More ACTA Details Leak: It's An Entertainment Industry Wishlist
from the no-wonder-they-kept-it-secret dept
The latest round of "negotiations" over the ACTA treaty continue in secret due to as yet unexplained national security reasons (despite the fact that the entertainment industry lobbyists have had full access to the document) are kicking off in Korea. Once again is becoming clear that the claims by US trade reps that ACTA did not represent any kind of major change in copyright law, and thus didn't require public scrutiny, are nothing more than a myth. Despite ridiculous efforts to keep the document secret (some countries were given only physical, watermarked, copies of the latest drafts), some of the details are leaking out and it's not pretty at all.The plan is modeled on the ridiculously misnamed "free trade agreement" between the US and South Korea from a few years back. It's misnamed because it wasn't about free trade at all, but massive protectionism for the American entertainment industry. The end results haven't been pretty. The treaty pushed South Korea to implement new copyright laws that are perhaps the most draconian around, getting the country to be the first to kick people off the internet based on accusations of file sharing, and putting so much liability on third parties that various user-generated content services have had to turn off the ability to upload all sorts of content (no videos on YouTube, no music on blogs) and has resulted in ISPs even banning any kind of advertising that might make them liable for copyright infringement.
It's Hollywood's dream. It would require signing countries to implement a more draconian version of the DMCA, including incredibly restrictive anti-circumvention wording that has no exception for fair use. It would put liability on third parties for the actions of their users (in other words, it wouldn't include current DMCA-style safe harbors). It would create incentives to kick people off of the internet for file sharing. This is not about free trade at all. This is an entertainment industry-written bill designed to recreate the internet in its image -- as a broadcasting platform, rather than one used for user-generated content and communication.
This isn't about free trade. This isn't about "anti-counterfeiting." This is the "Protect the American Entertainment Industry" treaty.
And, of course, it's not even close to necessary. As happy as the entertainment industry is about what's been happening in South Korea lately, before these laws passed, the industry there (though, not the local subsidiaries of stodgy American entertainment firms) were adapting in amazing and fascinating ways, that didn't require new laws, but embraced what was actually happening. Yet, because the American record labels and movie studios don't want to change with the times, they're pushing through these laws, outside the judiciary process, sneaking it through via a secretive international treaty they had a hand in writing.
There is simply no reason for ACTA, at all. It is nothing but an attempt by the entertainment industry to put massive restrictions on the internet, place liability on lots of third parties, and do nothing to push themselves to adapt to a changing marketplace with new business models.
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Filed Under: acta, copyright, counterfeiting, lobbyists, secrecy
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I cling to hope for Canada
Acceptance of this treaty would spit in the faces of Canadians asked for what they want in copyright reform.
How can they major reforms be allowed to continue without public input, without judicial oversight, and without even public disclosure?
Disgusting.
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Re: I cling to hope for Canada
I'm still confused as to where the "safety" aspect of this document resides.
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why is it secret
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Re: Re: I cling to hope for Canada
To throw that all out the window for the US copyright industry is beyond disrespectful.
Yea, how this is even remotely classified for security reasons is beyond me.
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Re: why is it secret
John 3:19
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Good eye, Mike.
Drudge Report has posted a few interesting articles that appear to support this:
"Chinese movie studio eyes NYSE listing..."
"Putin tells Russian filmmakers to conquer foreign market..."
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Re: why is it secret
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The superpower thing? It was fun while it lasted.
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Re: Re: Re: I cling to hope for Canada
No, for THEM to draft laws like this without public consent is beyond disrespectful. We don't pass laws just because industry lobbyists supposedly spent hours thinking them up.
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Re: Re: Re: I cling to hope for Canada
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Where are the companies?
Google makes much of it's money through advertising, if the population of the internet starts to shrink due to people being kicked off what happens to them.
ISPs make money by subscriptions to internet service. If one gets kicked off the internet that is another person not paying for internet.
Blizzard has 11 million people paying 15$ a month for a game. If all of those who are accused of file sharing get kicked off, I wonder how many of those users would cancel their accounts because they can't connect any more.
Amazon and iTunes make money by selling digital goods. If those who pirate also pay the most for goods, then what will happen to those revenue streams.
In all I just don't understand how companies like these would sit by and watch the entertainment industry do what ever it can to destroy the internet.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: I cling to hope for Canada
I'm saying that Canada should not accept ACTA, because it is disrespectful to Canadian citizens. (In addition to all of the bad stuff it contains, being written in secret, etc.)
The bottom line: say NO to ACTA.
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it is happening in the uk
even Internet radio stations are classed as file sharers.!!!!
by the record companies THIS IS NOW A WAR our freedom or a useless snooped on Internet with ISPs scared to allow any one to do anything like share even our thoughts.
that is what ACTA| will do.
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The third-party liability issues are interesting. What is your evidence that there will be no DMCA-style safe harbors?
Geist clearly mentions that there will be limited safe harbors. The DMCA safe harbors are also limited--you must abide by notice and takedown procedures, for example. The referenced "free trade agreement" has safe harbor provisions very similar to the DMCA's, although they seem somewhat more limited. Which of these potential additional limitations is bothering you?
