- Camera/Filming
These people will document the event. The media can’t always be accurate and unbiased, and we must have other reliable sources as well. Live streaming is encouraged. AnonOps will be able to broadcast our channel.
(via thenonexistence)
A thought on anti-piracy warnings
So I was just thinking about 90s anti-piracy warnings that you used to get on videos - anyone else remember those?
Some things just struck me:
- They were always devoted to commercial piracy. I don’t ever remember seeing any that suggested that recording a film with your VCR might also be piracy (and was that actually illegal? IDEK).
- The message was generally some combination of ‘don’t buy pirated videos because it’s damaging to the entertainment industry and the quality will be shite and the people who make them are crooks’.
Compare that to the message of the current anti-piracy warnings (you know the one - YOU WOULDN’T STEAL A CAR etc.): PIRACY. IS. STEALING. with obnoxious techno music (used against the composer’s permission in a disgusting bit of hypocrisy) blaring in the background. No explanation as to why it’s damaging, and the focus is entirely on the person doing the downloading rather than the person distributing.
Is it really any wonder that ad is kind of ineffective. o_o
EU Parliament member quits ACTA, calling it a masquerade
In an unprecedented move, the French MEP Kader Arif has quit his position of scrutinizing the upcoming Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) for the European Parliament, calling the passage through the EU policies system a masquerade.
“I want to denounce with utmost vigor the process that led to the signing of this agreement: no association of civil society, lack of transparency from the beginning of negotiations, successive postponements of the signing of the text without any explanation being given, setting aside the claims of the European Parliament [despite those views being] expressed in several resolutions of our Assembly,” Kader Arif said in a statement translated from French on his website yesterday.
ACTA aims to create a centralized intellectual property enforcement policy for each of the European member countries. The European Parliament will vote on it in June, after the EU’s International Trade committee (INTA) reviews it in its current form. Arif was previously assigned as a “rapporteur” with special responsibility for the treaty.
He said he had “faced unprecedented maneuvers from the right wing of Parliament to impose an accelerated schedule to pass the agreement as soon as possible before the public is alerted, thereby depriving Parliament of its right of expression and the tools at its disposal to carry the legitimate demands of citizens.”
The controversial treaty in its current form will not mean any changes to EU law, and has already had many of its more severe clauses removed during negotiations that happened behind closed doors. It will however affect EU citizen’s civil liberties, the responsibility of ISPs over Internet traffic and possible copyright violations by its customers, as well as the manufacturing of generic drugs according to Arif.
He is very concerned that ACTA could have a major impact on the lives of European citizens, and says the treaty appears to be produced in such a way as to make the European Parliament have no say. Upon stepping down from his post Arif firmly stated that he would “not participate in this charade.”
It is unusual to see such honesty in political circles and gives a very clear and direct message. Despite this, the EU signed it Wednesday, so it’s now up to the European Parliament to decide. Those in support of ACTA believe it is now a done deal, but perhaps Arif’s condemnation of the whole process will encourage others to speak out as well.
(source)
(Source: relatedworlds)
