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ACTA Is Backta, New Round of Talks Start Today 73

Posted by CmdrTaco from the forgive-me-rhyming-gods dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Negotiations on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement resume today in Lucerne, Switzerland, with the ninth round of talks. The Toronto Star highlights the mounting opposition to the deal from developing world countries such as India and China, while Michael Geist has posted a video of a recent lecture that provides background on the agreement and where things currently stand."
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ACTA Is Backta, New Round of Talks Start Today More

ACTA Is Backta, New Round of Talks Start Today

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  • Is that a facta?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by thijsh ( 910751 )
      No, quite the opposite, you're confusing it with Bacta [wikia.com], the medicine (for pretty much anything). "If there's a spark of life, bacta will keep you going."

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Atriqus ( 826899 )
      Well if it isn't, they should really post a redacta.

  • "ACTA is Backta" (Score:5, Insightful)

    by mdm-adph ( 1030332 ) on Monday June 28, 2010 @08:14AM (#32715506)

    Please don't ever do that again.

    • It's impossible to mod this sentiment too highly.

      No. Just no.

    • Re:"ACTA is Backta" (Score:4, Insightful)

      by noidentity ( 188756 ) on Monday June 28, 2010 @08:47AM (#32715810)
      No shit. It seems that many of the sites I've been reading have dropped to the level of some unknown blog, with lots of stupid things like this. Attention: your audience isn't a bunch of third-graders who are amused by headlines like that, among other cheap attempts at making something funny.

      • Dude -- I just thought it sounded kind of silly

      • I laughed, because it was so out of left field. But on the other hand, I also laugh at Scrubs.

      • Re:"ACTA is Backta" (Score:4, Insightful)

        by commodore64_love ( 1445365 ) on Monday June 28, 2010 @10:35AM (#32717102) Journal

        (turns off the pr0n). Yo chill! Homie don't play dat.

        Clearly this ACTA will be shoved through the same way NAFTA, DMCA, Pelosicare, and the EU Lisbon Treaty was shoved through even though 70-80% were against all of those bills/treaties. Alex Jones claims it's because governments are being run by a banking elite and megacorporations, but I don't think it's anything so complicated. I believe our leaders in the EU, US, and elsewhere have simply decided they are the new nobility, and they are blessed by god/time/fate/whatever to rule over the serfs (us). i.e. Democracy is dead; the People are ignored.

        ACTA will pass. It might change names (like the EU Constitution was renamed Lisbon Treaty) but eventually it will pass in direct opposition to our wishes.

        L8r.

        • Re:"ACTA is Backta" (Score:4, Insightful)

          by gstoddart ( 321705 ) on Monday June 28, 2010 @11:45AM (#32718004) Homepage

          Alex Jones claims it's because governments are being run by a banking elite and megacorporations, but I don't think it's anything so complicated.

          Then you, sir, have lost sight of the power of lobbying.

          ACTA, and anything related to trade and copyright have been pushed through because they've been beneficial to business interests. Most of the US bailout funds was spent on big banks because it would be awful if they had any inconvenience. Then, 6 months later, they're paying it back from record profits so they don't need to listen to the government telling them what they should do.

          'The people' are ignored because they're not making campaign contributions on the scale of the MPAA/RIAA, and ACTA is being pushed through because precisely those industries want to be sure that the world is beholden to the US DMCA style laws.

          You are correct, the politicians have decided they're the modern elite -- but, they still take a lot of direction from the corporations who tell them how they want things run.

          • I agree, it's businesses who are running this. But I solely blame government. They are responsible for passing the laws, not businesses. Any half-intelligent business will try to have the laws changed in their favor. It's the government's job to not do so. And yeah, it's silly to think that they could resist that money, which is why it shouldn't exist in the first place. Scale it all back, dismantle most of it; it's a tumor that's grown bigger than the host, and threatens society.

        • Dammit. I used to think that I liked you. Now I hate you. Why? Because you are right, of course. You're perfectly right. It matters not that as much as 99% of the population opposes a measure - if the government wants it, they will find some sneaky, underhanded way to ram it down our throats. Failing that, they'll ram it up our asses - it makes little difference to them.

          Ehhh - I don't hate you - I just hate your message for being so damned right.

        • I thought the Lisbon treaty gave the EU Parliament the ability to veto things like ACTA (and they've been expressing increasingly critical viewpoints about ACTA)?

      • "Attention: your audience isn't a bunch of third-graders"

        No shit, Sherlock. We know that some of you are fourth graders, who feel so superior to the little 3rd graders.

