p2pnet news view P2P | Politics:- There really is a concerted, world-wide attack against ‘consumers’ launched chiefly by the Hollywood Studios and major record labels, with the software cartels in the wings, and with governments and politicians blatantly colluding.

‘Conspiracy’ isn’t too strong a word.

“It is now time for the European Union to firmly oppose the dangerous measures secretly being negotiated,” says an Open Letter from Consumers International. “They cover not only ‘three strikes’ schemes, but also include Internet service providers liability that would result in Internet filtering, and dispositions undermining interoperability and usability of digitial music and films.”

The signatories are 220 consumer groups in 115 countries, including EDRi (27 European civil rights and privacy NGOs), the Free Software Foundation (FSF), the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), ASIC (French trade association for web2.0 companies), and civil liberties organizations from all around Europe (9 Member States so far…) with more to follow.

And it’s all because the powers that used to be  are watching their authority and dominance  being stripped away as more and more people  around the world log on and link up, completely bypassing the traditional  corporate and governmental communications command-and-control vehicles.

By December 17, European negotiators will “submit their position regarding the proposal put forward by the U.S Trade Representative for the Internet chapter of the ACTA,” says the coalition.

All pals together …

In what was clearly a US-prompted, ACTA-linked ‘iniative,’ a secret conclave was this morning staged by American vice-president Joe ‘Mr Hollywood’ Biden and starring US attorney general Eric Holder, secretary of commerce Gary Locke, secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, the directors of the FBI, Customs and Border Protection, athe US Secret Service, Obama’s new ‘copyright czar,’ Victoria Espinel, and the people who run the international entertainment industry cartels, among them >>>

• Sony’s Michael Lynton
• Warner Bros’ Barry Meyer
• Viacom’s Philippe Dauman
• NBC Universal’s Jeffrey Zucker
• Warner Music Group’s Edgar Bronfman
• Harper Collins CEO Brian Murray
• Universal Music Group’s Zachary Horowitz
• the MPAA’s Dan Glickman
• he RIAA’s Mitch Bainwol
• IATSE’s international president Matthew Leob
• AFTRA’s Kim Roberts Hedgepeth
• DGA president Taylor Hackford
• DGA exec director Jay Roth
• SAG’s David White.

One-sided gathering

“Notice that there aren’t any consumer rights representatives,” says TechDirt, continuing >>>

No one from technology companies. No one representing a viewpoint from outside of these industries of how they might be abusing claims of “piracy” to prop up obsolete business models. Instead, it’s just the echo chamber. The same folks who have been misleading politicians for ages. And, of course, whenever you get a summit like this, expect some sort of misguided “action” to follow. Update: Public Knowledge has put out a statement, noting how one-sided this gathering is, and questioning why politicians are attending what appears to be an industry gathering on how to prop up a business model. Update 2: In the press release (pdf) about this, Biden’s office has the gall to claim this “will bring together all of the stakeholders.” Ha! It’s 100% entertainment industry interests. No tech. No consumer advocates. No ISPs. This is a complete joke. Update 3: This just gets more and more ridiculous. Reporter Ryan Reilly was covering the “summit,” posting the seating chart and quoting Biden as saying that “piracy” is “flat unadulterated theft” but it looks like Reilly has now been kicked out of the summit. Openness and transparency apparently doesn’t apply when it involves propping up one small industry’s obsolete business model.

At the secret roundtable, “”Intellectual piracy is costing this country … billions of dollars and thousands of jobs,” Biden told the “assembled executive,” according to BroadbandBreakfast, which goes on >>>

The issue is no longer a minor one, said Attorney General Eric Holder. American industries “depend on intellectual property rights” and the enforcement of them, Holder said. The Obama administration will not tolerate [intellectual property] theft of any kind, Holder said.

And both Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke promised the full weight of their departmentss behind Biden’s initiative, with Napolitano bringing the power of Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the United States Secret Service to bear on copyright infringers to supplement the investigative and enforcement efforts of the FBI.

Intellectual property crime is going to get the same kind of focus at the Justice Department as the closing of Guantanamo Bay and ordinary street crime, said Holder.

But “this is not a problem the United States can by itself solve,” Holder conceded. “We need to work with international partners, who also need to confront… those nations where to0 much of this [piracy] occurs,” he declared.

The U.S. will place emphasis on shoring up international enforcement efforts with existing relationships, and by new commitments like the forthcoming Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, Holder said. By working with other nations, the U.S. can better target the large scale operations that are often the most serious – operations often based from within the borders of other nations.

‘We control every part of your life … ‘

Obama, Biden, Holder, and all the rest of them,  need to be forcibly reminded  they’re no longer dealing with a bunch of mindless, cash cow ‘consumers’.

A little over four years ago, “I’ve just been re-reading Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club, I said, finishing up >>>

Great book, good movie. Even if it was made by 20th Century Fux.

“Remember this,” Tyler said. “The people you’re trying to step on, we’re everyone you depend on. We’re the people who do your laundry and cook your food and serve your dinner. We make your bed. We guard you while you’re asleep. We drive the ambulances. We direct your call. We are cooks and taxi drivers and we know everything about you. We process your insurance claims and credit card charges.

“We control every part of your life.”

The executives who run the entertainment and software cartels, and the other corporate control clubs, should have that in neon lights, hanging on the walls in their offices, I said.

I forgot to mention the politicians.

The Net and P2P People Power are the great equalisers.

They need to remember that.

All of them.

Jon Newton – p2pnet

Follow p2pnet on Twitter.

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi

Open Letter – ACTA a ‘global threat’ – open letter, December 12, 2009
TechDirt – Biden Convenes ‘Piracy Summit’ That Appears To Be Entirely One-Sided, December 15, 2009
BroadbandBreakfast – Big Media Meets Law Enforcement at White House; Biden Announces Focus on Intellectual Property Theft, December 16, 2009
Fight Club – 2p. People to people. U2ME, November 20, 2005

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 16th, 2009 at 2:28 pm and is filed under P2P, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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