ACTA is coming to New Zealand

A while ago there was an uprising against the 'unfair' changes to the copyright act. Due to public pressure the government backed down. Soon after, I mentioned ACTA, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, and told everyone it would be worse than the proposed copyright act. Since then news about ACTA pops up occasionally, and it's usually bad. ACTA is being negotiated in secret by governments around the world. No-one really knows what's in it, but fragments are being pieced together:

www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/4510/125/

I found out about it at BoingBoing:

www.boingboing.net/2009/11/03/secret-copyright-tre.html

The NZ Government is part of the negotiating group. You will be subject to these new laws. Contact your MP and express your displeasure. InternetNZ has already started ringing alarm bells:

internetnz.net.nz/media/media-releases-2...by-latest-acta-leaks

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How ridiculous, after all the fuss that was made from Section 92a changes!

I wonder what effect the result of the current court case between iiNet and AFACT in Australia will have?

Some ISP's already filter their customers content (i wonder if they are even aware of it?), if it continues you won't be able to find, or post anything on the internet [}]

Out of interest, how does this differ from current copyright law (in the non-digital domain but which I assume applies on the internet at the moment) which requires that you don't use more than a certain proportion of another document in yours, and that you need to acknowledge it when you do...(can't remember the specifics but understood that was how it went)

One difference is that Copyright infringment used to be a civil matter. ACTA seeks to criminalise 'copyright infringement', thus making people who do it likely to face a prison term. Furthermore, in order to do this, ACTA seeks to force ISPs to examine everyone's internet use and report 'suspected' infringing activity. I am sure that ISPs don't want this responsibility just as much as their customers don't want to be spied on.

Please research ACTA and learn what you can. I think you will find it wholly objectionable, and I urge you to write to your MP, and the Prime Minister, to stop it.

Here's another interesting discussion about the matter from an NZ perspective:

tracs.co.nz/gripping-hand/mount-up-peopl...t-is-just-beginning/

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