while perusing the journals venting i came across a vent re the ACT agreement. intrigued i decided to look up a bit more info to see if it was a rumour or reality. i was shocked.
The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is a proposed plurilateral trade agreement that would impose strict enforcement of intellectual property rights related to Internet activity and trade in information-based goods. The agreement is being secretly negotiated by the governments of the United States, the European Commission, JAPAN, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Canada, and Mexico. If adopted at the G8 in July 2008, the treaty would establish an international coalition against copyright infringement, imposing a strong, top-down enforcement regime of copyright laws in developed nations. The proposed agreement would allow border officials to search laptops, MP3 players, and cellular phones for copyright-infringing content. It would also impose new cooperation requirements upon internet service providers (ISPs), including perfunctory disclosure of customer information, and restrict the use of online privacy tools. The proposal specifies a plan to encourage developing nations to accept the legal regime.
The European Commission, the Office of the United States Trade Representative, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and other government agencies have acknowledged participating in ACTA negotiations, but they have not released documents relating to the proposed agreement. Public interest advocates in Canada filed an access to information request but received only a document stating the title of the agreement, with everything else blacked out.
Border searches
Newspaper reports indicate that the proposed agreement would empower security officials at airports and other international borders to conduct random searches of laptops, MP3 players, and cellular phones for illegally downloaded or "ripped" music and movies. Travelers with infringing content would be subject to a fine and may have their devices confiscated or destroyed.
ISP cooperation
The leaked document includes a provision to force internet service providers to provide information about suspected copyright infringers without a warrant, making it easier for the record industry to sue music file sharers and for officials to shut down non-commercial BitTorrent websites such as The Pirate Bay.
Enforcement
ACTA would create its own governing body outside existing international institutions such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) or the United Nations.
Personally, i feel this is stemming up from pressure from the huge money hungry mogels of the entertainment industry. How is this going to mesh with the privacy act? It's like our own country is trying to inflict a new type of terrorism! Ohh..don't copy your music or movies to enjoy on your mobile device. Even if you paid for it, you'll get your stuff stolen and branded as a thief.
can you imagine? if this goes through, a security guard gets to decide if your a thief or not! a security guard gets to decide weather or not you get to keep your laptop or mp3 player. a frickin security guard gets to decide if you get a fine or go to jail. How will they know what was burned legally? My guess is that it will depend on the mood. I don't even want to think about how this will impact the internet service to our homes.
http://www.international.gc.ca/trade-agreements-accords-commerciaux/fo/IP-factsheet-fiche.aspx?lang=en
http://wikileaks.org/wiki/G-8_plurilateral_intellectual_property_trade_agreement_discussion_paper
http://www.privcom.gc.ca/legislation/02_07_01_e.asp
i've had a few run in's with the border patrols between the canadian/us border. the worst was one summer when the canadian side marched us out in a line like a bunch of criminals. what did we do to instigate this? nothing.
three car caravan coming home after a 3 week jaunt in the fest circuit in the US. first car made it through fine. unfortunately someone in the second car answered a question wrong (aka truthfully) causing them and the car behind (mine) to be directed into no-mans land. they asked us to get out of the cars (usually they tell you to stay in them). it didn't help that before exiting my friend mentioned that he hoped that there wasn't anything still left in the car from the previous owners that he had failed to find (at the time i remember thinking buddy, that better be your attempt at a lame ass joke). then they made us stand in line. one guard told another to go get the dog. what the hell? they were bringing a dog? for a bunch of kids? it was slowly dawning on me that the idiot guards were bored.
being tired and slightly confused on why a dog was coming into play i got nervous and asked one of the nazi's if the dog would be attracted to my shirt as i had split a bit of steak juice on it the day before (travel shirts and steak & cheese burritos don't mix). i'll never forget his reply. as the dog jumped around sniffing my friends he says "mam, if you have any drugs on your person i suggest you tell us now". i was baffled. i could sense his disappointment as the dog walked by completely uninterested. so it continued, us standing in a line, border guards searching our car, the stupid dog sniffing/jumping around inside the car, more guards asking us stupid mundane questions and our friends, less than 200 meters away, safe in Canada, laughing and taking pictures. we were finally let go but not before one of the guards declared a punk spiky bracelet a dangerous weapon (it wasn't even spiky! the spiky part flopped over) thus declaring the right to confiscate it. upon getting back into the car i found that the damn dog had eaten my only food until we got home..a hot apple pie that i had won at mcdonalds. so, if a guard is bored and can stop you based on the fact that there are three cars in a group, who knows what's going to happen if they're given the power to go through your stuff and keep it?
by the way, i'm only venting a bit here as if this goes through i figure it'll be implemented in time for my trip...when they'll be over zealous. i can see it now..me protesting as they take my music away...
