The fiasco continues

Originally posted by electricdruid at The fiasco continues

ACTA in a Nutshell –

What is ACTA?  ACTA is the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. A new intellectual property enforcement treaty being negotiated by the United States, the European Community, Switzerland, and Japan, with Australia, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Mexico, Jordan, Morocco, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, and Canada recently announcing that they will join in as well.

Why should you care about ACTA? Initial reports indicate that the treaty will have a very broad scope and will involve new tools targeting “Internet distribution and information technology.”

What is the goal of ACTA? Reportedly the goal is to create new legal standards of intellectual property enforcement, as well as increased international cooperation, an example of which would be an increase in information sharing between signatory countries’ law enforcement agencies.

Essential ACTA Resources - 

• Read more about ACTA here: ACTA Fact Sheet
• Read the authentic version of the ACTA text as of 15 April 2011, as finalized by participating countries here: ACTA Finalized Text
• Follow the history of the treaty’s formation here: ACTA history
• Read letters from U.S. Senator Ron Wyden wherein he challenges the constitutionality of ACTA: Letter 1 | Letter 2 | Read the Administration’s Response to Wyden’s First Letter here: Response
• Watch a short informative video on ACTA: ACTA Video
• Watch a lulzy video on ACTA: Lulzy Video

Say NO to ACTA. It is essential to spread awareness and get the word out on ACTA.

Via Tumblr

My personal thoughts on the thing below

At first, it would seem that I shouldn't be concerned, since I don't think I've ever downloaded a single movie or song from the Internet and conservatively buy things on the old-fashioned way, even recruiting friends in other countries to help me hunt down stuff honestly.

However... when the lobbies and the authorities can do this, who can tell where it will end? When will they start against fanfiction, too, even though we make no profit from it and, in fact, make unpaid advertising for the original product, which they should appreciate. (They don't, but that is another matter entirely.)

Who knows where our freedom, which is mostly an illusion as it is, will be mutilated again and again? Frienships forged on the basis of shared interest will be destroyed by taking down websites and forums and everything. The Internet will cease being the World Wide Web that it was supposed to be and become a tool of manipulation for profitmaking... and other, darker purposes.

When almost a decade ago FF.Net chose to self-censure the site by prohibiting NC-17-rated fics, it was a worrisome thing. Not because I miss all the badly-written smut - that croached back since then, with lower ratings or found its way to other archives. But because a site, popular and much-used, was forced to take such measures to be able to continue its existence.

I grew up behind the Iron Curtain. I know what censorship is - and fear and control. But back then, those things were at least out in the open. Now it all seems to be happening behind our backs, and that worries me more than everything.