ACTA Negotiations Back On... White House Shows Small Group Proposed Text Under NDA
from the but-what-about-the-public dept
With the next round of negotiations on the ACTA treaty -- which may require the US and other countries to make significant changes to copyright law that favor the entertainment industry -- set to get underway, the White House still refuses to release details to the public, but did show the text to 42 Washington "insiders" under NDA. The good news is that the list includes a fair number of folks who recognize the problems with copyright law and the ACTA proposal -- including people like Gigi Sohn, William Patry, Sherwin Siy, David Sohn and Michael Petricone. Many of those people will push for the public's best interests. But, still, it's a bit troubling that the whole conversation remains secret for "national security" reasons. If we're talking about changing copyright laws that effect everyone, why not let everyone know? Sherwin Siy, from Public Knowledge, told KEI (in the link above) about his experience viewing the document, which sounded greatly limited, and notes that while the document has been adjusted, "the most troubling aspects" have not been "resolved."In the meantime, it's worth asking why this is necessary again. First of all, in a world where trade agreements are supposed to be about breaking down trade barriers, ACTA seems designed to be putting up protectionist policies. Protectionism doesn't work and only creates more harm. But, much more importantly, much of the push for ACTA is based on lobbyists' claims of the "harm" done by counterfeiting. Except both the GAO and the OECD have put out independent reports showing that counterfeiting isn't that big a problem, and that whatever problems there are seem to be significantly exaggerated by lobbyists. Yes, those same lobbyists who were given much earlier access to the document and, records suggest, had a hand in shaping the document itself. So why do we need ACTA again? And why are we allowing those who the government has already found to have exaggerated the problem drive the negotiations?
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: acta, consumer rights, copyright, counterfeiting, evidence, lobbyists, privacy, secrecy
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
[ link to this | view in thread ]
I think you are confusing strong artists rights with protectionism.
Protectionism would be charging a significant tariff for music or movies coming from another country, like adding a 100% tax on Hollywood movies entering (insert country here). Protectionism is where barriers are placed between external producers and a given market, nothing more.
Artists rights are not protectionist (in trade terms), rather, they are there to assure that the people who made the music / movie / program / content and their rightfull distributors are in fact the ones profiting from it, not random local counterfeiter.
As for the size of the counterfeiting problem, the post you link to (rather than linking the story directly) says that the GOA says that the numbers suggest a smaller problem, but they aren't sure. In fact, their report is as much opinion as fact, as counterfeiters rarely file taxes or have audited financial statements to work from.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: A Shill in the Morning
Well nobody can be absolutely sure but at least the numbers are realistic.
Oh, and the protectionist thing. ACTA is a multinational trade agreement most likely highly favoring the 'rights' of copyright holders in the nations with the most power/money involved. So your definition holds true and protectionism is happening.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
My brain is broken...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
ACTA Negotiations Back On... White House Shows Small Group Proposed Text Under NDA
I still state that the money collected from Radio and Television get no lists of the actual content used or sold. There is no invoice and no list sent to any of the collection agencies (ASCAP, BMI, SESAC) that tells them what the money is for. The agencies listed before just collect a flat fee with no bookkeeping required. Talk about obsolete business models.
TechDirt should do a real expose on the abuses in this industry.
Also remember that the agencies mentioned above don't do indie!!!
Who represents the indie's when the Radio and Television Stations use their content?
The Radio and Television stations are under the impression that they are paying for the use of indie's also. But the money is not trickling down.
Of course ASCAP, BMI and SESAC have no idea who they are collecting for. Their response is if you are playing music or video something must belong to them because they represent so many items of content.
They only pay the people that are published by publishing companies they recognize. You cannot start a publishing company and publish a work and just register it with one of the 3. You have to have it published through a recognized publishing house.
When is someone going to step up and manage this business correctly. There are so many little domains here that it is impossible to make anything happen.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
The only difference is, right now they are breaking civil law and in future if the industry gets its way will (probably) be breaking criminal law.
Either way, a big f*ck you very much to the industry, I'll rather spend 5 euros on a VPN connection a month than 15euros for a CD with 2 good songs and a bunch of fillers or a DVD that has a nice trailer but is in reality a total piece of crap ('Drag me to hell' anyone?).
[ link to this | view in thread ]
see, here's the thing they just don't get
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: ACTA Negotiations Back On... White House Shows Small Group Proposed Text Under NDA
[ link to this | view in thread ]
A cure for the common NDA
But not all is lost. A few studies from back east have proven that NDA proponents can be liberated and cured from unfounded fears that include 200 years of practical governance is wrong. I believe it's a procedure called a frontal lobotomy.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
But maybe it isn't about the marketplace product, but rather, what is carried within the product, and the market of intent. Meaning- the product could actually be the delivery device.
Under such a tin-foil hat theory, it's possible that the Government is somehow involved in shaping and/or developing messaging which is carried within entertainment products intended for other countries. The messaging could be constructed for political gain, and the method could be something that was developed in the 1960s or 1970s, on the order of subliminal messaging.
If that happens to be the state secret that needs protection, it's pretty pathetic, but it could answer a number of questions while providing the straightest point-A to point-B line that can be drawn based on the seemingly silly way they are approaching this. I chuckle, because other attempts to connect the dots of ACTA's importance involve landing on the moon.
But this also seems to provide explanation of the free marketplace of ideas being seemingly a mile wide and only a few grains of sand deep.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
How to Fix the Problem?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Just a guess.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Just a guess.
The next step is that they run crying to congress about how the US needs to 'harmonize' US with the new draconian international laws.
Then.... Profit....
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: How to Fix the Problem?
Do you have a few million to donate to the politicians' campaign funds? If not, then your opinion doesn't mean squat to them. They're bought and paid for by the entertainment coporations and those are the only people they listen to.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: How to Fix the Problem?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
lol ACTA can't go ahead
The whole thing should be written up as a comedy for the stage.
[ link to this | view in thread ]