Secret ACTA Treaty May Sport "Internet Enforcement" Procedures After All 239
Andorin writes "Ars Technica writes about the recent work on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, and reveals that while the public does not have access to the text of the agreement, a handful of lawyers representing Big Content and numerous companies and organizations do. 'Turns out that... ACTA will include a section on Internet "enforcement procedures" after all. And how many people have had input on these procedures? Forty-two. ... Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) found out in September that the US Trade Representative's office had actually been secretly canvassing opinions on the Internet section of the agreement from 42 people, all of whom had signed a nondisclosure agreement before being shown the ACTA draft text.'"
Freedom of Information Act (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Senate likely to pass treaty (Score:5, Interesting)
Speaking of....
I CLEARLY remember an emergency session being called right after they went into recess a few years back (4-8 years ago I believe) because they passed a budget that contained a provision that removed privacy protections from tax return information.... and of course.... nobody read the bill.
Of course, as much as many hate the idea, it could be REALLY BAD for political figures, big businessmen etc, so they held an emergency summer session, and fixed it.
Anyway, I clearly remember it.... maybe my brain is broken in a way that makes it not interface seamlessly with google, but I can't find a single article or reference to this incident, which is too bad, because it is a link that could be really useful in say.... discussions like this.
Anyone remember this? Anyone have a link?
-Steve
How can this be secret? (Score:4, Interesting)
Evens out in the end (Score:1, Interesting)
That's OK. People don't abide by secret laws (by definition)
So since this will make me a criminal, and I can be punished for doing nothing defined as illegal, I might as well live it up and break all related laws. I mean, if I am to be imprisoned for years for breaking a law that isn't even a real law (a law has to be public to be followed and enforced) then I will ensure I perform all the crimes that I will be paying for with my incarceration.
Don't forget about Cybersecurity Act of 2009, too (Score:5, Interesting)
That bill would allow the President to shut down the private internet in the event of an emergency--a phrase so broad as to allow any excuse he chooses--along with unrestricted access to data by the Secretary of Commerce under regular conditions. The EFF has an informative overview [eff.org] of the legislation. It's currently in a committee, but that doesn't mean it should be ignored. Thankfully, the EFF has done a good job of keeping an eye on things like this.
we need a spy (Score:2, Interesting)
to post something to wikileaks
Re:have you seen my representative government late (Score:3, Interesting)
incorrect:
"we the people are no longer the boss"
If that was true, they wouldn't need to hide it.
Re:Don't forget about Cybersecurity Act of 2009, t (Score:3, Interesting)
Guess what?
The president has the authority to shut down every think else in the event of an emergence.
How many times ahs the president shut down a freeway? Airline traffic? phones?
Not very often. It would be political suicide to shut down anything where there isn't a clear public emergency that impacts specifically whatever he is shutting down.
Yes, t should be open. Lets not get paranoid.
Re:What are they hiding?! (Score:4, Interesting)
I wold imagine they want to keep the lid on the techniques they are looking at for anti-counterfeiting.
Single point of failure (Score:3, Interesting)
Wipe it from Google, wipe it from history.
Re:have you seen my representative government late (Score:4, Interesting)
Really. Show me on single 'love it or leave it' comment directed at the state's rights types. It seems to me that we had eight years of the right wing claiming any dissent was unpatriotic, and we lefties should 'love it or leave it.' But now that the left is in power, they are whining that we are doing it to them. Even if we were, which we aren't, turnabout is fair play.
Funny thing, when the left criticizes the government, we are unpatriotic commies bent on destroying America. However, when the right criticizes the government, they are being patriotic. Our criticisms are 'knee jerk' while theirs are calm and rational. Do you not see the utter hypocrisy?
Re:The number is... 42? (Score:3, Interesting)
Of course, from an economic view, IP legislation is very similar to taxation, except the tax rates on the specific monopoly products are set by private interests. (And with 5-20% efficiency, it's also a whole lot less efficient than most government run tax-financed programs).
IP isn't free. The wider it's applied and the harder it's enforced the more it costs the economy and IP is one of the reasons the west has difficulty competing with low-cost countries.
Just calling a taxation form 'property' doesn't make it so. So where's the representatives for those who will see their taxation burden increased even more?
Re:Don't forget about Cybersecurity Act of 2009, t (Score:5, Interesting)
Kidnapping two people is enough where I come from [wikipedia.org]
Re:Senate likely to pass treaty (Score:3, Interesting)
Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.
Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.
Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside
And it is ragin'.
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'.
Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin'.
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'.
The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin'.
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'.
Radicalize (v., trans.) (Score:3, Interesting)
ACTA will include a section on Internet "enforcement procedures" after all.
Dear Imperial Overlords,
Are you familiar with the term "radicalize"?
Are you aware that the script kiddies of the world are extremely unskilled?
Do you really think you control, or can control, the Internet?
You are guests in our world. Try reading some cypherpunk. Me, I'm interested in other things, but keep this up, and an increasing number in our community will begin to get defensive and protect our community from you interlopers.
Just the facts, not trying to be a dick or anything.
Have a good day,
Bob
Re:No Mainstream Media Coverage (Score:3, Interesting)
It hit the newspapers here a long time ago - they called it "Is your iPod illegal?"
That is what's needed to get the public interested - tell them how ACTA will hurt them.
Since there's been nothing but bad news coming out of the way, how about full page ads saying stuff like:
"Jailed for copying their CD to their iPod"
"Jailed for recording last's night TV"
"Jailed for singing in the shower"
"Jailed for using Windows XP" (... because it lacks the Copyright Protections in Vista/7)
"Jailed for quoting a book" (... magazine article, newspaper article, movie, TV show, etc. Extend with "writing a bad review of" too).
"Flying with electronics? Please arrive 6 hours prior to departure for electronics (including iPods, cameras, laptops) screening"
"Purchased a new TV? Guess what? You can't use it anymore!"
"Own a TV bigger than 42 inches? It's too big - you'll need a performance permit to use it"
"Friends over for the Superbowl? Hope they're not staying to watch - it's illegal"
A bit of hyperbole, yes, but given it's ACTA we're talking about, there's a good chance it's true. People are calling for no format shifting and no timeshifting without payment. And while the border patrols say they won't scrutinize iPods and the like, it's an ever-present threat.
A simple marketing campaign directed at stuff people do every day without a second thought. Don't bother with crap like downloading music or anything, just stick with stuff that's perfectly legal today and not contentious. Hell, if you want to add some fun FUD, add stuff like "Copyright taxes for iPods, blank media, hard drives, computers, internet service".
And yes, I mention iPods specifically, because the general public knows iPods. They don't know MP3 player.
Re:Senate likely to pass treaty (Score:1, Interesting)
I think the only way to stop ACTA now is to engage in FUD.
We must engage in a long and nasty FUD campaign, of which the likes no one has ever seen. If they will not reveal information on ACTA, we must slander it until we utterly destroy it. The only way to counter this campaign would be to release information on ACTA, which would also be a victory.
Seriously.
Re:Single point of failure (Score:3, Interesting)
Interesting episode, but obviously the scifi genre is running out of new ideas (and ST TNG probably ripped it from somewhere else, no doubt).