ACTA

[Freecare Spiritwise]

Obama was starting to lose me on healthcare reform, and now he's really starting to lose me on ACTA.

Instead of fostering innovation and moving forward in the new millenia, we're trying to subsidize and sustain failing business models for a heavily entrenched entertainment industry. The negotiations for ACTA are being done in secret without any input from most lawmakers, consumer groups or technology companies. All that's really coming out of the secret negotiations is "don't worry, there's nothing to see here" but leaked documents show what looks to be an end-run around an already sucky DMCA that's going to ram stupid laws like three strikes not only down our throats, but most of the free world.

I voted for Obama to effect serious change, not to perpetuate the status quo. We need a total revamp of IP laws, not more of the same. Obama throwing his weight behind ACTA gives me serious second thoughts about my support for him.

It's really irritating to see him (and other politicians) buy the RIAA/MPAA's arguments that file sharing is a "gateway crime", putting hollywood out of business (they had a year of record profits last year), putting the poor corn farmers out of business (because of all those nonexistant lost popcorn sales), associate it with violent crime (because the drug cartels are gunning people down over pirated DVDs), harming the children (who we're raising to be criminals) and any other BS they come up with.

Innovate or die. That's what capitalism is, and right now there's only one industry that doesn't have to abide by that. When free is better quality (I'm not talking about value, just quality of product) then something needs to be done.

If three strikes takes effect you could stand to lose access to the internet for life on suspicion of file sharing. They might put in provisions for having a judge rubber-stamp it, but there won't be any due process.

I'm not, and never have been a socialist, but I keep thinking about that quote from Karl Marx: "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss".

[Ddrak]

You can bet Biden is behind most of that stuff - he's been heavily in Disney's pocket for a long time.

Still, I would be surprised to see the ACTA get through now. The EU is taking a very dim view of it and has recently voted to mandate its secrecy be lifted (you can't really have a secret if one side is spilling the beans). What really bothers me is the end-run around due process where you can create a secret international agreement and then shove it down the throats of the respective nations as must-pass legislation after you tie some sort of big trade deal to it.

I'm pretty annoyed about our side playing softball with big US players as well and just rolling over on the endless copyright extensions that Disney needs to keep control of Mickey Mouse. It would only take a nation of our size to basically tell them to go get stuffed and the whole house of cards comes falling down - if it's out of copyright in any medium-sized nation then you may as well give up.

Dd

[Taxious]

"Meet the new boss, same as the old boss".

Same shit, different politician. Too bad this country runs off of money and not innovation.