Anyone else talked about ACTA yet?

[Great Cartoonist]

Because some people really think we should all be aware.

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.
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.