ACTA – SOPA and P.I.P.A’s International Cousin
We’re sure by now that most if not all of you are familiar with SOPA and PIPA, both of which are extremely dangerous to the future of the internet as we know it.
What you might not have heard of is the lesser-known ACTA, which stands for Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement and is designed to protect intellectual property in a similar way to SOPA.
The main differences with ACTA are quite big once you dig down a little, for one thing – ACTA was negotiated in complete secrecy without providing any knowledge to the public.
ACTA doesn’t just aim to curtail freedom on the internet however, it also is designed to include counterfeit goods and generic medicines.
This means that ACTA has a much broader net in which to catch, sue and possible jail people for what are currently legal practices, not to mention harm patients who need vital drugs that will surely be held back by patents if ACTA is supported.
To explain ACTA in full would take a long time, as you’d imagine a proposal of this magnitude requires a hefty read of small print – but we’ll highlight a few points that worry us the most.
“Article 3611: This article creates the “ACTA committee”, and grants it the competence to review amendments to ACTA (art 4212). This paves the way for a durable bypassing of democracy, even after ACTA is voted.
“In article 27.42, ACTA will allow rights-holders to obtain private data regarding the users of Internet service providers, without a decision of a judge. This is a dangerous breach to privacy.
In its article 27.31 the ACTA agreement calls for “cooperation” between rights-holders and the Internet service providers. The very same mechanisms are called by the European Commission as “extra-judicial measures” and “alternative to courts”. It means that police (surveillance and collection of evidences) and justice missions (penalties) could be handed out to private actors, bypassing judicial authority and the right to a fair trial.
Excerpts taken from La Quadrature du Net.
As it stands, ACTA is currently up for voting/debate in Europe and we will keep you informed on it’s status.
In the meantime, if you love the internet as it is and want to lend your support then follow the links below and sign the petition.
You can contact the author of this post, Luke Hoare Greene at Luke@TechTV101.com or Follow him on Twitter.
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