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Pro-ACTA Site Says 'Get the Facts'
Glyn Moody writes "We hear a lot about politicians and countries rejecting ACTA, but not so much from the treaty's supporters. Here's a new site, called 'ACTA Facts,' which invites Europeans to 'get the facts' on how wonderful ACTA really is. Judging by its content, this one will be about as successful as Microsoft's 'Get the Facts' campaign a few years ago, which tried to dissuade people from using GNU/Linux. For example, a new report linked to by the site claims that ACTA could 'boost European output by a total of €50 billion, and create as many as 960,000 new jobs.' Unfortunately, that's based on numerous flawed assumptions, including the idea that countries like China and India are going to rush to join ACTA, when the treaty is actually designed as a weapon against them, as they have already noticed."
Members of Europe's Parliament have come under considerable pressure to "look the other way" on the fight against counterfeiting and piracy - a global problem that impacts virtually every product category in every sector worldwide.
If that "considerable pressure" is being brought by the people who live in the EU, then perhaps it's not something they want. Why pass laws that nobody who lives in the EU wants? Doesn't sound like this is in the best interest of the population in Europe...
"Freedom in the USA is not the ability to do what you want. It is the ability to stop others from doing what THEY want"
...Nancy Reagan?
Okay, I'd like to get the facts about who was involved in the treaty planning, and what they said.
Oh, I'm sorry. By "facts", they apparently meant their talking points. My mistake - I assumed we were using the normal meanings of words today.
Looks like its 10 years old and written by someone not much older at the time. Should a assume that the content on the page is of similar quality?
You will have no privacy, all past transaction will no longer be covered by privacy laws, The privacy of your record will be maintained by the copyright owner.
your privacy will not be covered by due process. privacy is not as important as protecting copyright holders rights. Trust us with your privacy.
There mentioned it 6 times obviously the statements protect your privacy. I said it lots
ACTA was conceived and written in corporate boardrooms, for the benefit of the corporations those boardrooms control. Corporate money solicited politicians to secretly adopt it. Corporate money funded the politicians. Negotiations were done in secret so that the general population couldn't see what underhanded business was going on. Politicians were paid to change national/international laws to allow ACTA. Again, they were selected in boardrooms, funds drawn up from corporate funds and listed as 'investment'. Corporations led negotiations. Corporations put the soft sell into the politicos. They found vulnerabilities in the politicians and offered 'helping hands' in a quid-pro-quo form. In many cases the politicians problems were exacerbated so that the corporations could 'save them' in a more pronounced way. The entire thing was stage managed from beginning to end. When given the light of day and public scrutiny (that's where we are at now), ACTA fails. Its corporate greed writ large. Its draconian and undemocratic. The corporations will yelp and complain about its absence, but their interest is in corporate welfare. When you look at ACTA, repeat the words of Gandalf: "YOU SHALL NOT PASS!"
Is that the amount they plant to extort from 960,000 people per year?
by TheSpoom (715771) Uncaring Linux user here. I have nothing to add to this but please continue. *munches popcorn*
a.k.a. Fuck ACTA
€50 billion won't nearly be enough for those 960000 new lawyers!
Looking at the source code it has references to things like file:///C|/Users/Jeff%20Hardy/Documents/4-websites/CCAPCongress/home/tn_new_o.gif
Jeffrey Hardy, BASCAP Director - I somehow doubt he's decided to moonlight as a really shitty web designer in aid of the cause.
I'm really not sure what to think. It's so poorly done I'm almost suspicious it's not actually legitimate.
From http://www.actafacts.com/faq.htm , going by point to point in the faq. I'm not copying it here so you'll have to put it side by side ;p
About the Internet
- "No requirements" - In other words, open to interpretation by the reader with no policies put into effect to prevent abuse.
- Same story, open to interpretation and abuse with no set policies against such breaches of freedoms and privacy.
- ACTA "mentions" privacy according to this entry but does not actually safeguard it, having no policies (yet again) to do this, letting it open to interpretation of the reader.
- Very clever wording, "seeks not to duplicate" -> However, ACTA seeks to CONTROL and supplant any existing policies regarding governance of the net.
- Again clever wording without actually mentioning safeguarding the rights and freedoms of anyone, much less the citizens, making no mention of whom it's supposed to protect.
About access to medicines and patents
- Good in what way exactly? In who's eyes? While removing counterfeit medicines is a good thing, the current treaty also prevents medicines to be produced without consent of the patent holder, which encourages price fixing and does not actually help the patient at all. The treaty makes this international law and as such only protects business interests of patent holders.
- Vague wording on a policy governments "may" institute or not.
- Again, open to interpretation, as governments may appoint customs officials as a 'competent authority' to save money.
- 'Lawful generics' - IE, patent holder interests, not patient interests.
- Seeds are not but patents and intellectual property are, under which seeds fall as per the design. While this entry doesn't blatantly lie it does beat around the bush trying to do it.
About Fundamental Principles, Rights, Data Protection and Freedom
- ACTA "recognizes" privacy and does not make data retrieval 'mandatory'. So what DOES it do exactly?
- Open to interpretation yet again, where it does not reference any existing law or policy safeguarding these freedoms, not to mention the loopholes that already exist in current law all over the globe.
- Again, using words like "recognizes" and "does not require" without giving any guarantees whatsoever to protect said freedoms and privacy.
- A savings clause that safeguards laws which already permit breaches of privacy and security, or might soon do? Loopholes are abundant.
- Same as above. "Protective of privacy" - Of whom exactly?
- Freedom of expression is exactly that, freedom of expression. When phrases, songs and looks are trademarked in such a way that you can get arrested for imitating them anywhere, it kinda limits what 'freedom of expression' actually is, right? This entry is just a blatant lie.
- Very open to abuse, this one, as it heavily encourages patent and copyright infringement trials which due to "protection" will most likely end up in the plaintiffs (usually corporate) favour, combined with the already mentioned breaches of privacy and basic rights above.
About Transparency and Governance
- In other words, it's a corporate effort to sidestep official national and international lawmaking.
- Clever wording: "Texts of ACTA were made public". ACTA as a whole was never made public and what WAS made public has always been subject to revision immediately afterwards.
- The question didn't mention changing the agreement but enforcing it. VERY sneaky here.
- The public is mentioned as an implied secondary party AFTER freedoms and rights were mentioned. Suspicious yet?
- In other words, if someone makes one penny from anything involving anything infringing, to their knowledge or not, they can be taken to court. The "indirect" wording here is especially worrying.
- This one is just too funny. "ACTA will not have a website" - What am i reading then? Not to mention the governing body which is mentioned at least once before this, does that not count as an international organization?
- US does
For example, a new report linked to by the site claims that ACTA could "boost European output by a total of 50 billion (euro), and create as many as 960,000 new jobs."
How can you tell when a politician or special interest group is lying?
When they start talking about all the jobs their new laws will create.
"Get the facts!" is the motto of corporate FUD. It's something everyone with a brain knows. Don't let the RIAA types know!
Great Intellect...
Well, BASCAP is "Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting And Piracy", so it's at least up their ally. And here's Jeff's contact details. Click here to send an email, it says. Maybe we should.
http://www.icc-ccs.co.uk/bascap/digest/Contact.htm