[LINK] secret IP talks

[Jan Whitaker]

Oz Pirate Party slams 'secret' IP talks

By <mailto:edit at zdnet.com.au>Suzanne Tindal, ZDNet.com.au
November 05, 2009
URL: 
<http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/communications/soa/Oz-Pirate-Party-slams-secret-IP-talks-/0,130061791,339299373,00.htm>http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/communications/soa/Oz-Pirate-Party-slams-secret-IP-talks-/0,130061791,339299373,00.htm


The newly formed Australian Pirate Party came out swinging yesterday 
with a release criticising the international discussions currently 
being held in Korea to cement an Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement.

David Crafti
(Credit: Pirate Party)

These discussions had their roots back in 2006 when the US and Japan 
floated the idea of a new treaty to help build joint intellectual 
property rules to fight counterfeiting and piracy. June 2008 saw 
Australia included along with other countries.

The most recent round of discussions started this week in Seoul and 
was set to deal with "enforcement in the digital environment". 
Reports based on leaked information say that the discussions are 
focusing on issues such as making safe harbour for internet service 
providers contingent on deterring users storing and transmitting 
content that infringes intellectual property. Deterrents could take 
the form of terminating subscribers based on a three-strikes scheme.

The discussions have until now, apart from leaks, remained secret, 
with the Australian government giving as a reason that it is 
"accepted practice during trade negotiations among sovereign states 
to not share negotiation texts with the public at large, particularly 
at earlier stages of the negotiation", while the US government quotes 
national security. Parties who saw documents were reportedly required 
to sign non-disclosure agreements.

The Australian Pirate Party, formed 
<http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/software/soa/Pirate-Party-storms-Australia-/0,130061733,339298794,00.htm>last 
September to champion copyright, free speech and privacy issues, 
decried the discussions and their secrecy. "It is an alarming 
development, we need people to speak up and make it known to the 
Australian government that this is atrocious. Secret negotiations, 
with no transparent public consultation for a treaty that threatens 
to further compromise our civil liberties and expand the already 
damaging and draconian copyright monopoly is unacceptable." David 
Crafti, Pirate Party Australia president, said in a statement.

The secrecy and the treaty, which would be used to give a monopoly to 
an innovator and not to foster innovation were tyrannical, he said.

Another Pirate Party spokesperson, Rodney Serkowski, said that the 
talks were being conducted in complete disregard for civil liberties. 
"Any move to disconnect any person from the internet because they are 
partaking in cultural exchange by sharing privately and 
non-commercially is offensive. We completely reject any plan to make 
carriage service providers de facto copyright cops. ISPs should be 
given no right or responsibility to snoop through private 
communication. We wouldn't tolerate it with Australia Post, so we 
shouldn't tolerate it with our internet connections," he said.



Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jwhit at janwhitaker.com
blog: http://janwhitaker.com/jansblog/
business: http://www.janwhitaker.com

Our truest response to the irrationality of the world is to paint or 
sing or write, for only in such response do we find truth.
~Madeline L'Engle, writer

_ __________________ _