[A-List] The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement

[Bill Totten]

fskrealityguide.blogspot.com (August 03 2010)


There's a new international fake free trade treaty. It's the
"Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement" (ACTA). Evil laws are always given
noble-sounding names. A more accurate name is "The Mainstream Media
Corporate Welfare Agreement".

These economic terrorists say "This treaty is an open and democratic
process". However, they refuse to release the drafts and details.

"It's an international 'free trade' treaty!" is a convenient catch-phrase
for circumventing individual countries' laws. Most "free trade treaties"
are actually "corporate welfare treaties". That's one reason people
falsely believe free markets are evil.

"Intellectual property" is not property. A pro-State troll says "WTF? How
will artists get paid?" The artist can directly solicit donations from
fans. The artist can make most of their money from live performances. Some
independent artists are already successful at this, without the backing of
the mainstream media cartel.

There's already a group of people that steal artists' work without paying.
They're called "record company executives". Via "Hollywood Accounting",
the artist usually never sees $1 in royalties, even for a smash hit. A new
band is locked up in a long-term contract, before the media cartel will
promote their music. A pro-State troll says "The artist voluntarily signed
the contract!" The State media cartel gives unreasonable power to
corporations. Twenty years ago, the only way to get a song published was
via the media cartel. Now, some independents are directly self-publishing
on the Internet and bypassing the media cartel.

The media cartel feels threatened, because the Internet threatens their
business model. The "solution" is to crack down on freedom on the Internet.

What are the provisions of the ACTA? This analysis is based on drafts and
rumors.

The ACTA changes copyright infringement from civil to criminal. Now, a
copyright infringer can only be sued by the copyright owner. After ACTA,
copyright infringement will be a crime.

It's the usual "cartel externalizes enforcement costs to the State". If
the RIAA/MPAA had to maintain their own spying network and private army,
it wouldn't be profitable {*}. Instead, they lobby the State to enforce
their cartel.

{*} http://www.osnews.com/story/23002/Obama_Sides_with_RIAA_MPAA_Backs_ACTA

The ACTA has a "three strikes" provision. If you're guilty of copyright
infringement three times, then your ISP terminates your service and you're
barred from purchasing Internet access. The UK already has such a law.
(The Anonymous commenter from the UK who frequently comments on "legal
extortion" would like that bit.)

It's unclear if "three strikes" is "three convictions for copyright
infringement" or "three times accused of copyright infringement". There
probably will be an administrative court, with judges chosen by the
RIAA/MPAA, separate from the regular legal system. Someone accused of
copyright infringement probably won't get due process, when their Internet
access is terminated and they're barred from buying Internet access.

The ACTA has an "ISPs are required to spy on users" provision. If an ISP
suspects a user of copyright infringement, they are required to rat you
out to the State copyright police. There's a "safe harbor" provision for
ISPs who spy on their users; the user can't sue for violating their
privacy.

If an ISP doesn't enact a "spy on users" program, then they're subject to
potential civil and criminal penalties. There's no legal requirement for
ISPs to spy on users, but they risk being sued or kidnapped if they fail
to comply.

That is like the ironically-named "Bank Secrecy Act". The Bank Secrecy Act
requires all banks to report "suspicious transactions" to the IRS and FBI.
A bank who rats on its customers is immune from being sued by a customer.
The Bank Secrecy Act makes all State-licensed banks into spies for the
State. The "Bank Secrecy Act" really is the "Bank Anti-Secrecy Act". Evil
laws are always given innocent-sounding names. BTW, the "Patriot Act"
amended the "Bank Secrecy Act", imposing stricter requirements on banks.

I don't see how this law is enforceable. People will switch to
invitation-only strongly-encrypted filesharing networks. Some people
already do this.

A P2P filesharer has a distinct traffic pattern. However, there are
legitimate filesharing uses. World of Warcraft distributes updates via
BitTorrent. Retrogaming is a grey area. Most old games are legally
copyrighted but abandonware.

There's another benefit for the prison/legal cartel. Criminalizing
copyright infringement will lead to more people in jail. Most people do
some "illegal" P2P filesharing. If the police seize your computer and
search for copyrighted material, they will frequently find infringement.

Criminal copyright infringement enhances the Police State's ability to
send anyone to jail. Many young people now believe "P2P filesharing is not
a crime". The police can seize someone's computer and search for copyright
infringement, even if that wasn't the original reason for the search.

The ACTA is an example of State corporate welfare. This "free trade
treaty" is a stealth way of imposing freedom-restricting laws. A cartel
externalizes enforcement costs to the State. The "incandescent light bulb
ban" is another corporate welfare law, implemented via international
treaty.

Too many young people are now accustomed to P2P filesharing. They realize
that it isn't really a crime. The mainstream media cartel spends a lot of
money on propaganda denouncing P2P filesharing. I don't see the mainstream
media cartel winning this battle. They're still going to try. The ACTA
will lead to lots of frivolous arrests and lawsuits for copyright
infringement.

http://fskrealityguide.blogspot.com/2010/08/anti-counterfeiting-trade-agreement.html

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