A call for action

Started by The Corrupt Plague November 24th, 2009 11:02 PM
  • 656 views
  • 12 replies
Age 29
Male
Glitch city
Seen June 11th, 2015
Posted May 9th, 2015
785 posts
13.8 Years
Hello Internet Citizens. I would advise you to wake up to whats coming to harm our web. The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, OR "ACTA" treaty being proposed in secret at the International level, could, and would if passed, ruin our free Internet as we currently know it. in short, this would enforce a 3-strikes and your out policy that would result in you being banned from web access if you get 3 "accusations" from anybody of copyright infringement. ISP's would now be forced by legal liability to police the web for copyrighted data, and take-down anything that would be assumed copyrighted, and that includes just about any data online since anything may "possibly" be copyrighted. So what this would result in, would be the end of all user generated-based websites. Such as Youtube, Myspace, Rapidshare, even Blogs! Finally this would give police around the world strict new powers to confiscate your electronic devices at national and state borders. And if they happen to find copyrighted material on them they may take your device and send you the fine! It is time we stand up for our Internet before it is gone. Come join us, in fighting this tyranny!
Here are some news links that can be read at your disposal....
http://boingboing.net/2009/11/03/secret-copyright-tre.html
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/11/policy-laundering/
http://blogs.siliconvalley.com/gmsv/2009/1...you-chills.html
And if you still don't believe us, The Official Doc. of ACTA : http://www.ustr.gov/sites/default/files/uploads/factsheets/2008/asset_upload_file760_15084.pdf

Do your part everyone, do your part in the fight to save our web. This is truly the greatest conflict or threat the Internet has ever faced, do not merely sit there, stand up and fight before we lose it all.....

Credit goes to Team Brushfire for the awesome banner!

gummybarz

Age 28
Male
☉☽☿ ♀ ⊕ ♁ ♂ ♃ ♄♅ ♆ ♇ ⚳ ☄
Seen September 23rd, 2016
Posted January 10th, 2016
783 posts
14.3 Years
What is this, I don't even.

My brain hurts from reading all of that. Internet isn't free by the way, you have to pay for wifi or the old fashioned dial up. Is this some type of joke? Or is this really real?
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Seen September 18th, 2020
Posted February 18th, 2018
7,741 posts
16.6 Years
As usual the United States is spreading its jackassery to the shores of other nations.
But I digress; the Internet no longer being a free place is like the notion of nuclear a strike on a country in that the reprisals will be too great to consider and the actual benefits null regardless.
No sane country will agree to this, but unfortunately there aren't many sane countries these days. If the **** hits the fan I'll just have to find one and move there.

You say we should stand and face this, but you fail to link to any petition or the like.
Age 29
Male
Glitch city
Seen June 11th, 2015
Posted May 9th, 2015
785 posts
13.8 Years
Thanks for reminding me, Cassino, I almost forgot to post it. Here is the petition right here: http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?stopatca
Also, for anyone who reads this, I would recommend telling everyone you know about this, both online and offline. If enough people protest, I think it will fold over from the public backlash.

Credit goes to Team Brushfire for the awesome banner!

.Seth

.explorer.

Male
A capacitor in a power supply board.
Seen February 8th, 2016
Posted December 30th, 2010
1,644 posts
14.9 Years
You take out freedom, you take out individuality. You take out individuality, you take out entertainment. You take out entertainment, you take out motivation. You take out motivation, in comes mass depression.

Ivysaur

Grass dinosaur extraordinaire

Age 32
He/him
Madrid, Europe
Seen 2 Days Ago
Posted April 5th, 2023
21,076 posts
16.2 Years
I don't think it is so secret, I saw a two-page report about that in today's edition of the best-selling Spanish newspaper XD

But, reading the treaty project, the policy will or won't be applied depending on each nation's existing law, meaning it won't override any current laws by default. Plus any citizen may ask for a proper judicial review. And finally, this law mainly tries to prevent P2P download of movies and CD's. Nobody is going to try and remove a clip from Youtube, at least nobody that doesn't do it already.

Mainly because censoring any general kind of "copyright infringement" would be a plain nonsense, and would only help increase the results of the Piracy Parties in the EU (they already have a deputy in the EU congress).

And kids, remember than encrypting the downloadable archives, there won't be any way to know whether you are downloading a movie or a recording of your last birthday.
The City!
Seen September 14th, 2016
Posted March 14th, 2011
704 posts
15.1 Years
I can appreciate. Thievery is bogus.
You mean, from someone whos had art stolen from them before, this is great?

