ACTA document calls for criminal sanctions
p2pnet view P2P | Politics:- EU Member States want new criminal sanctions inserted into the entertainment cartel’s Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), says La Quadrature du Net.
Unearthed a few days ahead of the next negotiation round, “The proposal stated in this document reveals how illegitimate and dangerous the whole ACTA process is, while exposing the scary position of the EU calling for more repression of non-for-profit usages — and their incitation”, says the post, going on >>>
The ninth round of negotiations1 of ACTA will begin in a few days in Luzern, Switzerland. A new leaked text, dated April 7th, proves that Member States, through the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, are negotiating the toughest parts of ACTA. The fact that the Presidency is negotiating along with the Commission 2 by itself shows that ACTA goes way beyond the scope of a regular trade agreement. Criminal sanctions (jail sentences!) being negotiated and not debated by elected representatives in democratic arenas, is more than shocking. Such a blatant denial of democracy justifies by itself a rejection of the whole ACTA process, whatever the agreed text might be.
But the content of the position pushed by the Member States of the EU is even more disturbing. The Presidency document states that “The Position of the Member States of the European Union is still under examination” with regard to article 2.14.1 that covers copyright or related rights infringements. As visible in the released ACTA text, some proposals for 2.14.1 explicitly plan to apply criminal sanctions to “infringements that have no direct or indirect motivation of financial gain”, and others give a definition of financial gain that include obtaining anything without paying3. The EU is clearly pushing for new criminal sanctions on counterfeiting and copyright infrigement that will also target non-commercial usages.
If criminal sanctions for non-for-profit transfers of data is included in the final version of article 2.14.1, criminal sanctions for “inciting, aiding and abetting” will automatically apply4. Consequences for freedom of expression and innovation on the Internet could be devastating.
“The ACTA agreement, by its opacity and undemocratic nature, allows criminal sanctions to be simply negotiated”, declares La Quadrature du Net spokesman Jérémie Zimmermann, adding:
“The leaked document shows that the EU Member States are willing to impose prison sanctions for non-commercial usages of copyrighted works on the Internet as well as for ‘inciting and aiding’, a notion so broad that it could cover any Internet service or speech questioning copyright policies. EU citizens should interrogate their governments about their support to policies that obviously attack freedom of speech, privacy and innovation. Around the next round of negotiations and beyond, ACTA should be restlessly combatted and opposed worldwide.”
Deeply flawed process
Yesterday, “More than 90 IP professors, European Union MPs and public interest groups from six continents have banded together to protest ACTA, created by the corporate entertainment industry and touted by the Obama administration”, said p2pnet.
“Their fears and concerns are powerfully highlighted in a communique released by American University’s Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property.
“ ‘We find that the terms of the publicly released draft of ACTA threaten numerous public interests, including every concern specifically disclaimed by negotiators’, it says, going on >>>
- Negotiators claim ACTA will not interfere with citizens’ fundamental rights and liberties; it will.
- They claim ACTA is consistent with the WTO Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS); it is not.
- They claim ACTA will not increase border searches or interfere with cross-border transit of legitimate generic medicines; it will.
- And they claim that ACTA does not require “graduated response” disconnections of people from the internet; however, the agreement strongly encourages such policies.
“ACTA is the ‘predictably deficient product of a deeply flawed process’, says the paper. ‘What started as a relatively simple proposal to coordinate customs enforcement has transformed into a sweeping and complex new international intellectual property and internet regulation with grave consequences for the global economy and governments’ ability to promote and protect the public interest’.”
(Cheers, RW and others)
… and identi.ca
La Quadrature du Net – Leak: EU pushes for criminalizing non-commercial usages in ACTA, June 24, 2010
p2pnet – ACTA a ‘product of a deeply flawed process’, June 24, 2010
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June 25th, 2010 at 10:48 am
Looks like ACTA is designed to eliminate leaks as well. No surprise.
