
Why I signed ACTA - llambda
http://metinalista.si/why-i-signed-acta/
======
skrebbel
Important background detail: the author is the Slovenian ambassador to Japan.
_not_ an (indirectly) elected politician. I think it is very courageous of her
to write this, since traditionally ambassadors never publically reject their
home country's domestic policy making.

I also like it because it debunks my image of ambassadors as conservative
seniors who prefer signed letters, LPs, and fax machines.

~~~
jdp23
Agreed, very courageous -- and very powerful.

------
holri
It seems that actually no one is reading the original text. I did, and I did
not find any censor, ISP reponsibility or surveillance points. I asked the
German Pirate Party for clarification and citation, with no luck. Everything
in there is already law in Europa. I therefore do not understand what the
point of the protests is.

Please help me (with text citation from the official text):

[http://register.consilium.europa.eu/pdf/en/11/st12/st12196.e...](http://register.consilium.europa.eu/pdf/en/11/st12/st12196.en11.pdf)

~~~
rickmb
I'll make it simpler for you. Even if that is correct, even if ACTA doesn't
change the existing laws: _we want those laws reversed_.

They are not our laws. They were forced upon us by a combination of US
government pressure and outright bribery. And they are now sending our people
to prison and censoring our internet access for things we do not consider to
be crimes.

The protest against ACTA is not so much a matter of "ACTA is evil", it's more
a matter of "this corruption stops now".

We want our freedom an sovereignty back, not to have it signed away in some
treaty, even if that treaty has been watered down to something merely
symbolical with no immediate effect. It is patently obvious that they won't
stop at ACTA in it's current form.

Sometimes that mere fact that you finally draw a line is more important than
where exactly you draw it.

~~~
bad_user
Also, if people are misinformed over ACTA, it's because the whole freaking
negotiation was done in secret.

~~~
tzs
That's nonsense. First of all, even during the "secret" negotiations, the
current drafts were routinely leaked and widely discussed.

Second, there was an official release of the draft text on April 21, 2010. An
updated "near-final" draft (which was quite close to the April 21 draft) was
released on October 6, 2010. The final draft was released on November 15,
2010.

All of those drafts are readily available on the Office of the United States
Trade Representative site: [http://www.ustr.gov/trade-topics/intellectual-
property/anti-...](http://www.ustr.gov/trade-topics/intellectual-
property/anti-counterfeiting-trade-agreement-acta/previous-acta-texts)

The idea that people are misinformed because a document that has been
officially and readily available for nearly two years (and unofficially
available long before that) was at one time years ago secret is ridiculous.

~~~
heresy
Right, so we have to rely on leaks in the future to get visibility on how our
rights are being stripped away, this is the democratic process our
predecessors shed blood for?

Am reminded of this passage from HHGTTG.

 _"But Mr Dent, the plans have been available in the local planning office for
the last nine months."_

 _"Oh yes, well as soon as I heard I went straight round to see them,
yesterday afternoon. You hadn't exactly gone out of your way to call attention
to them, had you? I mean, like actually telling anybody or anything."_

 _"But the plans were on display ..."_

 _"On display? I eventually had to go down to the cellar to find them."_

 _"That's the display department."_

 _"With a flashlight."_

 _"Ah, well the lights had probably gone."_

 _"So had the stairs."_

 _"But look, you found the notice didn't you?"_

 _"Yes," said Arthur, "yes I did. It was on display in the bottom of a locked
filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying
'Beware of the Leopard'."_

~~~
ThomPete
heh that exact reference was done in discussions in a danish newspaper too :)

