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US Negotiators Cave On Internet Provisions To ACTA

Posted by timothy on from the difference-between-law-and-legislation dept.

Hugh Pickens writes "Ars Technica reports that with the release of the 'near-final' ACTA text (PDF), it is becoming clear that the US has caved on the most egregious provisions from earlier drafts (advocating 'three strikes' regimes, ordering ISPs to develop anti-piracy plans, promoting tough DRM anticircumvention language, setting up a 'takedown' notification system, ordering 'secondary liability' for device makers) and has largely failed in its attempts to push the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) onto the rest of the world. Apparently, a face-saving agreement is better than no agreement at all — but even the neutered ACTA could run into problems, with Mexico's Senate recently approving a nonbinding resolution asking for the country to suspend participation in ACTA, while key members of the European Parliament have also expressed skepticism about the deal."

3 of 80 comments (clear)

  1. software patent liability for ISPs? by ciaran_o_riordan · · Score: 4, Interesting

    For software patents, the key thing to check is if ISPs will have liability for not removing stuff that a patent holder claims violates his patents. If that's still there, then we'll get DMCA take-down notices for software patents. More on the problem here:

    * http://en.swpat.org/wiki/ACTA_and_software_patents

    * http://en.swpat.org/wiki/Anti-Counterfeiting_Trade_Agreement_overview

    --
    Expert in software patents or patent law? Contribute to the ESP wiki!
  2. Democracy is already dead. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    In fact, it was never alive. Representative Republics are not Democracies. Frankly, Democracy should scare the hell out of you. Do you want the people watching Jersey Shore directly enforcing their will upon you?

    The picking of nits aside... I'm starting to believe the loonies who buy tons of desolate land and huddle in their basements while armed with enough firepower to end any zombie uprising aren't so crazy. Yes, yes, so it's not the UN attempting to eliminate our sovereignty; it's something far, far worse - the MPAA and RIAA.

  3. Re:still need to kill it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_Arms_Limitation_Talks

    Those were held in secret. We *knew* they were going on. But until they big flourish of signing the things we didnt really know what was in them.

    Secrecy has its place (such as in the salt talks exactly what you were working on and how much of everything you had). But in the case of copyright negotiations? Come on...

    Also correct me if I am wrong here but wasnt the DMCA because of a treaty? Yet suddenly all the other countries do not want it. So why exactly did we in the US get stuck with harsher rules? These are questions we should be asking our senators and congressmen.