The Anti Counterfeiting Trade Agreement

[.:Mega:.]

The ACTA is a proposed law said to fight counterfeiting, but in reality it is something much worse. Until recently, it was kept behind closed doors, but a recent link has shed the light on this atrocious law.

Here is what the ACTA would potentially do to the internet.

Require Internet service providers (ISPs) to disconnect individuals accused (not convicted) of repeated copyright infringement;
Require ISPs to hand over their subscribers’ identities to copyright owners without any due process or judicial oversight;
Require ISPs to make potentially expensive modifications to their networks in an effort to prevent copyright infringement;
Prohibit the U.S. Congress from reforming the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which makes it a crime to defeat copy protection even when making a copy is perfectly legal;
Require all countries to implement DMCA-like laws for their own populations, without the benefit of fair use or other legal exceptions that provide a modicum of protection for speech;
Threaten potential innovators with outrageous financial penalties for copyright infringement; and
Criminalize even non-commercial uses of copyrighted materials.

In short, if you're even suspected of copyright infringement? Say bye bye to your interwebs.

Here is a video that explains ACTA in greater detail and provides many links to information about it, including the entire leaked document.

Here are some particularly daunting quotes...

"it's judicial authorities shall have the authority upon a justified request of the right holder, to order the infringer,[for purpose of collecting evidence] any information that the infringer possesses or controls."

All documents are up for scrutiny.

"Each party may also provide that its customs authorities may act, upon their own initiatives, to suspend the release of goods suspected of infringing other intellectual property rights."

They're allowed to seize property, even computers, at airports and borders.

"No party may condition the limitations in subparagraph (a) on the online service provider's monitoring its services or affimatively seeking facts indicating that infringing activity is occuring."

No party can say what an ISP can and can't do to make sure you aren't violating copyright.

This is a pretty big deal, which is why I decided to post it here, but I understand if it belongs in intelligent discussion; I just wasn't sure where to place it.

 

[ZiggyK]

They were doing this in my country not too long ago. But that also included schools and business. And ISPs HAD to cut off internet on a suspicion. But it was never passed due to public outrage.

The thing is, a reasons why a law like this would never work is

a.) It violates human privacy and rights. As of now, they need a good reason to look at ISP logs and HDD contents. It's like the cops showing up for a drug search without a warrant then parading through your knicker drawer.
b.) Illegal content is everywhere on the internet. Watching a music video on the internet is illegal. Downloading a song, illegal. And next to everyone does it, without knowledge or awareness. If some kid looks up a music video at school, bam, the schools net is down.
c.) The moment you automatically go onto a website, everything on that site that you see is downloaded, so it can be displayed on your monitor. If you go to the youtube website, you download the youtube logo, which is copyrighted. The copyright isn't there to stop you downloading it, but to stop you from using it, but under this law, the moment you go onto YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. you're breaking the law, downloading LEGAL material. It's absurd.

Such a law should not be put in place, and if it is, it shouldn't force other countries to follow suit. The only way for copyright laws to be protected is not by laws like this, but by developers creating anti piracy measures on their software.

 

[Gram]

damn were getting just that much closer to a china firewall :/

 

[Dogenzaka]

Well...I'll only be a poor college student for a few more years before I might be able to afford all of the ridiculous monetary consumption the entertainment industry expects me to contribute.

 

[Leonard]

Holy crap, that sounds quite extreme.

Almost too extreme to believe it actually. Are those sources really legit? :/