Leaked ACTA Treaty to Outlaw P2P? 387
miowpurr writes to tell us that a draft of the ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement) has been posted on Wikileaks. Among others, Boing Boing's Cory Doctorow has weighed in on the possible ramifications of this treaty. "Among other things, ACTA will outlaw P2P (even when used to share works that are legally available, like my books), and crack down on things like region-free DVD players. All of this is taking place out of the public eye, presumably with the intention of presenting it as a fait accompli just as the ink is drying on the treaty."
technologically feasible? (Score:4, Interesting)
otherwise, if the status quo is two way traffic flow, p2p traffic can be obfuscated in such a way that it is hard to detect and hard to isolate from "acceptable" traffic
so i think all these laws do is breed stronger p2p apps
Time to get some people on record (Score:3, Interesting)
Can we gather a list like this and ask candidates to comment on it, like the groups interested in abortion or taxes or the environment do? Or is that outside the scope of
Who is really behind ACTA? (Score:3, Interesting)
Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA)[4]
Top four campaign contributions for 2006:
Time Warner $21,000
News Corp $15,000
Sony Corp of America $14,000
Walt Disney Co $13,550
Top two Industries:
TV/Movies/Music $181,050
Lawyers/Law Firms $114,200
"
Can we outlaw these groups from the internet? kthx
Re:Typical (Score:3, Interesting)
It may not be some grand scheme, but it is the end result
Re:If your congress critter is on this list (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Guess they don't play WoW... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:The First Amendment to the Constitution (Score:3, Interesting)
This is a first amendment issue, and I am pretty sure a court would see it as such. Interfering with the distribution of "works that are legally available, like... books" is interference with the press.
Welcome back mainframes (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Typical (Score:5, Interesting)
When I was in school (Score:5, Interesting)
When I was in school, we were taught about Francis Cabot Lowell, who heroically copied machine plans in England to use in the US for textile mills.
England was so worried that their monopoly on their mill technology would be taken that they would search ships, cargo and passenger for hidden plans.
Fortunately for the US, Lowell memorized the plans and was able to build his own plants in the New World. His business was the beginning of the industrialization of the New World. Without which, the United States would have continued to be merely agrarian in nature. Does anyone know if they still teach this lesson in gradeschools, or was it killed when they started teaching kids to respect copyrights more?
alcohol (Score:1, Interesting)
Comment removed (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Canada (Score:3, Interesting)
If a law isn't enforced in Canada, it becomes void. I don't know the exact term for it, but it's true. (I studied this about 2 months ago) You can't get caught on a minor, obscure technicality here.
Also, SCC = 7 figures. Good luck with that.
It's best to call the NDP and Liberals to tell them what's going on. With the current scandal, this might be enough to topple to Conservatives.
Oh, don't forget the Bloc. I'm sure they'd love to have their content controlled by the Americans.
yup. excellent point (Score:3, Interesting)
a very important concept
the law must hew closely to an actual concept of fairness. the law must not just serve a few well-placed economic interests. otherwise, it undermines the entire relationship between the law and its citizenry should it be understood that the law serves a special economic interest group at the detriment of the rights and freedoms of the people at large
if the people begin to see the law as illegitimate, as serving a special class of people rather than the public at large, this undermines society in subtle ways, large and small
Re:The First Amendment to the Constitution (Score:4, Interesting)
This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.
It doesn't say treaties trump the constitution, or even are peers of it. It says that the hierarchy is Constitution -> Federal law -> Treaties -> state law.
It's even clearer in article III section 2:
The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Authority;
Treaties themselves have no power internally without enabling legislation. Congress is not obligated to pass enabling legislation, to make it conform to the actual treaty language if they do pass it, or to refrain from repealing it. Courts can strike the enabling legislation (or any attempt at direct application of treaty language to the international activity of US citizens or entities) for unconstitutionality, interpret it into impotence, or set up impossible enforcement roadblocks, as easily as they do the same to federal law.
Re:When I was in school (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Bad summary. (Score:2, Interesting)
That's not just a wikileaks killer - that is a blog-killer and forum-killer clause rolled into one, Just about every political blog or consumer website could be categorized as a "non-profit facilitation of unauthorized information exchange"
.
Just about every tech corporation, service company, high school and city council could use this to silence unfavourable discussions about their products or services. If that act got passed, every discussion board would have to moderate every comment they received.
Re:Guess they don't play WoW... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Guess they don't play WoW... (Score:4, Interesting)
Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Bad summary. (Score:3, Interesting)
It appears to be focused on IP issues and s/w updates and the like w/should not be affected. This next part is of more concern to me:
Re:Gotta say it... (Score:4, Interesting)
The government only represents the people when the people vote. Guess which age group is least likely to vote? It's exactly the same age group that's most likely to use P2P and play WoW.
99.999% of politicians aren't politicians because they love helping people and doing the right thing. They're in it for the money and the power. As far as politicians are concerned, people who don't vote don't exist. Non-voters have no say in whether the politicians keep their cushy jobs, so why cater to them when they can cater to actual voters and keep their jobs? If you ignore politicians, the politicians will ignore you.
Even if the corporations are buying off politicians left and right, the voters are still ultimately responsible for continually re-electing the corrupt politicians.
It's really hard to feel bad about all of this political bitching when the people most upset are also the ones least like to vote.