[LINK] Proposed US ACTA multi-lateral intellectual property trade agreement

[Jeremy Malcolm]

Released yesterday on WikiLeaks at http://wikileaks.org/wiki/Proposed_US_ACTA_multi-lateral_intellectual_property_trade_agreement_(2007) 
  ...

"In 2007 a select handful of the wealthiest countries began a treaty- 
making process to create a new global standard for intellectual  
property rights enforcement, which was called, in a piece of brilliant  
marketing, the "Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement" (the agreement  
does not cover currency fraud).

ACTA is spearheaded by the United States along with the European  
Commission, Japan, and Switzerland — which have large intellectual  
property industries. Other countries invited to participate in ACTA’s  
negotiation process are Canada, Australia, Korea, Mexico and New  
Zealand. ...

The agreement covers the copying of information or ideas in a wide  
variety of contexts. For example page three, paragraph one is a  
"Pirate Bay killer" clause designed to criminalize the non-profit  
facilitation of unauthorized information exchange on the internet.  
This clause would also negatively affect transparency and primary  
source journalism sites such as Wikileaks.

The document reveals a proposal for a multi-lateral trade agreement of  
strict enforcement of intellectual property rights related to Internet  
activity and trade in information-based goods. If adopted, a treaty of  
this form would impose a strong, top-down enforcement regime, with new  
cooperation requirements upon internet service providers, including  
perfunctionary disclosure of customer information. The proposal also  
bans "anti-circumvention" measures which may affect online anonymity  
systems and would likely outlaw multi-region CD/DVD players."

-- 
Jeremy Malcolm LLB (Hons) B Com
Internet and Open Source lawyer, IT consultant, actor
host -t NAPTR 1.0.8.0.3.1.2.9.8.1.6.e164.org|awk -F! '{print $3}'