        Personally, I thought the title fell just short of "cute". Someone making an unapologetic attempt at some juvenile humor. Refreshing. Not quite cute, but almost there.

        Now, stop whining. A little originality and thinking outside the box are always welcome here.

    • Yes. That unfairly got my hopes up that we had legislated the healing liquid from Star Wars into being. I was thinking, "Wow! That's an awesome fix bill to ObamaCare!" only to be crushed by disappointment after checking the spelling.

  • ACTA (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Yaa 101 ( 664725 ) on Monday June 28, 2010 @08:15AM (#32715516) Journal

    ACTA is megalomaniac masturbation of the political and business elite.

  • No surprise (Score:5, Insightful)

    by dkleinsc ( 563838 ) on Monday June 28, 2010 @08:26AM (#32715576) Homepage

    For comparison, consider efforts to get voter approval for casino gambling in my home state. The potential casino owners attempted to get approval in just about every election, and despite being shot down 2 times eventually won on the third try. Why did they keep trying? Because even if they had to spend $100 million in advertising and campaigning, they knew that the upside was much higher than that. So they were continually willing to spend whatever money and time it took to win.

    ACTA is much like this. The copyright owners believe it will make them huge sums of money long-term, quite possibly in the $trillions. So they will keep spending the time and the money to propose ACTA or ACTA-like ideas until their opponents run out of time and money.

    • OT, but in my state, they not only got slots approved, but actually managed to have the State government purchase the slot machines for them.
  • Negotiating, in secret, a treaty that is likely to result in 'A responsibility' to pass a change in the laws of a country is intrinsically undemocratic and, as such, evil from a point of view of democratic principles.

    Freedom of speech is meaningless if the issues about which one has cause to speak are shrouded in maximal secrecy.

    • Re:Evil From a Democratic Point of View (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Jade_Wayfarer ( 1741180 ) on Monday June 28, 2010 @08:45AM (#32715794)
      Oh, that's easy. They'll just negotiate new meanings of words, like this:
      Freedom - licensed ability to use product, service or feature*.
      Speech - licensed ability to use copyrighted words and symbols of $language_of_choice for intercommunication**.

      * Subscription plans for advanced "freedoms" are available to premium users. Basic "freedom" pack includes a "freedom" to pay for services/products/features and "freedom" to consume advertising.
      ** Basic license grants ability to intercommunicate only with one other person. Mass intercommunication (with 2 or more persons at once) available only to premium users.

      After that you can enjoy your "freedom" of "speech" as much as you wish.***

      ***After exceeding a prepaid limit of enjoyment additional fees will be charged.

    • Negotiating, in secret, a treaty that is likely to result in 'A responsibility' to pass a change in the laws of a country is intrinsically undemocratic and, as such, evil from a point of view of democratic principles.
      Freedom of speech is meaningless if the issues about which one has cause to speak are shrouded in maximal secrecy.

      The democratic process is dead. What options are left to us?

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by JockTroll ( 996521 )

        >The democratic process is dead. What options are left to us?

        Boomsticks and boompacks. What else? The self-appointed elite sees no reason to listen to the little people, the little people must use extreme measures.

      • The jury box, unlikely to succeed in all honesty.

        The ammo box, where it all seems to be heading.

        I would prefer that blood not be shed but as History has shown, sometimes its the only way left to bring about change. For good or ill, there will be blood.

        • I'm sure there are a few things more worthy of bloodlust than imaginary property. You don't 'win' an arms race by upping the stakes. I thought people here were supposed to be clever. Do you beat someone to death because the sandwich you ordered wasn't quite to your liking? If silly shit like this makes you jump straight to thinking 'armed revolution' then I worry about the future...

          • I am in agreement with you about that. IP isn't worth a revolution.

            My comment was directed more at the world in general. Seeing how everything is going overall, the slow erosion of basic Human rights in even the country's that are "Free", the corruption of governments and religions, the greed. History has shown that when the "Ruling Elite", as it were, reaches a point where they have become so disconnected from the "common people" that the elite can not even comprehend how some people struggle just to f

      • > The democratic process is dead. What options are left to us?

        It is dead (at least in the US) because the people have allowed it to die. How many locations have laws ONLY permitting Democratic or Republican candidates for senate/congress/presidential races? How many have voter's sign up in advance as either republican or democrat and then hand out pre-filled in and/or custom ballots based on which party they have signed up for, and CAN'T vote differently on election day, even if they were aware enough

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by darkonc ( 47285 )

          How many have voter's sign up in advance as either republican or democrat and then hand out pre-filled in and/or custom ballots based on which party they have signed up for, and CAN'T vote differently on election day

          Excuse my language, but are you f*cking serious!!??????

