[Upd-discuss] Inquisitr's Only Prediction for 2010: ACTA

[Seth Johnson]

My only prediction for 2010 and it ain’t pretty
> http://www.inquisitr.com/54746/my-only-prediction-for-2010-and-it-aint-pretty/

   "Very little of this global trade agreement has anything 
   to do with fighting piracy and has everything to do with 
   dismantling individual country copyright laws and 
   replacing it with a Universal Trade Agreement. The reason 
   for this backdoor approach is because any and all local 
   country laws would basically have no standing in disputes 
   as they would be governed by the UN/WIPO backed ACTA 
   treaty."


> http://www.inquisitr.com/54746/my-only-prediction-for-2010-and-it-aint-pretty/


My only prediction for 2010 and it ain’t pretty


Author : Steven Hodson

Posted: December 30, 2009 


I realize that it is common practice come this time of year for us to
all sit back and ruminate over all the wonderful and earthshaking
things we have written about in the past year and to delve into the
murky depths of the future and prognosticate using our incredibly
sharp intellect what will happen in the year to come. Well I can’t
stand doing that except in very rare occasions – and this is one of
those years.

I’m not going to bother looking back because other than increasing
pageviews possibly for all of a minute or two it is a boring and
pointless exercise mainly because the majority of time, regardless of
how we might spin our past words, we’re wrong. No, what I want to do
is to look to 2010 and the one thing that will have the most profound
effect on our lives and the Web.

It’s a prediction that will come as a result of events that have been
happening for some time now but really has culminated in 2009 to
create a foundation from which how we use the Web and what we can do
there will be forever changed. Changed in such away that we will no
longer have the freedoms that we brag about today and seem to think
are some sort of inalienable right.

So here’s my one and only prediction for 2010:

   This will be the year in which we will see the biggest 
   assault on copyright laws around the world. The end 
   result of the secret war against copyright laws and the 
   consumer will be one of the total annihilation of our 
   copyright laws as we know them.

Sure we have all read posts about how the entertainment industry is
trying to get changes made to existing copyright laws in various
countries and the response has for the most part been a big *YAWN* and
then it’s on to whining and gushing respectively over Twitter and
Facebook. The problem is that the movement to gut existing copyright
laws, being led by the US entertainment industry, is only a shadow of
the real effort that will supersede any local country laws.

This is all being done behind closed doors where even government
officials are being required to sign NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreements).
Yes, NDAs on the creation of a new global treaty – something that has
never been done before because laws and treaties are suppose to be
open to public examination and input. This isn’t the case with the
Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) however
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Counterfeiting_Trade_Agreement).

Don’t let the "Anti-Counterfeiting" part fool you either because in
reality very little of this global trade agreement has anything to do
with fighting piracy and has everything to do with dismantling
individual country copyright laws and replacing it with a Universal
Trade Agreement. The reason for this backdoor approach is because any
and all local country laws would basically have no standing in
disputes as they would be governed by the UN/WIPO backed ACTA treaty.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation on ACTA (emphasis is mine)
(http://www.eff.org/issues/acta/):

   In October 2007 the United States, the European 
   Community, Switzerland and Japan simultaneously announced 
   that they would negotiate a new intellectual property 
   enforcement treaty, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade 
   Agreement, or ACTA. Australia, the Republic of Korea, New 
   Zealand, Mexico, Jordan, Morocco, Singapore, the United 
   Arab Emirates and Canada have joined the negotiations. 
   Although the proposed treaty’s title might suggest that 
   the agreement deals only with counterfeit physical goods 
   (such as medicines), what little information has been 
   made available publicly by negotiating governments about 
   the content of the treaty makes it clear that it will 
   have a far broader scope, and in particular, will deal 
   with new tools targetting "Internet distribution and 
   information technology".

Professor Michael Geist, Canadian Professor and Canada Research Chair
in Internet and E-Commerce Law at the University of Ottawa, has been
one of the lone voice foretelling of the dangers to come with ACTA.
You can read all his posts on ACTA here, but here are a few snippets:

   Given the recent backlash at WIPO, the U.S. is avoiding 
   the U.N. system.  Instead, it has created a new 
   counterfeiting coalition of the willing that includes the 
   European Union, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, 
   and Canada.  Those countries yesterday simultaneously 
   announced enthusiastic support for a new trade agreement 
   with negotiations to begin next year.  Indeed, 
   International Trade Minister David Emerson’s announcement 
   to the House of Commons brought the MPs to their feet 
   (http://mycelium.chanterelle.ca/en/video/play/id/471e54a975e30).

   This treaty could ultimately prove bigger than WIPO – 
   without the constraints of consensus building, developing 
   countries, and civil society groups, the ACTA could 
   further reshape the IP landscape with tougher 
   enforcement, stronger penalties, and a gradual 
   eradication of the copyright and trademark balance.

   - Is ACTA the New WIPO
(http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/2318/125/)

   Rather than negotiating in an international venue such as 
   the United Nations and opening the door to any interested 
   countries, ACTA partners consisted of a small group of 
   countries (Canada, United States, European Union, Japan, 
   Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Morocco, and 
   Singapore) meeting in secret and opposed broadening the 
   process. The substance of the treaty was also accorded 
   the highest level of secrecy.  Draft documents were not 
   released to the public and even the locations of 
   negotiations were often kept under wraps.  In fact, the 
   U.S. government refused to disclose information about the 
   treaty on national security grounds.

   - ACTA Threatens Made-in-Canada Copyright Policy
(http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/4525/99999/)

   While the substance of the treaty will remain fodder for 
   much debate, Canadian officials recently hosted a public 
   consultation during which they acknowledged the true 
   motivation behind the ACTA. Senior officials stated that 
   there were really two reasons for the treaty. The first, 
   unsurprisingly, was concerns over counterfeiting. The 
   second was the perceived stalemate at WIPO, where the 
   growing emphasis on the Development Agenda and the 
   heightened participation of developing countries and non-
   governmental organisations have stymied attempts by 
   countries such as the United States to bull their way 
   toward new treaties with little resistance.

   - The ACTA Threat To The Future Of WIPO – Intellectual Property
Watch :: Michael Geist
(http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/2009/04/14/the-acta-threat-to-the-future-of-wipo/)

This is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the assault
against copyright laws. It is an attack that is taking place around
the world: Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Europe and the US just to
name a few. It is an attack that is taking place behind closed doors
under a shroud of secrecy that is being enforced through never before
seen NDAs at all levels.

It is planned that all these secret negotiations taking place will
finish in 2010 and the world will be presented with a new world wide
copyright/IP treaty that has been written and bullied through all
levels of individual country governments by the US entertainment
industry and their trade groups around the world.

If we think the copyright systems we have in each of our country is
draconian I can promise you this – you ain’t seen nothing and if you
don’t think this fight over copyright laws isn’t important then you
sincerely need to give your head a shake. Under the provisions, that
we know of from leaks, of ACTA we will see a sudden shift of power on
the Internet. It will no longer be a medium of the people but instead
it will be the new money machine of the entertainment industry and any
voices against them will suddenly find themselves silenced and bereft
of any legal recourse.

It won’t be our Internet anymore. So think about that as you all get
woodies about how important Twitter is. Think about it as you bicker
over whether RSS is dead, whether blogging is dead, or whether
real-time search is the next killer app.

I would like to think that people are smart enough to see the coming
danger – especially those of us in the tech industry – and do
something to stem this tide. Sadly though we’re too worried about some
new shiny toy. Too worried that we don’t have enough followers. Too
worried about whether we are among the first to be using some stupid
ass service.

The really sad part about this?

I don’t see it changing.