Anyone else talked about ACTA yet?

[Great Cartoonist]

Because some people really think we should all be aware. (http://www.stopp-acta.info/english/home/home.html)

The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is a planned plurilateral trade agreement between 38 nations. According to the participants the aim is to reduce more efficiently the alleged rise of product piracy. The negotiations are underway since June 2008 and are currently in their 7th round. The declared target is to sign the agreement as early as possible in 2010.

Every single negotiation round was held secretly without access for the public or even members of the European Parliament (EP), but industrial lobbyists, like members of the IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) had access to the agreement drafts. Such methods are not compatible with democratic standards and are leading towards corruption in the global society.

The participating organizations have seen the rising interest that the public is taking in ACTA and they are stating that they care, but up to now this had no impact whatsoever. To exemplify, lets take the documents accessible through the website of the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (IGE). These documents are a serious disappointment for everybody hoping/wishing for more transparency. The documents include only press releases as well as the agendas of the 5th and 6th round. As expected the information content of these documents is very low. Even the document with the promising title "Transparency Paper" is anything else but informative and gives only a chunky overview of the discussed topics. Relevant informations, especially the exact wording of the drafts can not be found.

The proposals and wishes of the public are neither respected, nor (seriously!) demanded. Even lobbyists of organizations like the European Association of ISPs (EuroISPA) and service providers from all over the world are, like all the rest of us, excluded from the negotiations. They have no vote on this matter.

Solely the method how this agreement is negotiated should be a reason to abolish ACTA respectively to not even finish the agreement.

ACTA is an agreement which was negotiated behind the back of the public and should be decided regardless of a sustainable development of the society, civil rights and required democratic processes. Apparently this agreement has the target to introduce extreme changes of principles on a global level, without participation of the international community or even the concerned citizen of the participating nations.

Leaked details about the agreement can be found among other things on websites like Wikileaks, the European Digital Rights Initiative (EDRi) as well as the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII). The american Knowledge Ecology International was also working on an analysis of ACTA. Apart from these NGOs are there also multiple media representatives which are expressing their rising concern about the methods employed for negotiations and the presumed content of the agreement.

ACTA concerns everybody worldwide, not only pirate parties, but all organizations and individuals who believe in democracy.There's also a wikipedia article. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Counterfeiting_Trade_Agreement)
Apparently the part that concerns us is that ACTA will allow ISPs to track our downloads without a warrant under suspicion of copyright infringement.
Oh hello there RIAA, how I've not missed you.

[Donomni]

My question is: How on earth do they plan to go after people if they have ISPs give download info like that?

They already don't have the manpower to handle piracy by the user, so I doubt they will after this.

[BitVyper]

So is this the new War on Drugs?

[Donomni]

Man, it's been for awhile now, I think.

Except, you know, none of this shit is harmful in any "Well shit you might die" way.

Not saying piracy isn't exactly bad, but the corporations blow it a bit out of proportion.

And by a bit I mean they equate it to raping people.

Of course, noone wonders if half the people who pirate are too broke to do anything else, but now I'm going off on a tangent and oh god I thought I'd avoid these discussions HURRRRRRGH

[Aklyon]

I've known about this for quite awhile. That doesn't help.
but the corporations blow it a bit out of proportion.a bit? way off. they won't even admit to how much its out of proportion, so its a lot more than just a bit! (http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/11/07/0528241)

[BitVyper]

Except, you know, none of this shit is harmful in any "Well shit you might die" way.

You might get sued for millions of dollar because you downloaded a few songs, take drugs to cope, and OD on heroin.

[Jagos]

Ya know... I warned people.

First things first: Piracy. Or the lack thereof for Big Business to really say it is losing money. Linkage (http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/01/judge-17000-illegal-downloads-dont-equal-17000-lost-sales.ars). Oh, need more? 750,000 jobs aren't being lost (http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2008/10/dodgy-digits-behind-the-war-on-piracy.ars)

Before I hear another argument describing emotional turmoil of the copyright infringement of a work of art, I'm going to tell people. Do your research, do your homework. Find me where every last heard copy of music means that you're losing money. Find me research where every last library, public or private, lost money or gave too much money to the pockets of the Recording industry, Publishing industry, or any other industry. Find me research into where supposedly a download of a work truly means you've lost something.

I've told my background for a while. I'm writing professionally and looking into means to protect my work. I give away just enough to get published, but I well understand that there is quite a lot I personally can do to protect my work. If someone else sells it as their own, I'll stop them from doing so. If someone is selling an ebook version, I'd better do it myself through B&N, Amazon, or Sony's website. If it's being downloaded on PirateBay... Not a damn lot of good that'll do. Still, it's misguided for me to believe that everyone who wants the book is going to get it through "legal means." This is why I have other ways to make money and continue to find those. And after two or three years of a book, do you really believe people are going to care about mine if I don't make another? What about a movie deal? You think I'm going to care about a few downloaders when I'm looking at what I can do to get my movie out there?

