Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets across Europe yesterday in coordinated opposition to the draconian Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), a treaty which threatens the existence of the Internet as we know it.
It was only a fortnight ago that that protesters were celebrating small victories against SOPA and PIPA copyright and piracy legislation, yet all the while a far greater threat to currently enjoyed liberties was looming in the shadows.
With attention on these two Washington born proposals combined with a lack of mainstream media coverage, ACTA took many of us in the UK us by surprise. Yet power of the Internet in its uncensored form has helped to spread the word with concerned citizens quickly changing course, creating a firewall of 11th hour protest against this latest attack on the world wide web.
The treaty has to date already been signed by 22 EU members, including the UK, but has yet to be ratified by the European Parliament , members of which will debate the treaty in June. The impressive scale of the European wide protests that have already taken place may have had some impact, with Germany delayed signing the agreement in order to, a spokesman said, “give us time to carry out further discussions”.
As I discussed in previous posts the powers that be are becoming increasingly determined to grasp control of the information that we have access to. The Internet is perhaps the greatest tool for the free flow of information that we the people have ever had at our disposal . The Internet has been extremely effective in shining a mega watt light on Government corruption, for highlighting the shadowy growth of global government and presenting plausible alternative views on everything from terrorist attacks, to the real reasons for wars through to global warming. The Internet in its current form has enabled us as free-thinking individuals to gather information from sources that we trust or find credible, to form our own view of the world around us and see beyond the parrot fed realities that are presented to us through the mainstream media by those who do not wish for us to get too close to the truth or ask too many difficult questions.
ACTA is an international trade agreement negotiated by the European Union, the United States, Japan, Canada, South Korea, Australia, Mexico, Morocco, Singapore as well as a few other countries, whose aim is to enforce copyright and tackle counterfeited goods. The agreement seeks to introduce a new intellectual property enforcement treaty providing protection for content creators in the face of increasing levels of online piracy.
However, campaigners are awake to the notion that, if adopted, the agreement would lead to fundamental freedoms being stripped away. It would herald in an era of privatized online censorship in which Internet service or access providers will be forced to become become copyright enforcers. By making companies criminally accountable for their customer’s online activity, this agreement will encourage these providers to censor their networks , thus creating a chilling effect that is a real danger to free speech.
The main problem with this treaty, campaigners claim, is that all the negotiations were done secretly, keeping the public and civil organizations out of the table. All the information until 2010 relied on leaks that they state reveal intentional secrecy to misled the public on ACTA negotiations which commenced in 2007 and finalized in 2010.
“The European Parliament has had no representation in ACTA negotiations. Just accepting or rejecting an agreement is not an exercise of democracy as under the Lisbon Treaty.”
Zuzana Roithova, Member of European Parliament, EPP, Czech Republic
“ACTA is legislation laundering on an international level of what would be very difficult to get through most Parliaments.”
Stravros Lambrinidis, Member of European Parliament, S and D, Greece
“The European Parliament has had no representation in ACTA negotiations. Just accepting or rejecting an agreement is not an exercise of democracy as under the Lisbon Treaty.”
Zuzana Roithova, Member of European Parliament, EPP, Czech Republic
“It is extremely regrettable that democratic debate has been eliminated from talks that could have a major impact on such a fundamental freedom as free expression.”
Reporters without Borders, European Parliament Sakharov Prize Winners
“Any measures concerning people’s right to go online need to be brought in through the proper democratic channels, not via self-regulation, and made into EU law.”
Andrea D´Incecco, public affairs manager from EuroISPA (Business association of European Internet Service Providers)
“We can only assume that the final text could do great harm in developing countries and undermine the balance between the protection of intellectual property and the need to provide affordable medicines for poor people.”
Rohit Malpani, OXFAM, from a press release criticising possible impact of ACTA.
“We are in danger of ending up with the worst of both worlds, pushing IP rules, which are very effective at stopping access to life-saving drugs but are very bad at stopping or preventing fake drugs.”
Michelle Childs of Médecins Sans Frontières, Nobel Peace Prize winners, has issued a very critical statement on ACTA.
Europe Wide Protests Act on ACTA
Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets across Europe yesterday in coordinated opposition to the draconian Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), a treaty which threatens the existence of the Internet as we know it.
It was only a fortnight ago that that protesters were celebrating small victories against SOPA and PIPA copyright and piracy legislation, yet all the while a far greater threat to currently enjoyed liberties was looming in the shadows.
With attention on these two Washington born proposals combined with a lack of mainstream media coverage, ACTA took many of us in the UK us by surprise. Yet power of the Internet in its uncensored form has helped to spread the word with concerned citizens quickly changing course, creating a firewall of 11th hour protest against this latest attack on the world wide web.
The treaty has to date already been signed by 22 EU members, including the UK, but has yet to be ratified by the European Parliament , members of which will debate the treaty in June. The impressive scale of the European wide protests that have already taken place may have had some impact, with Germany delayed signing the agreement in order to, a spokesman said, “give us time to carry out further discussions”.
As I discussed in previous posts the powers that be are becoming increasingly determined to grasp control of the information that we have access to. The Internet is perhaps the greatest tool for the free flow of information that we the people have ever had at our disposal . The Internet has been extremely effective in shining a mega watt light on Government corruption, for highlighting the shadowy growth of global government and presenting plausible alternative views on everything from terrorist attacks, to the real reasons for wars through to global warming. The Internet in its current form has enabled us as free-thinking individuals to gather information from sources that we trust or find credible, to form our own view of the world around us and see beyond the parrot fed realities that are presented to us through the mainstream media by those who do not wish for us to get too close to the truth or ask too many difficult questions.
ACTA is an international trade agreement negotiated by the European Union, the United States, Japan, Canada, South Korea, Australia, Mexico, Morocco, Singapore as well as a few other countries, whose aim is to enforce copyright and tackle counterfeited goods. The agreement seeks to introduce a new intellectual property enforcement treaty providing protection for content creators in the face of increasing levels of online piracy.
However, campaigners are awake to the notion that, if adopted, the agreement would lead to fundamental freedoms being stripped away. It would herald in an era of privatized online censorship in which Internet service or access providers will be forced to become become copyright enforcers. By making companies criminally accountable for their customer’s online activity, this agreement will encourage these providers to censor their networks , thus creating a chilling effect that is a real danger to free speech.
The main problem with this treaty, campaigners claim, is that all the negotiations were done secretly, keeping the public and civil organizations out of the table. All the information until 2010 relied on leaks that they state reveal intentional secrecy to misled the public on ACTA negotiations which commenced in 2007 and finalized in 2010.
from → Blogicomments, Blogivids, Internet Censorship, Media, society