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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSOPA? BAD, but the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement's been quietly ratified & is a bigger threat
An ACTA of war: Secret censor tool to shake up world wide webhttp://rt.com/news/acta-internet-censor-treaty-591/
As cyberspace turns its attention to the SOPA and PIPA bills in the US, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, or ACTA, has been quietly signed or ratified by most of the developed world and is arguably the biggest threat to Internet freedom yet. ACTA has officially been in the works since 2008, and was signed by the US, Australia, Canada, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore and South Korea in 2011. All negotiations were held behind closed doors, and it is mostly thanks to Internet hacktivist groups like Anonymous that news of the potential damage ACTA could cause has spread.
Most recently, Anonymous turned their attention to Poland, where officials announced that they will sign the controversial treaty on January 26. A number of government website attacks has left them paralyzed for two days, and several Polish websites have since announced they will go dark in protest at the treaty, echoing recent unprecedented actions by Wikipedia, Redditt, BoingBoing and many others. However, Polish officials have said they will sign the agreement as planned. Government minister Michal Boni said "The ACTA agreement in no way changes Polish laws or the rights of Internet users and Internet usage, after a meeting with Prime Minister Donald Tusk. The irony of that statement is that ACTA will do exactly that. It will surpass the sovereign laws of participating nations, especially in the matter of ISP monitoring.
ACTA's reach is far more global, with countries like the US, Switzerland, Japan and all European Union members in its grasp. It is allegedly being introduced "to create new legal standards of intellectual property enforcement, as well as increased international cooperation, an example of which would be an increase in information sharing between signatory countries' law enforcement agencies." But in reality, the measures that have been worked on by behind-the-scenes politicians and media industry moguls are just shy of draconian.
Under this new treaty, Internet Service Providers will police all data passing through them, making them legally responsible for what their users do online. And should you do something considered "breach of copyright" like, for instance, getting a tattoo of a brand logo, taking a photo and posting it somewhere, you may be disconnected from the Internet, fined or even jailed.
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SOPA? BAD, but the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement's been quietly ratified & is a bigger threat (Original Post)
stockholmer
Jan 2012
OP
So, all those ebay sellers that download photos from the manufacturer's website...
hlthe2b
Jan 2012
#1
It is the highest priority for the "state" to get control of the internet. W/O it, freedom fighters
rhett o rick
Jan 2012
#2
All those NASCAR fans with their fav logos tattooed on their (_)s, get em up against the wall
Electric Monk
Jan 2012
#6
hlthe2b
(102,272 posts)1. So, all those ebay sellers that download photos from the manufacturer's website...
are now subject to fines or jail? Really....
rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)2. It is the highest priority for the "state" to get control of the internet. W/O it, freedom fighters
will have a much harder time. But it wont help them in the long run, because the peoples of the world will not be slaves.
it is not lost on me that capital is global, and our response to it will have to be global as well
solidarity
WillyT
(72,631 posts)3. HUGE K & R !!! - Thank You !!!
cyberpj
(10,794 posts)5. It would appear that SOPA and PIPA were distractions if you ask me.
This one is the real trouble.
Electric Monk
(13,869 posts)6. All those NASCAR fans with their fav logos tattooed on their (_)s, get em up against the wall
up against the wall
up against the wall
up against the wall
etc etc etc
"The illusion of freedom will continue as long as its profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theater." - Frank Zappa
woo me with science
(32,139 posts)7. All of this is chilling.
The push for control of the internet and surveillance of all of us has escalated to an alarming pace. This is absolutely not just about copyright. The global protests against global corruption and theft have shaken the one percent.
Occupy now, because they are rushing structures into place to prevent occupation later.