Ladies and Gentlemen, A giant threat emerges...

[ProfessorFarnsworth]

A recently disturbing (well, a couple of years ago) development has been revealed about a treaty that could threat the very foundations of the internet and the information age. It's makers are keeping it somewhat secret and even suppressing some FOIA request to disclose it. I am referring to the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA for short). This treaty allows the following to become reality:

* Adds third party entities as liable for Intellectual Property Infringements (meaning ISP/web hosts will be held legally liable for clients breaking copyright laws). This alone will kill the internet as we know and love. Sites like YouTube, Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, etc would be forced to spy on users content, activity and even web traffic to ensure there's no illegal infringement activity emerging, or worse simply shut down because it can't cope. This goes way beyond current measures employed. Since this applies to ISPs too, they would be forced to monitor ALL internet traffic in order to prevent being liable for illegal infringing content. This could even span to installing spyware on your computer to search your computer files for anything that could break these laws too.

* Allows customs/police to seize any items you carry to check for Intellectual Property Infringements. So if you just happen to have something on your laptop even by accident while walking down the street or airport; you're fucked as they are granted the right to search, confiscate and destroy the offending device and punish you for it.

I skim through the actual draft of the 2009 ACTA document which was leaked on Wikileaks, and that's the two definite summaries you can make of it already. However there is another rumour floating around which I can't fully confirm via the documents, that is:

* There will impose the MPAA three strikes policy, which is a policy that if you just ACCUSED of hosting, uploading or downloading Intellectual Property Infringing content three times, you will be banned from the internet for a full year, with legal charges filed against you too on top of it.

Ladies and Gentlemen, this ACTA is not what it seems, it's got little to do with what the makers claim it is and they didn't want it to be well known. This treaty will be globally applied to countries participating in it. It can easily be exploited to be converted into the ultimate threat to freedom of speech on the internet.

Here's a link to an actual leaked classified document:

http://www.wikileaks.org/wiki/Classified_US%2C_Japan_and_EU_ACTA_trade_agreement_drafts%2C_2009
http://www.wikileaks.org/wiki/Category:ACTA <--- go here to find more leaked documents about ACTA

Here's the official USTR information about ACTA:

http://www.ustr.gov/trade-topics/intellectual-property/anti-counterfeiting-trade-agreement-acta

Here's some commentaries of it and the controversies surrounding it:

http://www.encyclopediadramatica.com/ACTA
http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2009/01/29
http://blogs.siliconvalley.com/gmsv/2009/11/draft-of-secret-copyright-treaty-should-give-you-chills.html

Here's a very hilarious but also serious business take on it by Angry Aussie:



Spread the word in any way people, this is serious business. It's not finalized or passed yet, so awareness must be made now before it's too late!

[ProfessorFarnsworth]

This should concern you the most Odeon and Soph (but everyone should be worried nevertheless); because if the ACTA is finalized and passes, any video, picture, text or audio hosted on your site that's infringing copyright could see you held legally liable for it, as well as the person who put it on there.

[jman]

All I am going to say is historically the government always seems to underestimate the power of tubes. I am too tired to elaborate ATM, but I do want to quelch your paranoia.

[ProfessorFarnsworth]

All I am going to say is historically the government always seems to underestimate the power of tubes. I am too tired to elaborate ATM, but I do want to quelch your paranoia.

Yeah, the saying that "censorship is seen as damage and the internet routes around it" and the word "Anonymous" comes to mind, so the internet as we love it will survive in some way, shape or form.

But this treaty is still serious business and bad news, no matter how you look at it. I wouldn't bother mentioning it if I didn't feel that it poses a legitimate threat. I don't consider my concerns as paranoia because I don't put it past them to implement this, and screw everyone over (or force them "underground"). It's historically shown at least that in countries which implemented internet filters for example; they first started by marketing and using their filters against child porn, but then they were later found to be adding political dissents, controversial views and various undesirables to their internet filters too. This treaty might not directly involve filters per se, but the principle of abuse still applies.

The point is, if the ACTA is passed, at first it will do as marketed, and then gradually become malicious over time. Prevention is better than adapting in this case.