Secret copyright treaty: what you can do

Michael Geist sez,

The 7th round of ACTA [ed: The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, a secret and punishing Internet treaty under negotiation in Guadalajara] negotiations will conclude around lunch time today in Mexico. If past meetings are any indication, a few hours later the participating countries will issue a bland statement thanking the host Mexican government, discussing the progress on civil enforcement, border measures, and the Internet as well as noting the transparency discussions and the continued desire to address the issue. The release will then conclude by looking forward to the next meeting in Wellington, New Zealand in April.

As this five part series demonstrates, however, there are ongoing concerns with both the process and substance of ACTA. From a process perspective, the negotiations remain far more secretive than other international agreements. From a substantive viewpoint, ACTA could result in dramatic reforms in many participating countries. Countering the momentum behind ACTA will require many to speak out.

This admittedly feels like a daunting task given the powerful interests that are committed to seeing ACTA through. That said, many have begun to speak out. This last post starts with links to a sampling of the politicians and groups that have already made ACTA one of their issues and then identifies the other avenues to allow every individual concerned with ACTA to speak out.

ACTA Guide, Part Five: Speaking Out (Thanks, Michael!)

• [Shay Guy]

  Sent an email to Senator John Cornyn. Here’s the response I got:

  Thank you for contacting me regarding global efforts to combat intellectual property theft. I appreciate having the benefit of your comments on this matter.

  Rapid advances in technology have led to the development of various products and services Americans use every day, including; digital television and radio, cellular communications, life-saving medications, and computer hardware and software. Continued technological advancement is vital to the growth of our country’s economy, and as such lawmakers must continue to protect intellectual property rights while preserving an open market for ideas and personal expression.

  However, in today’s global marketplace, U.S. law enforcement officials are often hampered in their efforts to combat intellectual property infringements that originate abroad. Many developing nations with lax technology policies and limited enforcement mechanisms are responsible for the loss of billions of dollars in intellectual property, harming the growth of U.S. technology developers and manufacturers. However, violators are not limited to developing countries; several fully developed nations have outdated policies that do not reflect the reality of today’s global marketplace.

  For these reasons, the office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has commenced a multilateral discussion concerning global intellectual property rights, known as the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). I strongly support intellectual property rights, and I look forward to reviewing the recommendations of USTR in this regard. The United States is a leader in innovation, and to protect the investment made by our innovators, we must also lead the effort to combat global piracy. While the USTR is the lead trade negotiator on behalf of the executive branch of government, any change in international trade policy must be enacted by Congress before entering into effect. I understand your concerns, and you may be certain that I will keep your views in mind should relevant legislation come before the full Senate.

  I appreciate having the opportunity to represent you in the United States Senate. Thank you for taking the time to contact me.

  Not too encouraging.

• [Anonymous]

  See? Nothing we can do. Get used to it because it’s not going away. The pols on both sides have long been bought.

  Energy in this case is best spent creating technical tools to circumvent the law and spred information freely.

• [Laurel L. Russwurm]

  The biggest problem is that most people don’t understand what is happening/going to happen because of the layers of deception practiced by all of our governments. The first being the deliberate misinformation and the second being the secrecy.

  Talk about it. The word needs to spread outward from the tech community. Tweet, Dent, Gwib, Facebook… Talk to people…. spread the word. The bigger the outcry the more chance the pols will start to wonder if they can afford the lost votes.

  The non-geeks will not like it any better than the geeks if they understood what was happening.

• [Anonymous]

  OK, fine. Bring on your stupid laws.

  Geek armies unite!

  Can we please have a new torrent based distribution system with encryption and no ID fingerprint? (We really should have ironed that out from the early torrent days- we knew these I.P. drones would come.)
  Also- please find a way to preserve transfer rates.

  Can we also please have standardised encryption on all new digital devices- complete with “dummy-password” option? All new cameras, mp3 players, laptops, drives and storage media should be super encrypted by default. If they demand a password- give them the dummy- and they can see your copy of OpenOffice and Granny’s holiday photos only… maybe a creative commons music album?

  Screw this system!

  They started the war- and they’re going to wish they hadn’t.