Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement

SpaceAdmiral writes "The Canadian government is secretly negotiating to join the US and the EU in an Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. The agreement would give border guards the power to search iPods and cellphones for illegal downloads, as well as to force ISPs to hand over customer information without a warrant. David Fewer, staff counsel at the University of Ottawa's Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic, characterizes ACTA this way: 'If Hollywood could order intellectual property laws for Christmas what would they look like? This is pretty close.'"

Comments

Economic Big Stick.

[Odder]

The third page of the article explains how the US is able to get away with such outrageous requests:

In a situation similar to what happened in the Softwood Lumber trade dispute, Canadians could face hefty penalties if it does not comply with ACTA after the agreement has been completed.In a situation similar to what happened in the Softwood Lumber trade dispute, Canadians could face hefty penalties if it does not comply with ACTA after the agreement has been completed.

So the proposal is, "surrender your citizens rights or we will make it cost you." The answer should be, "without rights, you will just take our money anyway, no thanks."

Re:Economic Big Stick.

[Goldberg's Pants]

A big fat shaft.

What amazes me is it says about searching iPod's for illegal content... And in Canada currently it's LEGAL to download music. (Despite the CRIA's objections.)

For so long I've been proud to live in Canada, but with that fucktard Harper at the helm they're trying more and more to make it America 2.

A few links.

[palegray.net]

Regarding the matter, some additional source material for consideration:

• Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement - Fact Sheet
• What is the Proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA)?
• "ACTA" - a New Plurilateral Policy Platform

A couple of these links are several months old; this has been brewing for awhile, and action needs to be taken now to stop it.

Re:Constitution easy to subvert

[salesgeek]

Any provision of the constitution can be done away with by getting 51 Senators and the President to sign a treaty.

FALSE. Treaties have the same strength as a law passed by congress, but are not exempt from the Constitution.
"Our constitution declares a treaty to be the law of the land. It is, consequently, to be regarded in courts of justice as equivalent to an act of the legislature, whenever it operates of itself, without the aid of any legislative provision." -- Foster vs Nelson

Re:The real answer

[CRCulver]

nless you have copyright the only way you get art is when rich people keep a pet artist.

In the European Union, much local film and art music is produced with the support of state subsidies. Private patronage isn't as big here as in the U.S. If a government is committed to keeping the arts strong, and if it fairly distributes money evenly to all artists instead of just those a government official favours, then things work very well even without the notion of copyright. France is an excellent example of how state arts funding works well when certain arts are important but not always economically profitable. IRCAM is now in its third decade of generous state funding.

Re:how do counterfeiting and copyright

[alexo]

A copied song--as it was not produced by the authorized agent--could be considered "counterfeit."

Except that private copying of music is legal in Canada.

the act of reproducing all or any substantial part of
        (a) a musical work embodied in a sound recording,
        (b) a performer's performance of a musical work embodied in a sound recording, or
        (c) a sound recording in which a musical work, or a performer's performance of a musical work, is embodied
onto an audio recording medium for the private use of the person who makes the copy does not constitute an infringement of the copyright in the musical work, the performer's performance or the sound recording.

Sonds to me like the assholes in power are trying to circumvent the laws for the benefit of American corporate interests..

Time to contact your Member of Parliament and express your displeasure. Snail mail works best, no stamp is needed.

You don't know what you're talking about

[mosb1000]

Those are exchange rates, not relative purchasing power.

The exchange rate has little to do with purchasing power, since it is heavily dependent on trade. The exchange rate has gone up because the US has a trade defecit, which is flooding foregin markets with dollars. Add to this the fact that the dollar has long been overvalued, and it's not hard to understand why the exchange rate is falling. It is basically a market correction, which should utimatelly ballance out our trade defecit (as exchange rates fall, imports will decrease and exports will increase).

Relative purchasing power must be determined by compairing some kind of price index (such as the CPI). Sorry to burst your bubble, but that's simply the only way to compare relative purchasing power. The exchange rate only effects the price of imported goods, and therefore does not say a lot about price levels in general. Especially when you consider that China fixes their exchange rate to the dollar, and all petrolium is sold in dollars.

Re:screwed.

[CowTipperGore]

The mp3s ripped from my CDs don't have a purchase date. Exactly. This would help identify you as a thief. You might also want to read the RIAA's letter to the US Copyright office in 2006. For those PDF-averse, here are some highlights:

The Register was right in 2003 to be "skeptical" of the merits of any fair use analysis that asserts that space-shifting or format-shifting is a noninfringing use. ... This is particularly the case in today's market, where inexpensive legitimate digital copies of most types of works are readily available, and increasingly can be obtained through online download services. Where a market is functioning to serve the demand otherwise being fulfilled by unauthorized copying, the likelihood that the unauthorized copying is fair use is diminished.

and

Similarly, creating a back-up copy of a music CD is not a non-infringing use.