------
kibwen
Can anyone who is more familiar with European politics give their impression
of how successful these country-specific anti-ACTA protests are likely to be?
I don't dare to hope that we'd actually manage to totally derail yet another
of these bills, but my spirits would be bolstered if at least one leading
European country failed to ratify it.

~~~
jwr
The protests in Poland are actually creating more of a storm than I ever
expected them to. We will see what will come out of it, but at least the
government is now _very_ aware that this is a controversial treaty that can't
be signed just "because everyone else did".

Also, it seems that at least the prime minister and his aides simply did not
realize how far-reaching and controversial ACTA is. They certainly do realize
that now.

------
gerggerg
Just read it. Here's why I don't like it:

>> _"NOTING further that the proliferation of counterfeit and pirated goods,
as well as of services that distribute infringing material, undermines
legitimate trade and sustainable development of the world economy, causes
significant financial losses for right holders and for legitimate businesses,
and, in some cases, provides a source of revenue for organized crime and
otherwise poses risks to the public;"_

It's based on a false premise backed at best by contentious statistics. Also,
ironically, it's prohibition that provides organized crime the largest source
of revenue.

>> _"In determining the amount of damages for infringement of intellectual
property rights, a Party's judicial authorities shall have the authority to
consider, inter alia, any legitimate measure of value the right holder
submits,"_

The rights holders get to tell the judicial system what they think you should
be charged. Thats like, if you stole a venti-mocha-latte, and starbucks got to
decide what your punishment was.

>> _"at least for copyright, additional damages."_

And in the case of copyright, there will be 'additional damages'

>> _"Each Party shall further provide that its judicial authorities have the
authority to order that materials and implements, the predominant use of which
has been in the manufacture or creation of such infringing goods, be, without
undue delay and without compensation of any sort, destroyed or disposed of
outside the channels of commerce in such a manner as to minimize the risks of
further infringements."_

They can destroy your computer.

>> _"A Party may provide for the remedies described in this Article to be
carried out at the infringer's expense."_

You have to pay for everything.

>> _"its judicial authorities have the authority, upon a justified request of
the right holder, to order the infringer or, in the alternative, the alleged
infringer, to provide to the right holder or to the judicial authorities, at
least for the purpose of collecting evidence, relevant information as provided
for in its applicable laws and regulations that the infringer or alleged
infringer possesses or controls"_

They're trying to take away your right to remain silent. (Which I realize
isn't available in every country)

>> _"to prevent an infringement of any intellectual property right from
occurring"_

They can stop you from entering or confiscate your computer if they think you
might download a movie.

>> _"A Party may exclude from the application of this Section small quantities
of goods of a non-commercial nature contained in travellers' personal
luggage."_

This section should read "must exclude" theres no reason they should be
searching small quantities of goods of a non-commercial nature.

>> _"where appropriate, a right holder may request its competent authorities
to suspend the release of suspect goods."_

The movie studio can determine weather you get your computer back or not.

>> _"each Party shall provide penalties that include imprisonment as well as
monetary fines sufficiently high to provide a deterrent to future acts of
infringement"_

You are to be punished severely. This is not a fine like a ticket. This is
jail time and/or severe fines. For downloading a song.

>> _"the authority to order an online service provider to disclose
expeditiously to a right holder information sufficient to identify a
subscriber whose account was allegedly used for infringement"_

They can order your ISP to give up your identifying information. Which may or
may not even be relevant.

>> _"Each Party shall provide adequate legal protection and effective legal
remedies against the circumvention of effective technological measures that
are used by authors, performers or producers of phonograms in connection with
the exercise of their rights in, and that restrict acts in respect of, their
works, performances, and phonograms, which are not authorized by the authors"_

You can be punished for circumventing DRM, jail-breaking your iphone, or using
a region free dvd player.

>> _"the offering to the public by marketing of a device or product, including
computer programs, or a service, as a means of circumventing an effective
technological measure"_

Jailbreaking software, dvd decryptors, video game backups.

>> _"to remove or alter any electronic rights management information;"_

You are not allowed to remove identifying information even from media you
purchased. Itunes wants to put your full name in a song you downloaded's meta-
data? You have to leave it there.

>> _"Each Party shall endeavour to promote, where appropriate, the
establishment and maintenance of formal or informal mechanisms, such as
advisory groups, whereby its competent authorities may receive the views of
right holders and other relevant stakeholders."_

Makes provisions for hearing from the IP rights holders, but nothing about
hearing from citizens or public rights groups.

>> _"share information with the competent authorities of other Parties on
border enforcement of intellectual property rights, including relevant
information to better identify and target for inspection shipments suspected
of containing infringing goods."_

They can start a world wide list of suspected infringers and keep permanent
information about you available internationally.

>> _"The Parties hereby establish the ACTA Committee. Each Party shall be
represented on the Committee."_

Doesn't say how the representatives will be chosen. Could easily be copyright
lobbyists.

>> _"The consultations, including particular positions taken by consulting
Parties, shall be kept confidential"_

They can keep their consultations between representatives out of the public
record.

___________________________________

This bill's clear intent is to put copyright in front of human right. It's to
get signing nations to agree that the wealth of IP holders is more important
than the comfort and privacy of their own citizens.

It won't stop piracy, it won't create national wealth, it'll give organized
crime more money, it will waste SHIT LOADS of public money and time in the
process, and we'll all be a little more worse off.

------
unreal37
Putting aside the actual excuse given (I wasn't paying attention), the letter
is extremely well written and worth reading. Makes me sympathize with some of
the politicians who got hoodwinked into passing this "treaty" without
understanding its implications.

Which is still no excuse for signing something you don't understand, but
nonetheless, we're all human and imperfect sometimes.

------
shmerl
This seems to be a common tactic of the shady backers of the global
censorship. They gain support for their dark laws by obscuring real intentions
and fooling politicians into blindly supporting them. True, there are those
who understand the real picture, and support nevertheless. But there are also
those who are simply not responsible enough to understand clearly what they
support. And they are exploited by the real culprits who fight against
freedom. That's why they are so scared of publicity and push hard to pass this
laws in secret. They know that public review will quickly reveal their evil
intentions.

------
farinasa
So all I have to do is admit that I'm incompetent and everything will be OK?

~~~
guard-of-terra
On the other hand, a massive chunk of world problems are rooted in people
screwing up and then failing to acknowledge that fact and try to fix it,
instead sticking to the faulty course and doing much more harm. Here we see a
person eagerly accepting their failure, which is a good thing.

------
andraz
This was written by Slovenian ambassador to Japan. There's quite strong
opposition in Slovenia against ACTA - even the Musicians's guild is against
it.

There are going to be street protests in Slovenia against ACTA on Saturday.

This can still be reversed - by EU Parliament not ratifying it and in turn
giving other European countries an excuse not to ratify it.