June 25th, 2010 at 12:21 pm
For this ACTA to be resisted to its fullest, it has to first pass. Just after a couple months of a few revolutions, politicians losing their re-elections, grandmothers being arrested for checking their emails, little Johnny gets life sentence for downloading Lady Gaga, should make the whole continent pick up stones and push it out… This ACTA could be the entertainment industry’s greatest mistake in disguise.
What would the world be like without harsh trials?
June 25th, 2010 at 12:33 pm
fuck this shite!!!
If i was accuesd, I will demand for DEATH-ROW, since the fact that if i murdered some-one then i would be getting a slap-on-the-wrist, compared to this shit. Fuck me, share one song and its the end of the world for all humanity, fuck that, i want to share a BILLION, with a little message to the CREATIVE RE-FUCKING-TARDS, or “Fuck you, i got a BILLION over you now!!!”.
June 25th, 2010 at 12:34 pm
” RE-FUCKING-TARDS, or “Fuck you, i got a BILLION over you now!!!”.”
sori, the “or” was supposed to be “of”.
June 25th, 2010 at 1:20 pm
This is war!
We have to strike the heads where the heads are at the following corporations of entertainment parasites:
Time Warner/Warner Music (US),
EMI (Britain),
Vivendi/NBC Universal (France)
Sony (Japan),
BMG ( Germany)
Viacom (USA),
Fox (Australia),
Disney (USA).
These corporation represent a mortal danger to our societies and our freedom worldwide.
June 25th, 2010 at 7:04 pm
I freaking DARE them to release ACTA to the public. All those unhappy people would raid the corporations and the White House if this passed and I would sit back and laugh.
June 25th, 2010 at 8:07 pm
Criminal sanctions for INCITING? I’d be curious to see how that will be enforced.
June 25th, 2010 at 10:47 pm
Quebec just received a few million to build more prisons this week, btw. I do believe Ontario did as well, but not sure.
June 26th, 2010 at 10:22 am
“We have to strike the heads where the heads are at the following corporations of entertainment parasites: ”
no one here is ever going to commit a violent act against anyone, ever.
We’ll vote with our wallets and never give any of the ‘AA’s another dime of our cash, but that’s it.
If you think any form of violence is the thing to do, you’re completely on your own. no one here takes you seriously.
June 27th, 2010 at 5:25 pm
“We’ll vote with our wallets and never give any of the ‘AA’s another dime of our cash, but that’s it.”
With all due respect, Dredd… after a decade, how is that working so far?
The ‘AA’s will just keep getting their gov’t lackeys to write more draconian laws designed to tap into the pockets of everyone in some way or another to keep these a’hole’s outdated business models from collapsing. I’m not a advocate of violence, but for real change to happen, it’s going to take much more than just boycotting and blogging.
Now they want to throw everyone in jail… how would you propose continuing a peaceful revolution if they get their way and have everyone silenced behind bars?
June 28th, 2010 at 6:22 pm
” With all due respect, Dredd… after a decade, how is that working so far? ”
Pretty good, apparently.
Good enough for them to spend more and more of their money purchasing legislators.
Good enough to the point that they are getting careless and the payola is becoming obvious.
Good enough to the point where the general public is starting to finally notice.
” how would you propose continuing a peaceful revolution if they get their way and have everyone silenced behind bars? ”
They will eventually have to literally put EVERYONE behind bars.
Courts are starting to get pissed, look at the recent case in which ISP’s got together and said this is BULLSHIT. The courts are
starting to go along ( finally ) with the precedent that forces the plaintiffs to file singly, for each and every case and not lump
thousands together. It will likely take 30 years to get even 1/4 of the way through the plaintiffs list.
The time is coming where there are too many to prosecute. Once public awareness of the bullshit gets high enough, the travesty of
a jury like Jammie Thomas won’t happen anymore, because they won’t be able to find a jury willing to convict.
keep going just as we are, it takes more time but people DO eventually catch up, and Jury nullification IS a right.
” I’m not a advocate of violence, but for real change to happen, it’s going to take much more than just boycotting and blogging. ”
So , if you’re not as you say an ‘ advocate of violence ‘, what more do you suggest ?
