The Internet has been a strange place for the last couple of days – well, weeks really – between all the SOPA/PIPA protests, Megaupload and the FBI crackdown on all filesharing services, and let’s not forget about Anonymous and their, er, many methods of hitting back.
But next in line, and coming together in a more global perspective, is ACTA.
So what does that even mean?
Well, ACTA stands for the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. This is a new intellectual property enforcement treaty, in the same vein of PIPA and SOPA, that is being negotiated by the US, Canada, the European Community, Switzerland, and Japan, with Australia, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Mexico, Jordan, Morocco, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates – all of which have just recently announced that they will joining in as well.
Why should you care?
The bottom line: the treaty (surprise, surprise) is written with stand with an incredibly broad scope, involving new tools to target what is considered as filesharing – be it an actual filesharing network or a small blog – all to create and increase international cooperation.
Reassuring, right? And equally uncomfortable, for sure. What you can do is keep yourselves educated. There are a bunch of great links going around for starting points, to learn more about ACTA and what it really means. As always, we’re going to do our best to keep on top of things and keep you informed.
Check these links out:
Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement
ACTA: A History
Say NO to ACTA (Awesome video breakdown.)
Robocopyright ACTA
SOPA and PIPA Derailed by Popular Objection, Opponents Warn ACTA Contains Similar Problems
If You Thought SOPA Was Bad, Just Wait Until You Meet ACTA.
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