Countries reach tentative anti-counterfeiting pact (ACTA-related) - Polidicks

[url]http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6910AO20101002?pageNumber=1[/url] [quote]Nearly 40 nations reached agreement in principle on Saturday on an international trade pact aimed at reducing copyright and trademark theft that causes losses of billions of dollars annually. "Participants in the negotiations constructively resolved nearly all substantive issues ... (and) agreed to work expeditiously to resolve the small number of outstanding issues," the United States, Japan, the European Union and other participating countries said in a joint statement. In Washington, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said the negotiations that took place in Tokyo were "almost across the finish line." "In principle, we have found solutions, even on the most difficult issues. Nearly all of the parties embraced those solutions," Kirk said in a statement. A key feature of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) will mandate that customs officials have authority to seize counterfeit goods without a request from the rights holders or a court order, according to statements from Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). The talks involved the United States, the European Union and its 27 member states, Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and Switzerland, and two developing countries -- Morocco and Mexico. The participating countries say their economies have suffered from a sharp increase in trade in fake and pirated goods. That has been aided by the Internet, which makes its easier for buyers and sellers of counterfeit goods to come together and also to distribute pirated music, movies and software. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has estimated that global trade in counterfeit and pirated goods rose from about $100 billion annually in 2000 to about $250 billion in 2007. U.S. movie, music, software and other copyright-based industries calculate they lose more than $16 billion in sales each year from pirated versions of their products sold around the world. China, the largest source of counterfeit goods found in international trade, has not been a party to the ACTA talks but founding members hope it will join in the future. 'LANDMARK ACHIEVEMENT' "We are on the threshold of a landmark achievement in the enforcement of intellectual property rights, and the international alliance we are forging with parties representing half of global trade will be critical to fighting the theft of American jobs through trademark counterfeiting and copyright piracy," Kirk said. The United States and the EU have been at odds on one element of the pact: Europe's demand that it also include protection for its traditional food names like Parmesan cheese as well as for its fashion and car designs. The United States and some other countries appealed for a narrower agreement that would protect mainly copyright and trademarks, whose violation has ravaged profits in the U.S. entertainment industry. The joint statement did not address that issue. "We've come a long way but we must still close the remaining gaps without which there will be no agreement," said a senior European Union official close to the negotiations. Future topics include trying to expand the number of ACTA participants to include China, as well as the rest of Asia and other regions such as the Middle East.[/quote] This article makes it seem like it won't have much of an effect on people, but to what extent is an agreement on this act going to infringe people's privacy and modify how people can use the internet?

The fuck? I thought the EU told this to die >:O

Didn't the EU strongly reject ACTA already?

What they don't understand is that they're not necessarily losing sales when people pirate media.

They are not losing any sales because the people who pirate were not going to buy it anyway.

[quote]A key feature of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) will mandate that customs officials have authority to seize counterfeit goods without a request from the rights holders or a court order, according to statements from Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI).[/quote] Enjoy having your MP3 players, phones, and laptops' data copied or just seized outright when you travel, kiddos.

This won't pass without a whole asshole of trouble

Gives governments more control over people's private items

I doubt it'll pass don't worry

[QUOTE=The golden;25253956]Oh joy. I can't wait! I've always wanted my freedoms to be taken away![/QUOTE] I've wanted this for my birthday for the last 10 years and finally it's coming true, maybe next year I'll get that rocket powered space car.

[QUOTE=s0beit;25254000]I've wanted this for my birthday for the last 10 years and finally it's coming true, maybe next year I'll get that rocket powered space car.[/QUOTE] Rockets are copyrighted i'm sorry

[QUOTE=article]Nearly 40 nations reached agreement in principle on Saturday on an international trade pact aimed at reducing copyright and trademark theft that [B]causes losses of billions of dollars annually.[/B][/QUOTE] Fuck off

[QUOTE=Dr. Fishtastic;25254595]Fuck off[/QUOTE] No?

[QUOTE=Tetracycline;25253981]I doubt it'll pass don't worry[/QUOTE] Yeah, it will. It's being done behind closed doors so democracy can't get in the way.