I’d love to hear it.
June 29th, 2010 at 8:50 am
@ Dredd
“Pretty good, apparently.
Good enough for them to spend more and more of their money purchasing legislators.
Good enough to the point that they are getting careless and the payola is becoming obvious.
Good enough to the point where the general public is starting to finally notice.”
You’re certainly the optimist. Wish I could share it. If that represents a decade’s worth of accomplishments, compared to the decade’s worth of setbacks we’ve seen, I hope I live to 150 to see the results of your vision.
“They will eventually have to literally put EVERYONE behind bars.”
Doubtful. 20,000 people behind bars would be much more a deterrent than 20,000 settlement letters for the average Joe.
“Courts are starting to get pissed, look at the recent case in which ISP’s got together and said this is BULLSHIT.”
That’s the ISP’s getting pissed, not the courts. A plus… but it doesn’t mean much yet and may never.
“The courts are starting to go along ( finally ) with the precedent that forces the plaintiffs to file singly, for each and every case and not lump
thousands together. It will likely take 30 years to get even 1/4 of the way through the plaintiffs list.”
A little presumptuous I think. Right now we’re talking about one judge (the rest continue to rubber stamp despite the precedent). Let’s at least wait until after the hearing Wednesday on the matter and see how she actually rules on the joinder issue.
“The time is coming where there are too many to prosecute. Once public awareness of the bullshit gets high enough, the travesty of
a jury like Jammie Thomas won’t happen anymore, because they won’t be able to find a jury willing to convict.”
Bad law and bad precedents are coming at a much quicker rate than the public awareness to counter it. My applause to Jon and the others doing their best to raise the awareness, but there’s still a ways to go to get the message to the masses. It’s no fault of theirs, but they’re up against a still well funded PR machine who CAN very easily get their message to the masses through printed publications which is still where most of the voting majority (40-50+) get their news. About the only time I ever read one is if one happens to be left in a public crapper… a place which I try to avoid, but sometimes “shit happens”.
“So , if you’re not as you say an ‘ advocate of violence ‘, what more do you suggest ?”
Just like there’s no silver bullet to cure the industry’s woes, there’s none for us either. I predict the cat and mouse game will persist as long as the 21st century is ruled by 20th century politicians and judges. Until today’s college kids are campaigning for votes or getting handed gavels, it will always be a slow uphill progress.
I’m a peaceful person and not the RW who’s “This is war!” comment you originally replied to. My family’s been boycotting for a decade just like you in hopes of seeing the industry collapse or at least scattered into fragments of it’s current self, but as our Constitution continues to be gutted in the name of “Homeland Security” and “Corporate Welfare”, one has to be reminded of one of our Founding Fathers words…
“The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of Patriots and tyrants!”
Thomas Jefferson
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Kudos again to you Jon for what he’s doing here! Every voice is needed. I’m not trying to undermine anything. I’ve been here reading your articles nearly since the beginning of P2Pnet and it’s always a daily stop. It’s been a shame to watch a2f2a deteriorate because I think you were onto something there, just picked the wrong partner. I think I know how to turn it around, but you’d need to bite the bullet on something. Just respond and I’ll email you if your interested in listening.
Would love to try your Awesome Sauce too when you come up with a shipping solution!
A.C.
June 29th, 2010 at 8:51 am
Oops!
“for what YOU’RE doing here!”
June 29th, 2010 at 9:28 am
Presumptuous as I said, Dredd. Tomorrow the EFF goes to court against the U.S. Copyright Goons. Keep your fingers crossed.
http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2010/06/28
June 29th, 2010 at 9:48 am
@ A.C. ‘Would love to try your Awesome Sauce too when you come up with a shipping solution!’
Only in Canada, unfortunately – http://www.wildfiresauce.com/?page_id=2 . Too expensive, otherwise.
Cheers!
June 29th, 2010 at 12:20 pm
“You’re certainly the optimist. Wish I could share it. ”
No, i’m not, but it’s the ONLY viable way … until THEY fire the first shot.
They will, sooner or later.