So, with my background covered, let's get into and attack the ACTA, the DMCA, and other misinformed pieces of dog crap that are infecting our rights. After reading Lawrence (http://books.google.com/books?id=VI4Ra0P53ZoC&dq=Lawrence+Lessig&printsec=frontcover&source=an&hl=en&ei=gVbpS8XbGsP88AaQ2vDnDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=11&ved=0CE4Q6AEwCg#v=onepage&q&f=false) Lessig's (http://books.google.com/books?id=dWf-p2SkGQ8C&printsec=frontcover&dq=the+future+of+ideas&hl=en&ei=y1bpS4ukPMH88Aa2hLzoDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false) books (http://books.google.com/books?id=cxZp0sV3V80C&printsec=frontcover&dq=Lawrence+Lessig&source=gbs_similarbooks_s&cad=1#v=onepage&q&f=false), I felt the need to say that anything made by Congress would never truly amount to much for copyright. This supposed need for extended protections to authors is misguided as well as heavy handed. Firstly, it DOES NOT protect authors in the slightest. The DMCA was made to enforce the rules of business, biting off the hand that feeds it. Us, the consumers. Granted, there's some contention (http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2008/10/ten-years-later/) on this one. I personally believe that if the internet hadn't flourished, people would have found new ways to make money with copyrighted works on both sides. But two things I noticed that the DMCA has done. It's weakened the security sector of IT considerably. You can't talk about flaws and defects of technology without a DMCA notice at your door. Don't get me started on Crimson Echoes (http://www.destructoid.com/square-enix-shuts-down-chrono-fan-game-crimson-echoes-131702.phtml), a game made as a tribute for no cash, that was quite unique but merely used the base characters of CT to tell a story. With just the DMCA, we've halted a lot of our progression into newer territories. I personally feel that the way the DMCA is being used now, it captures our culture and sells it for a markup. Thanks childhood!

Regarding the ACTA, I read the entire work. Personally, I feel that it's just like the Ubisoft (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/98927-Ubisoft-DRM-Authentication-Servers-Go-Down) fiasco (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/98396-Ubisoft-Online-DRM-Its-Worse-Than-Expected), where people are killing their own consumer base for $2 extra per sale. I still don't understand how the three strikes yer out part is going to work. Maybe it'll work on dialup. Perhaps when Google puts out its tera network, it may not be as effective. Still, it reeks of trying to control the internet which is best left without the reins of government interfering for their business base. I've yet to hear of one company, ONE that has gone out of business because the internet was turned on. Yes, I've heard about quite a few companies that charge high prices to the point that people need to eat or play a game (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_201/6059-A-Nation-of-Pirates), what do you think is going to happen?

Furthermore, I've yet to hear about our consumer's rights expanded in anyway, shape or form. If a business wants to go after imaginary bad guys, far be it for me to stop that. I don't have the time nor the patience to police the world. But going after me, the consumer, because you believe I'm a thief and I'm making you go bankrupt?

...

You just made yourself another pirate friend bucko. Either that or your own wishes are coming true. Congratulations on being able to see the future! You don't have to go after me. But it all goes back to shooting the forest for the trees. You can't stop so called piracy. The money you supposedly believe you're entitled to doesn't make you, the business owner, believe you can control the internet or the world. I've heard stories of how some people have to pay almost an entire month's salary for some of the new PS3 games. Now thinking about this, who would want to buy it? It's like Blizzard (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/99929-StarCraft-II-Will-Have-Monthly-Fees-But-Only-In-Russia) making different options for consumers. It's much, much, MUCH better than some government enforced crap that impedes on progress. Especially something that's going to affect and infect the entire internet arbitrarily.

Read at your own risk.

[Kyanbu The Legend]

Anywhere from 2% to 10% of profits are lost from Piracy depending on the company. The time frame the lost occurs in also vary from company to company.

There is one way they could dodge Piracy (gaming companies anyway) and not scare off customers.

Start using Cartridges again.

[bluestarultor]

Anywhere from 2% to 10% of profits are lost from Piracy depending on the company. The time frame the lost occurs in also vary from company to company.

There is one way they could dodge Piracy (gaming companies anyway) and not scare off customers.

Start using Cartridges again.

Any Google search for NES ROMs will tell you cartridges are no safer than any other media.



Back on topic, I basically find the idea that companies think they can control the Internet rather sad. Hell, the New York Times couldn't even control Anonymous. You simply can't force your will on the whole world. You can definitely make it more attractive to do what you want, which is a great alternative, but there is no good method of "my way or the highway" yet.

[Kyanbu The Legend]

Guess that just leaves demonizing it.

[Jagos]

Yeah, skepticism, pessimism, and fear work well... (http://www.joystiq.com/2009/09/18/koticks-skepticism-pessimism-and-fear-become-custom-classes/)

[Professor Smarmiarty]

Anywhere from 2% to 10% of profits are lost from Piracy depending on the company. The time frame the lost occurs in also vary from company to company.

Where are those numbers from? Most numbers I've seen are from gaming companies and are hilariousl;y bad for a variety of reasons.

[krogothwolf]

Guess that just leaves demonizing it.

They need to release those stealing cable/satellite ads again then! but this time use it for piracy!

[Kyanbu The Legend]

Where are those numbers from? Most numbers I've seen are from gaming companies and are hilariously bad for a variety of reasons.

They're just rough estimates I made based on the reaction of the companies and the reaction of analysts to things like the DRM and this. They are no more accurate then guesses.

[Jagos]

Where are those numbers from? Most numbers I've seen are from gaming companies and are hilariousl;y bad for a variety of reasons.

Actually, it could be as large as 90% (http://www.joystiq.com/2008/11/13/world-of-goo-has-90-piracy-rate/)

This doesn't mean that gaming companies don't turn a profit, though.

Read my pirating is BS section for further details.