Dear All,<div><br></div><div>In relation to Michael's comments on the ACTA, there was a dynamic session on Intellectual Property: ACTA and other controversies in the Asia Pacific Regional IGF in 2011, visit
<a href="http://2011.rigf.asia/program.php">http://2011.rigf.asia/program.php</a> and you can access transcripts and a recorded video of the session.</div><div><br></div><div>The description of the session on the website is as follows:</div>
<div>"
<span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:12px;line-height:17px;text-align:left">The Anti-Counterfeit Trade Agreement would be a treaty to put in place new and higher international standards on intellectual property enforcement. Apart from its obvious TRIPS-Plus nature and forceful use of ISPs as private police, ACTA reveals a couple of critically important aspects that deserve careful scrutiny from the perspective of Internet Governance. ACTA’s plurilateral and closed negotiation process directly goes against the multi-stakeholder and open and transparent participation principles developed for Internet Governance. ACTA’s narrow focus on intellectual property rights ignores human rights concerns, especially free speech and access to the Internet, that are essential in the information society. ACTA demonstrate the temptation to shift from the existing multilateral WIPO-WTO regime to a more restricted and opaque system to enforce the private exclusive rights on the global information network. In addition, other domestic (such as US Bill “Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA)”) or private (such as ICANN’s trademark measures in new gTLD process) enforcement measures for intellectual property will exert significant global impact. The session intends to have a vivid discussion on all these interesting issues in the most populous and economic-booming region of the world.</span> "<br>
<br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Jan 25, 2012 at 5:25 AM, michael gurstein <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:gurstein@gmail.com">gurstein@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
Internet governance by another name...<br>
<br>
M<br>
<br>
-----Original Message-----<br>
From: <a href="mailto:a2k-bounces@lists.keionline.org">a2k-bounces@lists.keionline.org</a><br>
[mailto:<a href="mailto:a2k-bounces@lists.keionline.org">a2k-bounces@lists.keionline.org</a>] On Behalf Of Thirukumaran<br>
Balasubramaniam<br>
Sent: Tuesday, January 24, 2012 4:36 AM<br>
To: <a href="mailto:a2k@lists.keionline.org">a2k@lists.keionline.org</a><br>
Subject: [A2k] Forbes: If You Thought SOPA Was Bad,Just Wait Until You Meet<br>
ACTA<br>
<br>
<a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2012/01/23/if-you-thought-sopa-was-bad-
just-wait-until-you-meet-acta/" target="_blank">http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2012/01/23/if-you-thought-sopa-was-bad-<br>
just-wait-until-you-meet-acta/</a><br>
<br>
E.D. Kain, Contributor<br>
<br>
I write tech policy, nerd culture, and our hyper-connected future.<br>
<br>
Tech<br>
<br>
<br>
1/23/2012 @ 11:10AM |40,241 views<br>
<br>
If You Thought SOPA Was Bad, Just Wait Until You Meet ACTA<br>
<br>
<br>
Image by mermadon 1967 via Flickr<br>
<br>
When sites like Wikipedia and Reddit banded together for a major blackout<br>
January 18th, the impact was felt all the way to Washington D.C. The<br>
blackout had lawmakers running from the controversial anti-piracy<br>
legislation, SOPA and PIPA, which critics said threatened freedom of speech<br>
online.<br>
<br>
Unfortunately for free-speech advocates, censorship is still a serious<br>
threat.<br>
<br>
Few people have heard of ACTA, or the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement,<br>
but the provisions in the agreement are just as pernicious as anything we<br>
saw in SOPA. Worse, the agreement spans virtually all of the countries in<br>
the developed world, including all of the EU, the United States, Switzerland<br>
and Japan.<br>
<br>
Many of these countries have already signed or ratified it, and the cogs are<br>
still turning. The treaty has been secretly negotiated behind the scenes,<br>
with unelected bureaucrats working closely with entertainment industry<br>
lobbyists to craft the provisions in the treaty. The Bush administration<br>
started the process, but the Obama administration has aggressively pursued<br>
it.<br>
<br>
Indeed, we've already signed on to the treaty. All it needs now is Senate<br>
ratification. The time to stop the treaty is now, and we may need a second<br>
global internet blackout to call attention to it.<br>
<br>
Here's a quick video primer:<br>
<br>
<br>
ACTA bypasses the sovereign laws of participating nations, forcing ISP's<br>
across the globe to adopt these draconian measures.<br>
<br>
Worse, it goes much further than the internet, cracking down on generic<br>
drugs and making food patents even more radical than they are by enforcing a<br>
global standard on seed patents that threatens local farmers and food<br>
independence across the developed world.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Despite ACTA's secrecy, criticism of the agreement has been widespread.<br>
Countries like India and Brazil have been vocal opponents of the agreement,<br>
claiming that it will do a great deal of harm to emerging economies.<br>
<br>
I'll have more on the agreement as it emerges. But to briefly sum up, ACTA<br>
contains global IP provisions as restrictive or worse than anything<br>
contained in SOPA and PIPA.<br>
<br>
. ACTA spans virtually all of the developed world, threatening the<br>
freedom of the internet as well as access to medication and food. The threat<br>
