Wotka World Wide

Saturday, January 28, 2012

If You Thought SOPA Was Bad, Just Wait Until You Meet ACTA:

Few people have heard of ACTA, or the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, but the provisions in the agreement are just as pernicious as anything we saw in SOPA. Worse, the agreement spans virtually all of the countries in the developed world, including all of the EU, the United States, Switzerland and Japan.

Many of these countries have already signed or ratified it, and the cogs are still turning. The treaty has been secretly negotiated behind the scenes, with unelected bureaucrats working closely with entertainment industry lobbyists to craft the provisions in the treaty. The Bush administration started the process, but the Obama administration has aggressively pursued it.

It doesn't even seem real, reading this. And then you find out that President Obama signed this treaty in October, with little regard to its potential effects on internet freedom. Even more chilling is the fact that the Administration has recently asserted that the treaty relates to executive authority, and shouldn't be subject to Senate approval, which is clearly unconstitutional given the Constitution's directive for Congress to regulate patents. It looks like the global internet community must remain ever more vigilant in opposing this international undemocratic power grabs. Write or call your Senators today!

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