said by SUMware :

From The Register
6th November 2009 -

said by OUT-LAW.COM :

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Don't panic over the secret copyright treaty
At least, not until we know what's in it

Negotiations have been going on for more than two years and people have consistently, and reasonably, called for elected governments to be more open about what is going on. Some worry that representatives of the industries most affected by copyright, such as the music and film businesses, are unduly influencing proceedings. Because we can't see what's going on, we can't make sure that that is not the case.

But this week speculation about the content of the eventual treaty in parts ran away with itself. Some leaks emerged about what might be in the final document and commentators were quick to cry foul. But if they look closer they will see that many of the provisions already exist in law, at least in the UK.

It has been said that each country that signed the treaty would have to create a 'laundry list' of penalties to deter people from infringing copyright on a commercial scale. That already exists in the UK. File-sharing could be prosecuted as a criminal offence under copyright law.

The treaty, it was said, would criminalise trading fake packaging for music and films. That is already an offence in the UK. Camcording films would be criminalised: again, that is law in the UK.

Some of the biggest shock was reserved for the idea of making ISPs liable for copyright infringements carried out by their subscribers. Yet that, too, is the case across the EU. If an ISP is told about a customer's copyright infringement or defamatory statement on pages it hosts, it must take action quickly otherwise it will be liable for the infringement.

The devil, of course, is in the detail. If the proposal is to make ISPs liable whether they know about illegal material or not, that would be an alarming development. Of course we don't know this, which is a flaw in the proceedings that critics are right to point out.

Under the plans, we are told, ISPs will have the chance to win back their immunity from liability if they behave in a certain way, reportedly along the lines laid out in a previous US trade agreement, this time directly with South Korea.

Again, though, that document describes a set-up that stops well short of the doomsday scenarios played out in reports and on blogs.

It says that countries should create "legal incentives for service providers to cooperate with copyright owners in deterring the unauthorized storage and transmission of copyrighted materials".

According to reports, ACTA also provides that ISPs will have to terminate subscribers "in appropriate circumstances". In the UK, a copyright owner can force an ISP to disconnect a subscriber that the ISP knows to be infringing content. The copyright owner has to prove its case before a court, though – and at this time we don't know that ACTA proposes anything less.

The legislation banning technologies that break content encryption will also be bracingly familiar to UK residents. That, too, is already outlawed here.

The scenarios outlined by protesters against ACTA are truly worrying. But they are also not grounded in the few snippets we have seen. Of course it is entirely possible that they are contained in parts of the text that have not leaked.

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said by ross :

What an asshole! Don't panic over the ACTA? The UK is so fucked up! ...

said by chrisretusn :

The meaning of copyright has been twisted beyond it's original intent.. Copyright is being used to promote exclusiveness and monopolies over products or ideas. Copyright is being used to gobble up every possible idea or concept even theoretical ones. Things are being copyrighted that should not be copyrighted. Copyrights are being used what keep product prices high and stifle competition. Someone who can have make a similar product or the same product better and cheaper is prohibited from doing so under the guise of protection of intellectual property. It all crazy.

said by ross :

They want everyone to just "wait and see". SEE WHAT? The fucking treaty details are SECRET!!!! Just another Brit twit asking if we wouldn't mind just picking up the soap they "accidentally" dropped in the shower. Hey, what's the harm? Ahhh, no thanks!

said by SnowyOne :

How does your sense of panic affect anything except your blood pressure? It would be more effective to send a calm, cool & collective email to your congress person letting them know your position on the matter.
ps words like "asshole, fucked up" will make your email/opinion trivial.