Help to stop the ratification of ACTA

We, the undersigned, oppose the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) for the following reasons:

1.) ACTA contains potential obligations for Internet Service Providers, requiring them to police the Internet and their users.

2.) ACTA bypasses democratic principles, and opens the door to the creation of a new governing body outside existing forums, such as: the WTO, the World Intellectual Property Organization, or the United Nations.

3.) ACTA contains broad criminal sanctions, but they are written in loosely defined ways.

4.) ACTA looks to be another veiled attempt to seize more control over individuals by restricting their privacy, freedom of expression, and fair use rights. The potentially adverse effects on fundamental civil and digital rights cannot be overlooked or dismissed.

5.) ACTA appears to be unconstitutional, as it has never been formally brought up in the United States Congress, due to the circumvention by President Obama.

The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is a plurilateral agreement for the purpose of establishing international standards for intellectual property rights enforcement. The agreement aims to establish an international legal framework for targeting counterfeit goods, such as generic medicines, and includes copyright infringement on the Internet.

Much like its American counterparts, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and its Senate companion, the Protect IP Act (PIPA), ACTA threatens the underlying structure of the Internet as we know it, and gives unrestricted power to corporations over the individual.

The agreement was signed on October 01, 2010 by Australia, Canada, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and the United States. The European Union and twenty-two of its member states signed on January 26, bringing the total number of signatories to thirty-one. After ratification by only six states, the convention will come into force.

Negotiations for ACTA were conducted behind closed doors, with President Obama managing to circumvent the legislative process, and avoiding having to get Senate approval, by signing an executive agreement. According to the United States Constitution, IP (intellectual property), copyrights, patents, etc. are covered by Article 1, Section 8, which makes ACTA an issue for Congress, not the President.

Either way, President Obama has signed an international treaty that would allow foreign companies to demand that ISPs in the United States remove Web content with no legal oversight whatsoever. Now, without China - the undisputed leaders in copyright infringement, counterfeit products, and harsh Internet censorship - and other habitual offenders, how effective is this agreement? Also, just who or what will stop Chinese companies from using ACTA as justification for their "Great Firewall" policy, and then try to censor websites outside of its borders?

Other provisions of ACTA would mandate that ISPs disclose personal user information to the copyright holder, while providing authorities across the globe with broader powers to search laptops and Internet-capable devices at border checkpoints.

In the latest news, the European Parliament's independent monitor resigned on January 27 in protest after 22 European Union member states signed the treaty. According to the BBC, Kader Arif said "I condemn the whole process which led to the signature of this agreement: no consultation of the civil society, lack of transparency since the beginning of negotiations, repeated delays of the signature of the text without any explanation given, reject of Parliament's recommendations as given in several resolutions of our assembly."

Darrell Issa, a US senator and vocal critic of SOPA, voiced his concerns about ACTA at the World Economics Forum in Davos. "As a member of Congress, it's more dangerous than SOPA," he said. "It's not coming to me for a vote. It purports that it does not change existing laws. But once implemented, it creates a whole new enforcement system and will virtually tie the hands of Congress to undo it."

News Flash: Polish prime minister Donald Tusk has suspended ratification of ACTA in his country!

According to reports, Tusk said that his government had made insufficient consultations before signing ACTA in late January, and it was necessary to ensure it was entirely safe for Polish citizens.

Latest News: This week, Czech Republic Prime Minister Petr Necas joined the backlash and expressed concern about ACTA, saying that although he will take a look at it, his country will not ratify it.
 
Slovakia is also backing away from the agreement, and has suspended its ratification process, according to the Associated Press. "I will not support a treaty that could limit human rights and freedoms," said Slovakia's Economy Minister Juraj Miskov.
 
Earlier, French MEP Kader Arif, who had a role in the investigation of ACTA, resigned in protest, saying that the agreement will restrict internet freedom and should have been worked on and agreed in a much more transparent manner.