Congress will have to ratify this with a 2/3rds majority for it to affect the US. Doubt it will happen.

[QUOTE=FalconKrunch;25253534]They are not losing any sales because the people who pirate were not going to buy it anyway.[/QUOTE] Exactly. You think the people who pirate 5 seasons of a TV show, if pirating were not an option, would go out and blow 200 dollars to watch those 5 seasons? Fuck no, they'd just not watch it. I mean, there's always the exception, but hey, there are always exceptions. In actuality, pirating may sometimes draw more customers because they get a taste of what the show is (or something). Maybe something like, "Hey, I love this show, I'll be sure to watch it when it comes back on TV this upcoming month!"

Piracy is a lot like a hot meal. If you go to a restaurant with your friends, you can order something for yourself or eat something your friends get. Maybe you've never eaten there before, and don't know what you like. So you and a friend split a meal, and you eat for free. If you like it, you'd probably buy food from this restaurant in the future. If you don't like it, then you would probably go somewhere else. Of course, you always get the douchebags who won't pay for anything ever, but they're usually the minority.

So how does this work if you are using drive-level encryption? Do they arrest you for not conforming to a non-existent warrant?

To me this sounds like they've agreed on physical counterfeited goods (fake designer bags, pirate DVDs, fake watches) rather than decided what to do about Internet fraud. Besides, it'd be nearly impossible (And incredibly costly) to go around looking on peoples hard drives or staring at everyones wrist when you go traveling, so I doubt this'll change much apart from make it easier to stop people traveling with large amounts of fake goods.

They could arrest you for having imitation bags and watches? Isn't it still advertising

[QUOTE=Ridge;25255303]Congress will have to ratify this with a 2/3rds majority for it to affect the US. Doubt it will happen.[/QUOTE] It's the UN who'll manage and oversee it, not Congress. It depends on if Congress wants to be thrown out by the UN's army of eli--OH WAIT A SECOND. If Congress tells the UN to fuck off, the UN can't do anything but sternly worded letters.

you're all just pirate. im glad that the world governments are spending federal resources and sending cops off to catch these bastard pirates instead of going after child molesters and murderers

This is pretty much for physical counterfeits like fake bags and Jerseys which are actually kind of a problem in the U.S. Some interests probably sneak things in with digital copyright infringement but it gets ignored or will be unenforced. A lot of these anti-counterfeit laws lately are more centered about this but most people on the internet focus on the digital portion thus causing confusion. [quote] The participating countries say their economies have suffered from a sharp increase in trade in fake and pirated goods. That has been aided by the Internet, which makes its easier for buyers and sellers of counterfeit goods to come together and also to distribute pirated music, movies and software.[/quote] This also makes me angry that people try and compile two unrelated statistics to make there argument more convincing

Shit like this makes me feel so powerless. It's coming along well as a "LANDMARK ACHIEVEMENT" to be put in place by my global overlords and there's nothing that I can do. I'd probably get physical with someone who tries to take my things without even telling me why.

Never heard of the source. Also I recall the EU saying no to this.

Maybe you know, if they made it a fair price to buy shit. I've recently started rewatching Friends, except I only have up to the third season on DVD. As it turns out the complete series is 153 bucks. For what, 40 DVDs? Please, I buy 50 DVDs for 25 bucks. I understand there are other costs involved, but this show ended 6 years ago and, it's not like it costs them an exorbitant amount of money to produce a box set. Hell, the 3 seasons of Everybody Hates Chris costs 89 bucks. Maybe pirating wouldn't be so appealing if the prices weren't insane. Steam needs to get into the movie business.

I really hope this doesn't pass

What ever happened to working for the individual? Rather than maximizing lobbyist profit.

[QUOTE=Biotoxsin;25257224]What ever happened to working for the individual? Rather than maximizing lobbyist profit.[/QUOTE] That died when companies figured out how to shut them out. Through lobbyism.

That 16 billion or whatever lost sales is just a calculated guess, they have no proof that without piracy they would have made any of that money. I think Avatar had record high piracy rates but it still made tons of money because it was a good movie. (hint hint)