Question for Bill Gates on ACTA
p2pnet view P2P | Politics:- Bill Gates (still the world’s richest man?) has new web page called Gates Notes.
On it, we find out where he’s been, what he thinks is important, conversations, notes on agriculture, development, education, energy, religion in North America, Southe America, Europe, Asia and Africa.
And so on.
“”People complain that TV news is partisan entertainment, and it’s hard to really know what to trust in the mainstream press,” says a “UK-based media executive” asking, “What mass-media outlets would you suggest people read to stay informed?”
Bill responds >>>
I don’t really watch a lot of television news. I mostly watch it if someone sends me a link to something they think I would be interested in.
I do read quite a few magazines and newspaper [sic]. I like the Economist because it provides good background knowledge. Scientific American is very good and so is the New Yorker. We get the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, and the New York Times.
But >>>
I tend to read the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal online but I read the Economist almost entirely offline. I read Slate quite a bit, too. Slate is good because if you go there, you always find three or four things that are very interesting.
Beyond that I’m amazed at the number of great seminars and lectures that are available online. In an area like how the brain works, for example, every month I’d say there are at least ten really good videos worth watching. In fact, I used to be able to watch all of them on a topic that I cared about, but as there has gotten to be more and more out there, it’s not easy to do that anymore.
And >>>
There are some good sites that make it easier to find great courses and lectures online, including Academic Earth and the TED Conference website at Ted.com. There are also good courses that you can buy online. Teach12.com is the main company for this and while their stuff costs money, the quality is extremely high.
There’s even a section for people to send in their own questions.
So here’s p2pnet’s >>>
Hi Bill:
I’m sure you’ve heard of the secret corporate entertainment industry business plan called ACTA [Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement].
The likes of eBay, Vivendi Universal, EMI, Warner Music and Sony Music’s RIAA, three people from Google, three eBay reps, an Intel lawyer, the entertainment cartel’s International Intellectual Property Alliance, Sony Pictures, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corpse, and two Business Software Alliance staffers, are privy to its contents on a need-to-know basis.
But ordinary people, whose lives it will affect dramatically, are being kept completely in the dark.
Do you think this is fair? Or good? Bad? Doesn’t matter?
And what’s your personal view of ACTA in general?
Cheers! And thanks …
Jon Newton – p2pnet.net
As a reminder on who’s important enough to know All About ACTA, below are the names of people who, said Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) late last year, “received the documents under the NDA, or as members of a USTR advisory board, beginning with the names of the persons who were given the opportunity, and used the opportunity, to view the text under an NDA.”
Table 1: USTR [US Trade Rep] says these people signed a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) to see the U.S. proposed Internet text for ACTA
| Name | Firm | Date |
| Emery Simon | Business Software Alliance (BSA) | 08/11/09` |
| Jesse Feder | Business Software Alliance (BSA) | 08/11/09 |
| Bill Patry | 08/11/09 | |
| Daphne Keller | 08/11/09 | |
| Johanna Shelton | 08/11/09 | |
| Lisa Pearlman | Wilmer Hale | 08/11/09 |
| Robert Novick | Wilmer Hale | 08/11/09 |
| Bob Kruger | Consultant to eBay | 08/13/09 |
| Brian Bieron | eBay | 08/13/09 |
| Hillary Brill | eBay | 08/13/09 |
| Sarah Deutch | Verizon | 08/17/09 |
| David Weller | Wilmer Hale | 08/17/09 |
| Steve Metalitz | International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA), Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP | 08/20/09 |
| Veronica O’Connell | Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) | 08/25/09 |
| Jim Burger | Dow Lohnes, Counsel to Intel | 08/27/09 |
| Jonathan Band | Jonathan Band PLLC | 09/01/09 |
| Gigi Sohn | Public Knowledge | 09/01/09 |
| Rashmi Rangnath | Public Knowledge | 09/01/09 |
| Sherwin Siy | Public Knowledge | 09/01/09 |
| Maritza Castro | Dell | 09/02/09 |
