Media Piracy: Take Two

[I_Like_Swordchucks]

I realized we just closed a topic down, but this just came out and I thought it bore some discussing:

http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarp...f-47f6fc96ce5e

The federal government is secretly negotiating an agreement to revamp international copyright laws which could make the information on Canadian iPods, laptop computers or other personal electronic devices illegal and greatly increase the difficulty of travelling with such devices.

The deal could also impose strict regulations on Internet service providers, forcing those companies to hand over customer information without a court order...

The deal would create a international regulator that could turn border guards and other public security personnel into copyright police. The security officials would be charged with checking laptops, iPods and even cellular phones for content that "infringes" on copyright laws, such as ripped CDs and movies.

The guards would also be responsible for determining what is infringing content and what is not.

"If Hollywood could order intellectual property laws for Christmas what would they look like? This is pretty close," said David Fewer, staff counsel at the University of Ottawa's Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic. "The process on ACTA so far has been cloak and dagger. This certainly raises concerns."

The leaked ACTA document states officials should be given the "authority to take action against infringers (i.e., authority to act without complaint by rights holders)."

Anyone found with infringing content in their possession would be open to a fine.

They may also have their device confiscated or destroyed, according to the four-page document.

The trade agreement includes "civil enforcement" measures which give security personnel the "authority to order ex parte searches" (without a lawyer present) "and other preliminary measures".

In Canada, border guards already perform random searches of laptops at airports to check for child pornography. ACTA would expand the role of those guards.

On top of these enforcement efforts, ACTA also proposes imposing new sanctions on Internet service providers. It would force them to hand over personal information pertaining to "claimed infringement" or "alleged infringers" - users who may be transmitting or sharing copyrighted content over the Internet.

This is a little bit excessive. The part that bothers me the most is the fact that the guards determine what is illegally owned and whats not... and who the hell are they to determine that?

I burn EVERYTHING I have. Even the things I legally own, because I prefer to use backups. Also, most of the games that I legitimately own come from direct2drive, and is very difficult to distinguish between a pirated copy and a legal copy.

With music... well, thats a bit of a kicker isn't it. How can you distinguish between illegally downloaded mp3's and things that were taken from legitimately owned CDs or iTunes?

I frankly see no possible way they could efficiently enforce such a law, and I'm quite sure there are far more important issues they could be dealing with.

[bluestarultor]

What scares me is the US is in on this. With the current administration, that can mean nothing good.


Really, this is part of a scary trend. Microsoft already has this kind of thing in place with Windows. To have security personnel acting as judge, jury, and executioner with people's data and even devices, that they paid money for, is, in my opinion, a violation of privacy and property rights. I can't see this flying with the public of any country involved.

[Fifthfiend]

I actually sort of see this less from the perspective of copyright issues and more from the perspective of the ongoing abrogation of personal autonomy and criminalization of travelers; it mostly sounds like yet another excuse for government agents to harass and molest people for fundamentally innocuous behavior. I mean here in the US customs agents can already root through your laptop as much as they like based on no cause whatsoever. This just the next way for them to up the ante on invasiveness.

[BB Rodriguez]

It seems to be that, slowly, they're reinforcing the idea that "the world is scary out there, so you should just stay in your comfort zone, in here". Once you're afraid to leave your comfort zone, you start to care less about the world at large, and if the public doesn't care about the world, then it's a lot easier to get away with stuff on a global scale.

I'm actually nauseating myself with the cynicism here, and I started this off as a sarcastic and possibly humorous response, but I can't ignore the possibility that I'm right. It matters not, though... they're never getting my iPod. This thing survived being in a parking lot for four months all winter until I found it in a spring-thaw puddle, and it still works.

[Bells]

i belive this to be competly bogus... these "secret meetings" sound too farfetched. Plus the idea of the Copyright police is ridiculous at best.

I can have a CD of a band at my house, and all it's music ripped in my Laptop. It's legal, i own the CD. Now im going to have to prove that i own it? How? That's just one of the Loopholes i see at first...

[Archbio]

secretly negotiating

The wonders of transparent government.

I like just how casually the courts are cut out of the process. Not only invasive but also arbitrary.