I think that's what you meant to say.


Also, this does not look good for homestarrunner.

Starting today...I'm alone...
Ageless Irony

{ credit }

txteclipse

The Last

Age 32
Riverside
Seen March 23rd, 2023
Posted November 2nd, 2016
2,322 posts
15.7 Years
You mean, from someone whos had art stolen from them before, this is great?
Correct. Also, either I'm missing something, or those news sites are blowing things way out of proportion. Nowhere does the article say that stuff can be taken down without evidence or whatever.
The City!
Seen September 14th, 2016
Posted March 14th, 2011
704 posts
15.1 Years
Correct. Also, either I'm missing something, or those news sites are blowing things way out of proportion. Nowhere does the article say that stuff can be taken down without evidence or whatever.
hahahaha your edit skills are useless in the face of my power.

It doesn't look too bad, but 95% of youtube is kind of screwed, ahahah.
Basically, it's just what it is now, except with larger consequences, and some net police.

Not a fan of net police, though.

Starting today...I'm alone...
Ageless Irony

{ credit }

Agent Cobalt

Proud U.S. Army Soldier

Age 33
Male
New Jersey
Seen December 11th, 2009
Posted December 10th, 2009
191 posts
14.9 Years
And if you still don't believe us, The Official Doc. of ACTA : http://www.ustr.gov/sites/default/fi...e760_15084.pdf
Do your part everyone, do your part in the fight to save our web. This is truly the greatest conflict or threat the Internet has ever faced, do not merely sit there, stand up and fight before we lose it all.....
Let's take a look, shall we?
Hello Internet Citizens. I would advise you to wake up to whats coming to harm our web. The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, OR "ACTA" treaty being proposed in secret at the International level, could, and would if passed, ruin our free Internet as we currently know it.
Q: Why has the ACTA been kept from the public?
A: This process has not been kept from the public. On October 23, 2007, the partners involved in the proposed agreement at that time publicly announced that they had initiated preliminary discussions on the development of ACTA. The United States has invited and received public comments on the ACTA negotiations, as have several other participating governments. The following materials are available on the USTR website:
• USTR statement on second round of ACTA negotiations August 2008
• USTR statement on first round of ACTA negotiations June 2008
• Responses to ACTA Federal Register Notice
• ACTA Federal Register Notice February 2008
• ACTA Press Release October 2007
• Fact sheet from the October 2007 announcement
• Ambassador Schwab’s remarks at the October 2007 announcement

So no, it's not a secret. :cer_disbelief:
in short, this would enforce a 3-strikes and your out policy that would result in you being banned from web access if you get 3 "accusations" from anybody of copyright infringement. ISP's would now be forced by legal liability to police the web for copyrighted data, and take-down anything that would be assumed copyrighted, and that includes just about any data online since anything may "possibly" be copyrighted. So what this would result in, would be the end of all user generated-based websites.
Benefits of ACTA:
• Enhancing international IPR enforcement by partnering with countries that recognize the critical importance of such enforcement.
• Strengthening the international fight against pirates and counterfeiters who steal from businesses and workers, discourage innovation and creativity, threaten health and safety, provide an easy source of revenue for organized crime, and cause loss of tax revenue.
• Building on the successes of the Strategy Targeting Organized Piracy (STOP) initiative, a government-wide effort started in October 2004 to confront piracy and counterfeiting.

Our goal is to achieve a new kind of agreement combining commitments to strong laws with a framework for ongoing cooperation and the promotion of effective enforcement practices. This approach aims not only to strengthen legal frameworks, but also to bridge the gap between laws on the books and strong enforcement on the ground, and to foster ongoing cooperation and leadership. This combination builds on solid foundations:
• Past agreements have addressed the legal framework for IPR enforcement.
o The WTO TRIPS Agreement defines international minimum standards for IPR enforcement – a base on which the ACTA will build.
o U.S. free trade agreements (FTAs) also provide models for building on the enforcement standards contained in TRIPS.
• International cooperation and enforcement practices have already been enhanced through growing efforts in international fora such as the G8 and APEC, and efforts with the EU and with Canada and Mexico starting with the US-EU and SPP summits in 2005.

A critical mass of key trading partners is engaged in the ACTA effort. Participants in the first round of negotiations (June 2008) included Australia, Canada, EU, Japan, Jordan, Korea, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates and the United States.

