Why we say NO to ACTA? WHAT IS 'ACTA', AND WHO PROPOSED IT? ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement) is an agreement secretly negotiated for three years by a small "club" of like-minded countries․ the fundamental objective of the agreement is to impose tougher laws globally, that reinforce monopolies on intangible assets (also known as "intellectual property") to ensure the licensing fees, royalties on copyright, trademarks and franchises․ North/South axis and ACTA Just look at which countries drive ACTA and which countries receive more benefits from the trade of intangibles, to have an clear indication of the "fairness" of the regulations that arise from the agreement: Ten countries that collect more revenue for intellectual property in the world, are the same, with exceptions, which have driven ACTA more forcefully since 2008․ United States, the main proponent of ACTA, collects more than half of all global royalties: These are the ten countries that receive higher incomes from the concept of "intellectual property" in the world, according to World bank data (2011). [http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/BX.GSR.ROYL.CD/countries/1W-US?display=default] Overall, LatinAmerica received a total of U$S 985 million from "intellectual property" With ACTA, countries that receive more earnings from intellectual property rights, will impose regulations about Intangible property to everyone… The loosers The option of jwhether or not to join to ACTa, is a sovereign decision of each country․ However, if the agreement ratified in the united states, european union and Japan, will become a global "new standard" reference for copyright and trademarks․ IT is very likely that after apPRoval, the influential countries push for ACTA will be included as a condition in FTA agreements (regional or bilateral free trade agreements)․ if ACTA succeeds —and increases economic benefits of rightholders through "the fight against counterfeiting and piracy"— this "IP enforcement" will have an imMediate impact on cuRrency flows to countries with higher intangible monopolies, that is… money from poorer countries to richer countries․ Furthermore, the tightening of intellectual property laws, contributes to discourage innovative projects, —which benefit from a more flexible legal framework— and are an opportunity especially for so-called emerging economies: the most innovative web ventures have started with low capital contributions․ but these "geopolitical" considerations are not the only reason to oppose the agreement: No matter where you live, the damage caused by ACTa shall not be for "counterfeiters" or "criminal groups", it will be for the average citizen: the people․ 8 REASONS TO SAY NO TO ACTA 1. ACTA GOES AGAINST DEMOCRACY A.C.T.A. is anti-democratic not only because the interests of the parties potentially most affected —you— are not represented by anyone in the negotiation, but also because they are not given the conditions of transparency and democratic mechanisms required: ACTA is not a mere tariff-related agreement, affects people's civil rights and recommends legislation in a very sensitive area such as criminal justice․ Perhaps, the business connected with the M.P.A.A. (movie studios) R.I.A.A. (record) and PhRMA (Pharmaceutical) —which is the lobbying group behind the ACTA— get some benefits of applying the agreement, or at least they are persuaded that is so... However, the "collateral damage" that will result from ACTA, will mean people pay a high price, just to benefit one sector of highly monopolistic and concentrated economy. The agreement tramples basic civil rights such as: * The presumption of innocence * Access to health * Privacy * Access to culture * Freedom of expression - W.I.P.O. and W.T.O. "too democratic" ACTA bypasses legitimate international organiza-tions traditionally in charge of “intellectual property” global negotiations, such as W.I.P.O. (World Organization of Intellectual Property) and the W.T.O. (World Trade Organization), which at least comply with the basic principles of transparency and representativeness․ It should be stressed that in these organizations the influence of film, music or pharmaceutical industry lobby is important and decisive, despite this, on this occasion... even W.I.P.O. and W.T.O. turned "too democratic" for the drivers of ACTA. Then decided to create a negotiating table rather more closed․ - Nobody voted for them A.C.T.A. negotiators were not elected by any democratic process: Nobody voted for them․ In spite of this, They decide legal recommendations that will have a very concrete effect on people․ All the strategy adopted in the negotiation of ACTA has been planned to avoid as much as possible the democratic process and public scrutiny․ If the treaty is ratified, it will place a "corset" on the legislatures of the countries that adopt it: unlike local laws (such as "SOPA", which is approved in the U.S., can then be repealed by the same parliament which approved) ACTA is an agreement between countries which imposes an international regulatory framework which then can not "repealed" or easily modified locally․ - Secrecy ACTA was negotiated in secret, ensuring the treaty's terms transcend the media and specialized organizations that could analyze them. It was only due to leakage, that ACTA drafts were eventually made ​​public and could be noted the danger of the measures promoted became known․ 2. ACTA CRIMINALIZES INTERNET USERS ACTA imposes greater penalties for offenders against the so-called "intellectual