BSA will do anything and everything they can to control, scare, intimidate. Seehttp://www.statewatch.org/news/2008/oct/eu-datret-bas.pdf
for their lobbying paper to back the EU Data Retention Directive. People were asking "what's BSA got to do with lobbying for data retention"... As they say, duh. Latching on to Somali pirates should come as no excuse to anyone.
You're getting derailed here. What's important is the lobbying, as L. Lessig and anyone else who is informed about the futility of fighting IP creep through normal legal channels well know. They get what they pay for, and they are paying a lot. The purpose of patent law, the state of the country (beyond the few IP holders that represent the country as things stand) - none of these matter to these guys. Read So Damn Much Money, and Ken Silverstein's new book. The lobbysts own the place. Stop sweating the small stuff.
You people have really weird ideas about France and the Civil Code, but that being said, does anyone ever ask themselves why this, why now? Cute Carla whispered something in Nicky's little ear about her 'music business'? France doesn't even have music to protect. EPiaf is long dead and I really can't imagine it's her heirs behind this. US lobbyists need a lot more light shined on their nefarious profession. Never mind due process, the entire west left that behind long ago. And equal protection? Today it's flavor-of-the-month-offense tax avoiders who are denied protection of the 'law' - who will it be tomorrow? Pooper non-scoopers? Smokers? Very sloppy, but France is not alone. You don't hear this before the US congress because RIAA is going straight to the ISP's - through contract 'law'. Why bother with congress when you can guy your way with ISPs, and probably more cheaply.
ACTA is not about trade rules. It's about making sure nothing that would break IP national monopolies goes over borders. It authorizes all electronic equipment searches by all signatory states' customs officials, and combined with data retention and disappearance of privacy, and high criminal penalties, it will assure that no one downloads or carries anything that these guys think threatens their last claim to hegemony - IP.
Yes, new boss, old boss same thing only worse. New boss has mental capacity, potential to be much more disappointing as what can we hope for after this.
Anyway, OF COURSE it's national security - this is the only card the US economy has left to play. If IP fails them, it's lights out. Why isn't this clear to everyone?
I think this is a good thing. These countries will profit handsomely and these people will have a better life. What does a bible-thumping nation intent on squeezing a profit out of everything that moves and much that doesn't need with science anyway? Math? Please, what if they understood mortgage contracts? Science? What if they asked Monsanto why they don't research the safety and effects of their products. The last thing we need is math and science. It's (become) anti-American. Let other people do it. Good riddance I say.
No more surprising that a recent report in EU observer on the President of China's recent visit to the EU where the topics discussed were: online piracy, climate change and the world financial crisis (in that order). These RIAA/MPAA people are like tapeworms in the gut of democracy (corny, yes?).
Just a detail, but you don't 'write and copyright'. As soon as an idea is in fixed form, it is automatically subject to copyright. The US, alone in the world, requires registration before you can start an infringement action, but this does not 'create the copyright', it just gives you documentation necessary to file an action. Come on guys, this is basic.
So sorry for the grammar mistakes - I was hasty. Let's watch what President Obama does - his secretary of agriculture is rumored to have strong Monsanto ties (see films 'World According to Monsanto', 'The Future of Food' , and 'Patent for a Pig' - all on google video) and the copyright people are lobbying for all they're worth. OK, it is war.
It's not a war. They think they've won. It's an insidious and highly successful on the part of US and to a lesser degree the EU IP (patent, trademark, copyright) rights holders to secure a hold on a world economy filled with things it no longer makes or consumes. This is particularly important now that their banking hold has tanked. It's being done through, get this, the World Customs Organization, because it's so little known that the other countries, who have managed to assert themselves first through WIPO and then through WTO, were taken by surprise. And even if they hear of it "it's secret". The gist: to make customs officials around the world responsible for searching travellers for allegedly infringing items, from downloads to handbags. For an insight into the mentality and to see what's next, here's an interesting quote from a recent article in IP Watch (US IP Attachés Take Hard-Line Position On Overseas IP Enforcement, Posted by William New):
In October, US Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue announced that the GIPC, which had previously been focused on counterfeiters, would rise to the challenge of what the chamber characterised as a “second threat [from] a growing movement of anti-IP activists drawn from universities, foundations, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), ideologically driven interest groups, and even governments.” Maybe it is a war after all...
While it may be a (shallow) victory for due process, the effect is that it is more important to protect trade secrets than to prosecute drunk drivers. Isn't there a public policy problem here somewhere? IP is climbing to the top of the legal hierarchy by leaps and bounds. Are we aware of this?