Provisions of the ACTA are still under negotiation, but participants aim to reach agreement in three main areas:
• International Cooperation: Potential provisions include capacity building and technical assistance in improving enforcement, and international cooperation among enforcement agencies.
• Enforcement Practices: Potential provisions include formal or informal public/private advisory groups; fostering of specialized intellectual property expertise within law enforcement structures to ensure effective handling of IPR cases; and measures for raising consumer public awareness.
• Legal Framework: Potential provisions include criminal enforcement, border measures, civil enforcement, optical disc piracy, and IPR enforcement issues relating to Internet distribution.

Q: Where did the idea for ACTA come from?
A: ACTA represents the coming together of many related efforts by the United States and our trading partners. On the U.S. side, the STOP initiative announced in October of 2004 led to increased cooperative engagement with a wide range of trading partners to step up the fight against piracy and counterfeiting. That engagement gave impetus to the ACTA.
Q: Do you think other countries will join in the future?
A: We hope that other countries will join over time, reflecting the growing international consensus on the need for strong IPR enforcement.
Q: What is the value of this agreement if more countries are not initially a part of it?
A: The ACTA will provide leadership toward better protection and enforcement of IPRs, and enhance partnership with countries that share a similar level of ambition. Piracy and counterfeiting are growing global issues that have become a concern for all. They have adverse effects on a nation's economy, as well as on the public health and safety of its population. Through enhanced leadership and partnership, the ACTA can improve the international climate for IPR enforcement in ways that potentially benefit all countries.

So this is about targeting large-scale abuse of intellectual property rights and international cooperation to stop copyright violations and theft. Dear God. :cer_cry:
Finally this would give police around the world strict new powers to confiscate your electronic devices at national and state borders. And if they happen to find copyrighted material on them they may take your device and send you the fine!
Q: Will the border enforcement provisions of the ACTA require searching travelers’ music players or laptops for infringing content?
A: No. The focus of the discussion on border measures has been on how to deal with large-scale intellectual property infringements, which can frequently involve criminal elements and pose a threat to public health and safety. Past U.S. free trade agreements have called for ex officio authority for border enforcement, meaning that border officials are empowered to enforce the law on their own initiative, without waiting for a complaint from a right holder. But this in no way requires searches of travelers’ music players or computers.

So no, there won't be raids on your electronic junk. So your stolen songs and porn folders are safe. :cer_shifty:
It is time we stand up for our Internet before it is gone.
Q: Will the ACTA rewrite U.S. law?
A: No. Only the U.S. Congress can change U.S. law.

This is a *discussion* between international trading partners to promote ways to protect free trade and the property rights of people and to properly enforce copyright laws and fight copyright violation. :cer_no:
Come join us, in fighting this tyranny!
Oh yeah, copyright laws for protecting intellectual property rights is the modern day version of the Stamp Act. :cer_pissed:

twocows

The not-so-black cat of ill omen

Age 32
Male
Michigan
Seen February 19th, 2023
Posted April 30th, 2021
4,307 posts
14.2 Years
Most of the stuff about ACTA right now is rumor and speculation. The contents of it are completely under wraps at this point. There have been "releases" from sources that can't actually provide hard evidence because their documents are watermarked (if they released them, they could be traced and prosecuted). With no papers to backup the rumor, all we can do is ask our congresspeople to oppose the cloud of secrecy surrounding this nonsense; we can't fight something if we don't know for certain what it is.

Oh yeah, copyright laws for protecting intellectual property rights is the modern day version of the Stamp Act. :cer_pissed:
Usually, the only group that stricter IP laws help is the publishers. Better business strategies that involve easier access and payment for content online would bring in a lot more money than simply suing people for posting infringing material. Steam is a great example of this; sales for games like Portal have been through the roof for the past few years despite the availability of it on most download sites. Is it because Valve spends their time suing every person who is found to download an illegal copy of the game? No, it's because Steam makes it ridiculously easy to buy a game online and play it on your computer. iTunes is another example of this; Apple has made a killing off this service because it makes getting the music people want not only cheap, but easy as well. Combating piracy is like trying to cut the head off a hydra; each time you think you've got it nailed, it comes back stronger. The current generation of infringement sites are thousands of times easier and more useful than, say, Napster was back in the earlier part of the decade. Even if the big names manage to shut down infringement sites today, it's pretty reasonable to assume that they'll be back in a few years, stronger than ever.
VNs are superior to anime, don't @ me