![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
unjapanologistThere seems to be some confusion around here and elsewhere on the interwebs that ACTA is something local, like the EU equivalent of SOPA/PIPA. Unfortunately, ACTA is a treaty that was secretly negotiated and quietly pushed through by many governments from around the globe. It's already been signed by the US, Australia, Canada, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, and South Korea. Many EU countries also signed, although some of the national representatives who did so immediately regretted it and confessed that they had no idea what they'd put their signature under.
But ACTA can't become law in any EU country unless all individual countries also ratify the treaty and the overarching EU parliament also approves it. That's what the big push right now is all about: the EU countries, even those whose representatives already signed, will all dodge ACTA if the parliament decides to shoot it down, which it actually might. There is also still a chance that individual countries might still backtrack, and Poland already halted the ratification process. This is a nice example of the EU's "nothing happens unless every country agrees" ethic actually working for good instead of just stalling things: if one national government wakes up and gets ornery about something quiet and nasty like ACTA, they can actually save the citizens of all other EU countries, because some kinds of big treaties and proposed laws cannot be turned into actual law in any EU country unless everyone agrees they're a good idea.
I'm not certain what people from the US, Australia, Canada, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, and South Korea can still do to prevent ACTA from becoming law in their countries, or even if it already is law in some of them. That all depends on the political process in those countries; like with the EU, a signature may not mean automatic ratification. There must be activist websites about ACTA for all of those places that inform citizens if there's still something they can actually do. For instance, the Electronic Frontier Foundation has a US perspective on ACTA here.
But ACTA can't become law in any EU country unless all individual countries also ratify the treaty and the overarching EU parliament also approves it. That's what the big push right now is all about: the EU countries, even those whose representatives already signed, will all dodge ACTA if the parliament decides to shoot it down, which it actually might. There is also still a chance that individual countries might still backtrack, and Poland already halted the ratification process. This is a nice example of the EU's "nothing happens unless every country agrees" ethic actually working for good instead of just stalling things: if one national government wakes up and gets ornery about something quiet and nasty like ACTA, they can actually save the citizens of all other EU countries, because some kinds of big treaties and proposed laws cannot be turned into actual law in any EU country unless everyone agrees they're a good idea.
I'm not certain what people from the US, Australia, Canada, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, and South Korea can still do to prevent ACTA from becoming law in their countries, or even if it already is law in some of them. That all depends on the political process in those countries; like with the EU, a signature may not mean automatic ratification. There must be activist websites about ACTA for all of those places that inform citizens if there's still something they can actually do. For instance, the Electronic Frontier Foundation has a US perspective on ACTA here.
no subject
And so the government had to slow down and change their tune about ACTA. They can't go ahead with the ratification (even though they want to, still) unless they soothe the worries of the public. Or they simply won't get elected again. Right now, it's being said that Poland won't start the ratification process in 2012 and will spend that time on public consultations and analysis on the impact of ACTA on Polish legislations. If it's any consolation, we have at least a year to prepare a strategy to stop ACTA?
no subject
no subject
Right now I'm worried that in the lull people will get less outraged about the situation and ACTA itself - which might send a signal to the politicians that we calmed down and they can proceed as usual.
no subject
In better news, looks like Latvia might be following your good example?
no subject
Plus, I think that the best thing that might come out of this (and something I'm already see being discussed) are different and hopefully better channels of distribution for the entertainment content - and since limited and difficult access to affordable content is the main problem (at least here in Poland, I'm sure it's similar in most non-US countries), I am hoping for the best (though reality will most likely disappoint me.
no subject
Sigh. The companies pushing for this sort of thing have been told a million times over that making content easier and cheaper to obtain would lead to more people buying it from them instead of getting it elsewhere, but apparently, they still prefer to try and control "piracy" instead. Which is impossible, but eh, reality is clearly not what this is about.
On the maybe-bright side, history shows that they've thrown wobblies at every new bit of technology and eventually had to cave in the face of, well, reality. The thing that really worries me is that once they unavoidably cave in, people aren't going to say "Oh, so all those repressive, controlling, privacy-invading laws were unnecessary after all? Let's scrap them!". Those laws will be in place, and they'll be there for anyone who wants to abuse them for political reasons.
no subject
I mean in Poland piracy was always a marginal problem, because according to the law we can download all we want as long as we don't share it for profit. So the privacy invading laws are really minimal here. Not on a scale that the US has, f.e.