is every bit as real for those countries not involved in the process as the<br>
signatories themselves.<br>
. ACTA has already been signed by many countries including the US,<br>
but requires ratification in the EU parliament and the US Senate.<br>
. The entire monstrosity has been negotiated behind closed doors and<br>
kept secret from the public. Technocrats, beholden to the deep pockets of<br>
the entertainment lobby, have masked the agreement behind the misnomer of<br>
"anti-counterfeiting" when in fact it goes much, much further. If you<br>
thought SOPA would break the internet, ACTA is much worse. And it could<br>
become law across the global economy without so much as a murmur of<br>
opposition.<br>
<br>
Worse still, it's not alone. Even more restrictive provisions exist in<br>
another trade agreement currently being hammered out by various nations.<br>
<br>
According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, there are "other<br>
plurilateral agreements, such as the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement<br>
(TPP), which contains a chapter on IP enforcement that would have state<br>
signatories adopt even more restrictive copyright measures than ACTA.<br>
Similarly, negotiations over TPP are also held in secret and with little<br>
oversight by the public or civil society. These initiatives, negotiated<br>
without participation from civil society or the public, are an affront to a<br>
democratic world order. EFF will remain vigilant against these international<br>
initiatives that threaten to choke off creativity, innovation, and free<br>
speech, and will stand with EDRi, FFII, La Quadrature du Net and our other<br>
EU fellow traveller organizations in their campaign to defeat ACTA in the<br>
European Parliament in January."<br>
<br>
The global economy needs to be seen as separate from those nations which<br>
comprise the global community of states. Civil society and a free global<br>
economy are not the same thing as the bogeyman so often referred to simply<br>
as "globalism."<br>
<br>
The free flow of goods and information is as much threatened by the global<br>
state apparatus as it is assisted by it, and industries with a vested<br>
interested in maintaining the status quo through draconian protectionist<br>
measures are now threatening the last frontier of the truly free economy.<br>
<br>
By threatening the internet and free speech, the entertainment industry<br>
threatens its own existence. But with only short-term profits in mind, this<br>
will not deter them.<br>
<br>
Yes, our lawmakers fled from SOPA and PIPA when push came to shove, but they<br>
have ACTA to fall back on. Notably, few of them are speaking out against<br>
this even more dangerous treaty. Not surprisingly one of the lone voices of<br>
dissent is Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) who has spoken out against the treaty.<br>
<br>
"It may be possible for the U.S. to implement ACTA or any other trade<br>
agreement, once validly entered, without legislation if the agreement<br>
requires no change in U.S. law," he wrote. "But regardless of whether the<br>
agreement requires changes in U.S. law . the executive branch lacks<br>
constitutional authority to enter a binding international agreement covering<br>
issues delegated by the Constitution to Congress' authority, absent<br>
congressional approval."<br>
<br>
Even absent US participation, however, we should all be worried about the<br>
implications of this and other trade agreements on the global economy, the<br>
ripple effects of which would reach all of us regardless of geographical<br>
location.<br>
<br>
Remember, when one of these bills or trade agreements falls, another rises<br>
up to take its place. ACTA has been in the works for several years. SOPA<br>
almost passed into law unopposed. The threat to civil society isn't going<br>
away.<br>
<br>
If you care about freedom of speech, or if you have participated in SOPA<br>
protests, please help spread the word about ACTA. You can sign a petition to<br>
stop it here.<br>
<br>
For more information please visit:<br>
<br>
EFF's International Issue Page on ACTA: <a href="https://www.eff.org/issues/acta" target="_blank">https://www.eff.org/issues/acta</a><br>
<br>
European Digital Rights' (EDRi) coverage here: <a href="http://www.edri.org/stopacta" target="_blank">www.edri.org/stopacta</a><br>
<br>
La Quadrature du Net's coverage here: <a href="http://www.laquadrature.net/en/acta" target="_blank">http://www.laquadrature.net/en/acta</a><br>
<br>
Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure's (FFII) blog on ACTA<br>
<a href="http://acta.ffii.org/" target="_blank">http://acta.ffii.org/</a><br>
<br>
Twitter hash tags: #ACTA<br>
<br>
Twitter accounts:<br>
<br>
@StopActaNow<br>
<br>
@ffii<br>
<br>
@EDRi_org<br>
<br>
@laquadrature<br>
<br>
<br>
--<br>
<br>
Thiru Balasubramaniam<br>
Geneva Representative<br>
Knowledge Ecology International (KEI)<br>
<br>
thiru at <a href="http://keionline.org" target="_blank">keionline.org</a><br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Tel: <a href="tel:%2B41%2022%20791%206727" value="+41227916727">+41 22 791 6727</a><br>
Mobile: <a href="tel:%2B41%2076%20508%200997" value="+41765080997">+41 76 508 0997</a><br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
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<br></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div>Salanieta Tamanikaiwaimaro aka Sala</div><div><br></div><div>Tweeter: @SalanietaT</div><div>Skype:Salanieta.Tamanikaiwaimaro</div><div>Cell: +679 998 2851</div>
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