ACTA. This could be big. This could be bad. This could be nothing.
Way back when in 2007, “W’s” administration began talks on a new agreement – the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). The idea was a good one, kind of like universal healthcare, in that it would help protect intellectual property across international boundaries. However, just like universal health care, things have gone a bit astray. The agreement, heading toward its eighth round of negotiations, could cover everything from music piracy, to counterfeit drugs, to that picture you just took from Google Images and posted to your Facebook page without permission.
Internet providers and other technology-type companies have been under protection since 1998 when the Digital Millennium Copyright Act was passed. That act provided companies with a pass when their users violated copyright laws. There is also some concern that ACTA would impact the current “fair use” doctrine which allows use of copyrighted material in certain instances, e.g., teaching and commentary.
While there are some strong proponents of the bill like the Motion Picture Association of American and the Recording Industry Association of America, Internet service providers and social network sites are concerned that, if ACTA is passes, they may be held liable and forced to cut service to offending customers.
”While this is being characterized as an anti-counterfeiting agreement, it is really a copyright deal with rules that will affect the daily lives of millions of people both online and in the digital realm,” Michael Geist, a law professor at the University of Ottawa said in a recent Associated Press article.
Of course, this act has been in discussion for years already and is still facing more talk – it may never see daylight. But, then again, it might. So, start thinking twice before you post that YouTube video of the dancing cat to your Facebook page.
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/16/20100419/ttc-acta-no-to-three-strikes-approach-to-6315470.html
April 21, 2010 at 11:38 pm
Hello Tammy. Sort of scary when you think about it. I know I take images off the web all the time (I always have a cartoon in my blog I have hijacked from somewhere else). I agree that songs and movies should be governed and they somewhat are. I read an article about a Boston teen who was being sued by Universal for copyright infringement. It is happening, but not as often.
When you look at social media and the posting of videos and pictures, I think its gonna be tough to regulate it. I have 300 plus friends on Facebook and they all posted music, videos, and pictures all the time. Regulating all of them is gonna be tough, let alone the millions on Facebook. I will certainly keep an eye out to see where this goes…if anywhere. Thanks.
Rob
April 22, 2010 at 4:50 pm
This is an interesting piece: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100224/1120408291.shtml
April 22, 2010 at 4:00 pm
The speed limit on the highway I travel to get to work is 55 mph. I routinely do 65-70 mph, as do the vast majority of motorists I share the road with. The fact that we all routinely disregard and break the law does mean we actually have a right to do so. Nor does it mean that the jurisdictions I drive through don’t have a right to implement new techniques to try to curb the routine law breaking. The same concepts apply to ACTA and copyrighted material. Bloggers, Facebookers, Tweeters, forum posters, emailers, and all other netizens do not have a right to violate copyright law and use photos, art, songs, and movies that are not in the public domain. The fact that flaunting copyright law has become commonplace does not invalidate the law or make it any less of crime to violate the legal rights of copyright holders. A strong business case can me made for allowing free and open distribution, but the fact that some copyright holders don’t subscribe to such cases does not grant an open license to violate their rights simply on the basis of disagreement.
July 14, 2010 at 7:27 pm
[...] ACTA. This could be big. This could be bad. This could be nothing. There still isn’t a consensus. Some countries want to include the names of food and fashion items (think Gucci and Parmesan cheese). There are also still concerns over the secrecy of the discussions. Aside from an initial draft of the document being released in March, nothing else has become public. “We still have a lot of disagreement on ACTA,” European Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht told a committee of lawmakers at the European Parliament on July 13, 2010. [...]