| Jeff Lawrence | Intel | 09/07/09 |
| Mathew Schruers | CCIA | 09/09/09 |
| David Sohn | Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) | 09/22/09 |
| Michael Pericone | Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) | 09/22/09 |
| Ryan Triplette | Intel | 09/22/09 |
| Janet O’Callaghan | News Corporation | 09/23/09 |
| Chris Israel | PCT Government Relations | 09/23/09 |
| Alicia Smith | Sony Pictures Entertainment | 09/23/09 |
| Cameron Gilreath | Time Warner | 09/23/09 |
| Seth Greensten | Constantine Cannon LLP, for Consumer Electronics Association(CEA) | 09/24/09 |
| Daniel Dougherty | eBay | 09/29/09 |
| David Fares | News Corporation | 09/30/09 |
The additional 10 persons who received the Internet ACTA text as a member of one of the USTR Advisory Boards included the following seven persons from ITAC 15 and three persons from ITAC 8:
Table 2: Persons who received the ACTA Internet text who are members of ITAC 15 – the Industry Trade Advisory Committee on Intellectual Property Rights
| Name | Affiliation |
| Anissa S. Whitten | Vice President, International Affairs and Trade Policy, Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. |
| Eric Smith | President, International Intellectual Property Alliance |
| Neil I. Turkewitz | Executive Vice President, International, Recording Industry Association of America |
| Sandra M. Aistars | Assistant General Counsel, Intellectual Property, Time Warner Inc. |
| Stevan D. Mitchell | Vice President, Intellectual Property Policy, Entertainment Software Association |
| Thomas J. Thomson | Executive Director, Coalition for Intellectual Property Rights |
| Timothy P. Trainer | President, Global Intellectual Property Strategy Center, P.C., Zippo Manufacturing Company |
Table 3: Persons who received the ACTA Internet text who are members of ITAC 8 – the Industry Trade Advisory Committee on Information and Communications Technologies, Services, and Electronic Commerce
| Name | Affiliation |
| Jacquelynn Ruff | Vice President, International Public Policy, and Regulatory Affairs Verizon Communications Inc. |
| John P. Goyer | Vice President, International Trade,Negotiations and Investment, U.S. Coalition of Service Industries |
| Mark F. Bohannon | General Counsel and Senior Vice President, Public Policy, Software and Information Industry Association |
The day the USTR sent KEI the FOIA with the names of persons signing the NDA, the following memo was also sent to selected news organizations.
“In preparing for this upcoming round of ACTA negotiations, USTR has broadened its consultations to include a diverse range of views including not only the cleared advisors who give input to USTR on a regular basis on intellectual property matters, but also to interested domestic stakeholders representing a broad range of views and expertise on internet and digital issues, including representatives from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and industry leaders in intellectual property and technology,” says Carol Guthrie, assistant USTR for public and media affairs blandly.
“The input of these additional domestic stakeholders has been crucial for USTR in preparing for the complex nature of these upcoming discussions, where USTR will be pressing for provisions that strengthen the ability of governments to deal with the serious issue of internet piracy, while at the same time ensuring that the balance of rights and limitations and exceptions found in US law is also reflected.”
Not only but also >>>
… to increase transparency while still maintaining confidentiality, these individuals were asked to sign non-disclosure agreements before viewing the current ACTA text or giving input to USTR. USTR strives to be as open and transparent as possible to the American public while also maintaining the ability of ACTA negotiating partners to engage in the frank exchange of views necessary to reach agreement on complex issues.
Do you think Bill will respond to our questions?
“Unfortunately, Bill can’t answer all of the email he receives here, says the The Gates Notes Support Team, “And, although we’re unable to use every question, we review all of the correspondence that comes in.”
Stay tuned?
..… and identi.ca
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi
January, 2010
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January 25th, 2010 at 7:17 pm
It would be interesting to know why Gates isn’t on the Guest List.
January 25th, 2010 at 9:24 pm
Gates’ likely answer: “Money has no smell”