      • What options are left to us?

        The next life..

  • Standings (Score:5, Informative)

    by Wowsers ( 1151731 ) on Monday June 28, 2010 @08:45AM (#32715784) Journal

    Where you stand with the ACTA agreement if implemented.... no need to worry about it, it will cut the legs off of ordinary people, whilst pandering to big money to tighten it's grip on the little people. Thus the problem of "where you stand" will be eliminated.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Renraku ( 518261 )

      Here in the United States, when it comes to copyrights, we haven't been standing for a while now. We've been bent over and taking it from behind. Companies are well on their way to getting their dream of perpetual copyright, and are also on the verge of being able to calculate lawsuit settlements in with their planned revenue. They want to build a magic device within the United States' legal system to let them have their cake and eat it too. Currently they're exploring the option of just having their cu

  • You can't win (Score:5, Informative)

    by rsilvergun ( 571051 ) on Monday June 28, 2010 @09:21AM (#32716218)
    you're up against full time lawyers, and you're just a bunch of starry eyed idealists with day jobs & kids on the way.

    • Re:You can't win (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Rudeboy777 ( 214749 ) on Monday June 28, 2010 @10:46AM (#32717236)

      As much as I'd like to share in your despair, there are always new starry-eyed idealists coming right up behind the generation that now has a day-job and kids. You may tell them to get off your lawn, but they will always be an important force in the world.

      • my niece's TV shows (Hanna Montana) depict file sharing as something evil that will get you put in jail and taken away. For real. Google the summaries if you don't believe.

        The new starry-eyed idealists will come up, but they're ideas will be in line with what ACTA's creators want.

        So unless you've got something better, I'm going back to despair. At least it's real.

    • Well, to be fair, there are a lot of lawyers whose day jobs are essentially working to oppose ACTA. They're both academics like Geist and activists working at places like the EFF and Public Knowledge. Also, industry and business are not unanimously behind ACTA at all. The Consumer Electronics Association opposes it, for example. So do companies like Google and eBay, but they haven't been very vocal about it, likely because they don't want to upset content owners and big trademark names respectively.

      That sai

  • ACTA has nothing to do with counterfeiting. (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 28, 2010 @10:35AM (#32717096)

    I downloaded the version of ACTA posted previously. Considering the title is the Anti Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, I figured it would talk about the illegal production of currency, with a page or two that lobbyists stuck in the middle dealing with copyright infringement. So I did a text search on "money," "coin" and "currency."

    The only results were talking about whether money exchanges hands for illegally copied works.

    In other words, the Anti COUNTERFEITING Trade Agreement has nothing to do with the illegal production of false currency. Nothing whatsoever. The "Counterfeiting" in the title refers to simple copyright infringement. It's trying to equate copyright infringement with one of the most serious crimes a sovereign nation can face.

    If a treaty has to lie right in the title in order not to provoke outrage by the citizens of the countries governed by it, it's a bad treaty. No exceptions.

    • Mod parent up - it's not an anon troll, it's the kind of post that's written anonymously for good reason.

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward

      counterfeit v.t. Imitate (an action, thing, etc.) with intent to deceive; make a fraudulent imitation of (money etc.).

      Counterfeit covers money but it also covers fake Rolex watches, fake medicines, fake DVDs, etc.

      • counterfeit v.t. Imitate (an action, thing, etc.) with intent to deceive; make a fraudulent imitation of (money etc.).

        Counterfeit covers money but it also covers fake Rolex watches, fake medicines, fake DVDs, etc.

        ....fake copyright treaties....

    • You're spot on, ACTA has zilch to do with currency counterfeiting. The title comes from the time when it was envisioned as a tool to deal with fake Gucci, D&G, & Louis Vuitton products, basically. Knock-off purses, sunglasses, clothing, all that stuff you can buy in the streets of every major city from vendors who spread them out on blankets.

      Then ACTA got an Internet chapter! Which is funny, you know, because there's really not much counterfeiting of that type going on online. (Actually, there is, w

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by SheeEttin ( 899897 )
      It's not referring to currency counterfeiting, but goods counterfeiting, like that guy on the street that sells "Rolex" watches for $5, or the guy that sells DVDs out the back of a station wagon.
      Of course, I assume that was the original target, but the final bill is apparently more targeted at your everyday consumer, trying to put all the power in the hands of corporations.
  • Not intended for medical use a long time ago in a galaxy far, far, away.

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