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this needs to be tested
Like if your ISP's terms of service aren't aligned with these new laws, but the copyright industry gets your connection cut anyway, can you sue your ISP for breaking their TOS? Tort law, breach of contract, right?
Even with that alignment, they're cutting your connection based on an accusation, not conviction. I don't know how much risk an ISP is willing to take on in that arena.
Besides, isn't breaking their business model, er, copyright infringement mostly just a civil issue?
IANAL so I'm not sure how all that would play out.
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Why?
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Re:
Take a look at the US patent system for a prime example of the type of laws you don't see.
The DMCA is another good example, where anyone can kill your business just on their solemn word that you're a dirty rotten infringer. Proof? Bah, we don't need no stinkin' proof.
All of the IP laws I've been seeing in the past 15 years can (and are) used to keep people from creating and using their own original work.
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Turning "pirates" into freedom fighters
This will only make "pirates" into "the good guys."
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Do we invade?
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Re: Re:
BTW, patent law has has nothing to do with original works of authorship. Such works are within the province of copyright law.
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Re: Re: Re:
We see the types of patents that the patent office grants and the fact that even if the alleged infringer is not really infringing they would still often rather pay settlement fees than to fight expensive frivolous lawsuits.
"BTW, patent law has has nothing to do with original works of authorship. Such works are within the province of copyright law."
No one is confusing copyright with patents, I don't know where you got the notion that John Fenderson was doing any such thing.
Another example is the fact that cableco/telco corporations often have a government granted monopoly over the infrastructure and who can build new infrastructure which kills competition and causes cable and Internet prices in the U.S. to be artificially overpriced for no good reason.
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Re: Re: Re:
Then you should know that intellectual property laws are ridiculously one sided. The penalty for infringement is ridiculous, especially if it's intentional, yet the penalty for fraudulently claiming someone infringed (on purpose) is much smaller. Intellectual property rights last WAY too long and the patent office seems to assume that all ideas that haven't yet been patented are deserving of a patent.
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Re:
Just look at the laws in place, most of the laws in the U.S. are designed to serve the rich and the powerful at public expense. Don't assume that bad laws can't get passed and that those who allegedly represent us will even care about what the people want.
Never assume that your freedoms can't be taken from you, NEVER. It's a dangerous and WRONG assumption.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: I cling to hope for Canada
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Cloak & ACTA...
Remove public scrutiny. Remove the voice of the people. Eventually remove the peoples participation in the government all together. You know?.. the one that was founded BY the People? And in the end, you have anarchy.
Take a lesson from Ancient Rome. They had a democracy once...
;(
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Re: The superpower thing? It was fun while it lasted.
Nothing a few missiles can't take care of.
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Re: Re:
Actually, security classifications are used for that purpose quite frequently.
If there is nothing bothersome in there then why should it be kept a secret?
Bothersome for whom? The public relations would be a "bother" for the entertainment industry, hence it must be kept secret.
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Re:
The purpose is to suppress public awareness, and thus opposition, until *after* it becomes law.
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Re:
Since discovering techdirt 2 years back, I have been thinking about what to do to counter the Big Media's attempts to further corrupt IP law. The solution is surprisingly simple. Create an open source system under the creative commons liscense. That includes "sales" and "free", accounting, distribution, contracts, promoters, managers, and everything else artists need to avoid the middle men. The system would also allow the artists to keep the copyright to their own work.
Setting the system up as a group of W3, IEEE, etc standards means anyone can use it. Now for the Really Important part. The media industry would either have to play by the rules, take their toys and go home, or create a set of standards of their own. The media industry being what they are, technophobic, afraid of change, having the need to maximize profits, would create a very restrictive, proprietary, and closed system.
Currently a few of us are putting together a set of web sites, blogs, msg boards, and wikis to crowd source the rules and standards. We are also going to crowd source the funding for the standards. When we are finished with the basics we will ask mike to post a link here so anyone who wants to can have a say in how this idea evolves.
This post is probably going to give some big media exec serious heart burn.... Big Ole GRIN
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Small Artists are Ripped Off Too
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Re: Re: Re:
HAahaaha. Says an anonymous coward that repeatedly trolls these forums without revealing himself or what he does. Yeah, you study the shill notes that are provided to you, that's about it.
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Write you Senators
I urge everyone to craft their own letter and write their senators (with your real name and mailing address, of course) to express your concerns.
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Walk away
Then walk away.
Reject what they are doing. Reject their content.
They can then kevetch just like newspapers and buggy whip makers about their past glory.
We have plenty of general purpose computers that we will bend to our own will and be devoid of them.
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America is in trouble
Copyright in the Internet Age
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And it means war.
Imagine if the Brothers Grimm had copyrighted their work -- Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, most of Walt Disney's work is simply a re-telling of stories written before he was even born.
Vanilla Ice "didn't steal" Under Pressure to make Ice Ice Baby because he added 1 beat to the 2 measure loop.
I think it could be done.