property", in a way that practices which are not for-profit can be classified as criminal offenses as well․ It also incorporates the figure of "aiding and abetting" (Art. 23.4), and establishes penalties as a "commercial scale" (art. 23.1) loosely defined and open to interpretation․ For example, it might incriminate criminal p2p network users although they do not pursue commercial purpose․ The scale of penalties would be measured as the alleged losses declared by industry․ 3. ACTA: PRIVATIZATION OF POLICE AND JUSTICE In its article 27.31 the ACTA agreement calls for "cooperation" between rights-holders and the Internet service providers (ISP)․ The very same mechanisms are called by the European Commission as "extra-judicial measures" and "alternative to courts"․ It means that police (surveillance and collection of evidences) and justice missions (penalties) could be handed out to private parties, bypassing judicial authority and the right to a fair trial to block and take down allegedly infringing content․ Added to this, In art. 27.42, ACTA will allow rights-holders to obtain private data regarding the users of ISP, without a decision of a judge․ 4. ACTA THREATENS ACCESS TO GENERIC DRUGS‎ - These "generic drugs" I really see as "fake drugs", so sorry to seize all this loading... - Noooooo!! Pharmaceutical companies often have conflicts with the companies that manufacture generic drugs, usually because of the similarity of names (due to the need to convey to consumers the bioequivalence between products)․ By hardening policy on trademarks and granting greater power to customs officials to seize and destroy merchandise, including transit countries (ACTA, art 16), ACTA will cause many generic drugs frequently used in the most deprived regions, to run the real risk of being locked in border controls like counterfeit medicines․ 5. ACTA RESTRICTS FREEDOM OF SPEECH -No contradiction between intellectual property protection and freedom of speech. -Shutting down your site because we don't like what you post is censorship. -But shutting your site because we can make more money that way, is not censorship... -It's Copyright! ACTA opens a most uncertain legal landscape for social websites such as forums, blogs, wikis, P2P technology, free software and any platform or technology to manage online communities and contribute to the dissemination of culture and knowledge on the Internet․ Therefore, to reduce the risk of lawsuits, ACTA encourages social site administrators to apply (or create) effective methods for content blocking "preventively"․ In fact, it means increased cases of censorship (and self-censorship) on legitimate content, which will be dropped or blocked "in case"․ ACTA will make become unviable many projects that involve the massive participation of users in the generation or distribution of content, because of the legal risk involved․ 6. ACTA VIOLATES THE PRIVACY Recent studies have shown that infringement of intellectual property laws, it is common practice that knows no boundaries of countries, social classes or age groups. To a greater or lesser extent, "is a crime that we all commit"․ Even the proponents of restrictive legal frameworks privately admit "to commit some faults"․ The price of suppressing an ingrained practice in communication networks will have a disastrous result: the permanent surveillance of our communications. Specifically, ACTA gives more power to intellectual property owners to obtain private information from Internet users through ISPs (ACTA, Art. 27.4)․ [http://piracy.ssrc.org/get-the-copy-culture-report/] 7. ACTA STIFLES INNOVATION -Let me explain our idea of "fair and balanced" ​​copyright... Considering that innovation often occurs in gray areas of law, it seems inevitable that ACTA will inhibit new digital initiatives because of fears of high financial penalties and criminal actions. The increased penalties will create disincentives for small businesses who can not afford the cost of entering lengthy litigation (ACTA chap. 2, sec. 4 )․ Considering that all innovative Internet services began as modest ventures, it is likely that ACTA will diminish the appearance of new projects․ By contrast, the industries that will benefit from the new scenario, are the least contributive to innovation․ 8. ACTA THREATENS FREE AND OPEN INTERNET ISPs or Internet service providers on the web, play a role in maintaining and expanding the "pipes" through which information flows, or give users the best tools to publish, communicate, make recommendations or queries․ When these companies are induced to interfere with the information flowing through their networks (monitoring the flow of data) this opens a door difficult to close, which threatens the very functioning of the network․ If ISPs are required to "cooperate" with the film industry, record companies or publishers they can be encouraged to compete for commercial agreements that allow them to get rid of the threat, but jeopardize the neutrality of the network, or suitability of their service․ ACTA is a weapon of "mass legal uncertainty" for online communities and their service providers, which puts them in a more vulnerable position, and leads to national states, or entertainment companies definitely taking control: that is, gives them more power to decide what appears in searches, which packets have priority and which should be blocked, how to moderate the content contributed by users, what gives access to domains and what not... a process that is underway, and that ACTA established as the international standards․