The US is one of the only countries in the world not to protect design in general, and fashion in particular. It's left over from the time when the US as a developing country felt entitle to copy everything from everybody. The lack of protection may be good or it may be bad (if you can call Ralph Lauren, who basically copies designs from day camp, a designer, then it is definitely not a positive thing), but it should at least be known by readers of techdirt. As for the US in WWII, if you you have to rely on statements about 'saving the French' to make yourselves feel superior, we have all lost much more than we think. Have a little dignity.
Maybe one reason ISPs are not biting is that this arrangement, unlike that proposed in EU (which requires a law binding ISPs to perform this function) could well prove to be illegal (theories of privacy, public airways? I don't know -anything is possible in the Common Law if you have a brainy lawyer at the helm) and at best contractually unenforceable. And then there's the (previously mentioned on this site) issue of competition among ISPs. A promise that one won't play ball with RIAA could be a very competitive tool.
Ironically, IP has become about clinging to the past and avoiding innovation. This is true across the IP board, but particularly in entertainment. Look at Broadway - nothing but revivals. Look at Hollywood - nothing but sequels and well worn stars playing themselves (there are obvious exceptions but I think this hold true in terms of numbers). Look at mainstream popular music - very little aside from what crusty rich old record execs thinks 'will sell' to the lowest comdenom. The originality (and the reasonable admission price) was paramount in making American entertainment its ambassador to the world. No wonder we have to rely on militarism to make our influence felt. It's all that's left.
As for saving jobs through the protectionism particular to the IP sector, it has never held up against even the most basic research. Jobs go where cheap labor lives. IP concentrates money in old ideas far beyond their use and prohibits young ideas from growing up out of the topsoil.
On the post: BSA Tries To Exploit Somali Piracy News In PR Campaign Against Software Sharing
BSA
for their lobbying paper to back the EU Data Retention Directive. People were asking "what's BSA got to do with lobbying for data retention"... As they say, duh. Latching on to Somali pirates should come as no excuse to anyone.
On the post: Lobbyists Get Random Unsuspecting Groups To Rally Against Patent Reform
patent reform
On the post: France Passes Three-Strikes Law
France's new 'law'
On the post: Obama Administration Claims Copyright Treaty Involves State Secrets?!?
Re: Trade Secrets/ National Secrets
On the post: Obama Administration Claims Copyright Treaty Involves State Secrets?!?
natsec
On the post: Obama Administration Claims Copyright Treaty Involves State Secrets?!?
national security
Anyway, OF COURSE it's national security - this is the only card the US economy has left to play. If IP fails them, it's lights out. Why isn't this clear to everyone?
On the post: The Brain Drain: US Is Losing Immigrants Who Create The Jobs We Need
immigrants
On the post: France Plans Government Agency To Boot File Sharers Offline
Sarkozy
On the post: France Plans Government Agency To Boot File Sharers Offline
Sarkozy
On the post: Justice Department Increasingly Looking Like The RIAA/MPAA's Legal Team
DOJ
On the post: Italian Writer Claims She Owns The Rights To The Benjamin Button Story
Re: Re: wrote and copyrighted?
On the post: Italian Writer Claims She Owns The Rights To The Benjamin Button Story
Re: Re: Public Domain
On the post: Italian Writer Claims She Owns The Rights To The Benjamin Button Story
wrote and copyrighted?
On the post: Does ACTA Secrecy Violate European Law?
acta
On the post: Does ACTA Secrecy Violate European Law?
In October, US Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue announced that the GIPC, which had previously been focused on counterfeiters, would rise to the challenge of what the chamber characterised as a “second threat [from] a growing movement of anti-IP activists drawn from universities, foundations, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), ideologically driven interest groups, and even governments.” Maybe it is a war after all...
On the post: Breathalizer Source Code Ruling Upheld
due process and trade secrets
On the post: Is It Copyright Infringement On Fashion Design To Post Photos From A Fashion Show Online?
French fashion
On the post: People Noticing That New UK Email Retention Laws Might Violate Privacy Rights
personal data
For details, see http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/forumy/2008/11/end-of-road-for-personal-data.php
On the post: No One Can Find ISPs Who Have Agreed To RIAA's 3 Strikes Plan
On the post: Entertainment Protectionism Doesn't Create Jobs, It Destroys Them
As for saving jobs through the protectionism particular to the IP sector, it has never held up against even the most basic research. Jobs go where cheap labor lives. IP concentrates money in old ideas far beyond their use and prohibits young ideas from growing up out of the topsoil.
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