Also, as said 100x before: This is law, is trash.
(and it means war.)
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Tweet it
The whole wide world needs to know about this, not just the tech-savvy ones.
Tweet it, retweet it. Fuck #ACTA
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You mis-spelled "lie".
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Re: America is in trouble
So, our #1 export is digital goods, how do you combat priacy if all priacy is is making a copy without destroying the original? That can be accomplished in varying ways but I think the easiest would be to create the most simple distribution network for your products and charge resonable prices for those products. That way you can focus your full attention onto creating a better distribution system, rather than the legal ways of every single country in the world.
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You guys are ludicrous
What if the same were true of beer, and people figured out some way to steal cases of it at will from supermarkets instead of paying for it. The government would have to step in, as it is now, because they are smart enough, unlike most of the commenters here, to understand that if a business has no revenue left it will simply die, and there will be no further product to steal. Molson would suffer massive layoffs (as has happened in Hollywood, BTW - it's a myth that they are rolling in money) the variety of new beers would shrink, and Molson would try to hire lobbyists to put an end to this thing
Molson and the government would have an agenda completely different from the general public.
People would hate it - Evil Molson! Corporate hegemoney! We want our free beer! Democracy says we should vote on whether beer is free!!!
There is no difference. Deal with it. Free lunch is not your "right". Piracy is theft, because if something is worth 90 minutes of your time, you would have paid for it. If the price is too high, then just don't pay, and watch something else. BMWs are expensive, that that give you the right to steal one because you want to joyride in one, even if you return it unharmed? Do you have the right to squat in expensive hotel rooms, even though they would otherwise sit empty?
Lots of hard working people are losing their jobs in production here in Canada because some politicians are dumb enough to listen to people who just want free beer.
Also, all forms of sale have anti-theft mechanisms on them. What do you think that scanner thing at the exit of The Gap is? People steal, that means honest people have to endure some inconvenience, just like terrorists have made flying more difficult for harmless travelers. That's life.
Seriously, grow up, all of you.
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Re: You guys are ludicrous
No, we don't want rights taken away from people.
Not only that, but you think that you somehow have a "right" to freely enjoy the products of privately owned companies creating entertainment products at their own expense. Where did you get this idea?
We didn't. You're making that up as a strawman.
What if the same were true of beer, and people figured out some way to steal cases of it at will from supermarkets instead of paying for it. The government would have to step in, as it is now, because they are smart enough, unlike most of the commenters here, to understand that if a business has no revenue left it will simply die, and there will be no further product to steal. Molson would suffer massive layoffs (as has happened in Hollywood, BTW - it's a myth that they are rolling in money) the variety of new beers would shrink, and Molson would try to hire lobbyists to put an end to this thing
If you can't understand the difference between taking a physical product, such that there is now one less of them in the world, vs. making a copy of something, such that there are now more of them in the world, it's hard to take you seriously.
Furthermore, your statement that "if a business has no revenue left it will simply die" totally falsely supposes that we're talking about companies making less revenue. We're not. We've explained how to embrace stuff so they can make more money. Hint: just because one of our products goes from being a product to being an advertisement for another product, it doesn't mean you stop making money.
People would hate it - Evil Molson! Corporate hegemoney! We want our free beer! Democracy says we should vote on whether beer is free!!!
Ok. If you want an exact analogy... let's say that that you invented a machine that let you produce beer out of thin air. Would you now think it's fair that Molson forces you to break that machine?
There is no difference. Deal with it.
Uh compared to your bizarre and inaccurate analogy and reality, yes, there is a huge difference.
Piracy is theft, because if something is worth 90 minutes of your time, you would have paid for it.
How long did you spend reading this and writing your post? Did you pay for it?
How long did you spend sleeping last night? Did you pay for it? I would assume it was more than 90 minutes.
Somethings are valuable, but yo udon't pay for them.
If the price is too high, then just don't pay, and watch something else.
Indeed. And in the same manner, if the market tells you that they want to pay less for your product and will go elsewhere for alternatives, then just don't go running to the gov't to pass laws making them criminals for going to alternative sources.
Deal?
BMWs are expensive, that that give you the right to steal one because you want to joyride in one, even if you return it unharmed? Do you have the right to squat in expensive hotel rooms, even though they would otherwise sit empty?
Of course not. And no one came close to arguing that. Strawman fail.
Lots of hard working people are losing their jobs in production here in Canada because some politicians are dumb enough to listen to people who just want free beer.
No. If people are losing their jobs, it's not because of people wanting stuff for free. It's due to companies failing to adapt to a changing marketplace.
Also, all forms of sale have anti-theft mechanisms on them. What do you think that scanner thing at the exit of The Gap is? People steal, that means honest people have to endure some inconvenience, just like terrorists have made flying more difficult for harmless travelers. That's life.
Yes, and if we were talking about stealing, you'd have a point.
But we're not.
Seriously, grow up, all of you.
I'm old enough to recognize the difference between theft and infringement. Are you?
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Make the Entertainment Industry responsible for unethical behaviour and speach
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