[Chapter-delegates] Contribution to Acta impact on Internet from Romania Re: [European-chapters] Contribution re ACTA from Estonia

Thu Feb 2 02:42:27 PST 2012

Christian,
Thank you for sharing the list of questions.
We have analysed once again Acta yesterday with an expert in public policy and Internet ,  Member of Romanian Parliament.
A quick memo. 
About Acta structure :
The treaty mixes conterfeiting and piracy, two perpendicular , barely mixable notions. Like water and oil.
Counterfeiting is about producing, duplicating and selling fake copies of originals (drugs, clothes, etc , ). 
Piracy is and has always been about stealing original properties (industrial or intellectual).
Trying to solve piracy issues with counterfeiting  treaty is wired not efficient.
About Acta impact on Internet :
Curt-circuiting the justice based on assumptions is wrong.
About the process:
Unusual for a treaty , Undemocratic on EU standards 
About the solutions :
Contact as many mep's as possible, especially the independents.
Ok to organize public hearing.

Conclusion:
Isoc Romania will organize asap a public hearing in Bucharest on the impact of Acta on Internet , inviting all the stakeholders : 
 - Universal Romania and Bulgaria , Sony Music, , Other digital ORDA, OSIM, Japan Embassy , Mep's , Government , civil society. The ministry of Telecom agreed yesterday that a hearing is needed , after our pressure on national tv : http://www.isoc.ro/2012/01/internet-society-recomanda-o-dezbatere-publica-asupra-acta/
Regards,
Ed

----- Original Message -----
From: "Christian de Larrinaga" <cdel at firsthand.net>
To: "Daniel Westman" <Daniel.Westman at juridicum.su.se>
Cc: "Markus Kummer" <kummer at isoc.org>, "Christine Runnegar" <runnegar at isoc.org>, european-chapters at elists.isoc.org
Sent: Thursday, February 2, 2012 12:11:43 PM
Subject: Re: [European-chapters] Contribution re ACTA from Estonia

Daniel, 

Thank you! Your conclusion that the impact of ACTA is negligible at least in EU countries seems to be mirrored by other lawyers who've looked at it and generously commented. 

ACTA continues a process of hardening interpretation of copyright internationally. A UK lawyer mentioned on ORG that unpicking copyright internationally is already hard due to TRIPS, which he says may be more difficult to unpick even than ACTA.  So the context would seem to be that ACTA is just another in a line of agreements which need to be looked at in the round. I don't understand TRIPS nor what ACTA adds or not to the existing situation. But this might explain why lawyers say ACTA does not add that much to what is already in place in EU and some other countries. 

There is question to see more IPR governance focused on copying when we all know that copying is intrinsic to digital media including the Internet. I am not saying that one can't charge for some instances of copying because clearly one can, but that using copying in the analogue sense as the control point over expression of ownership and Rights over a creative work does not make sense in the digital sense. It is wishful thinking or to be more practical it is a delusion. I don't think it is healthy to build an international treaty framework that is based on a delusion. 

The direction of travel in legislative actions of which ACTA is a part is misguided and continues a chilling impact on the development of alternative commercial models for digital media. 

So are these useful questions to ask concerning ACTA implementation?

= on the DNS - because filtering and suspension is a likely consequence of policing actions and filtering is very likely to involve the DNS in practice.
= on innovation - because preventing copying in digital media is necessarily chilling to developing new commercial models. 
= pollution from using trade negotiations skewing development of IPR frameworks (out of scope) in digital age prematurely. 
= secrecy = top down narrow lobbyist inspired treaty of the few designed to marginalise the view and input of the 90% plus. 
= Question mark as to how ACTA will be interpreted locally 
= What measures may befall countries that don't implement or action based on ACTA? Developing countries?
= How does ACTA impact IPR for and over networks in light of other treaties and agreements such as TRIPS?

best

Christian

On 30 Jan 2012, at 21:05, Daniel Westman wrote:

> As a researcher in Law and IT I have been following ACTA from the start. The secrecy surrounding the early stages of the negotiations deserves heavy criticism. Some of the leaked drafts also contained wordings that was very questionable from an open Internet and human rights perspective.
> 
> The later versions of the draft agreement were made public and the final version has been available online for over a year. I have studied the final version and have very hard time to understand much of the criticism that is heard in social media the latest days. For most European countries ACTA will only lead to minor changes in national law. Due to the criticism following the leaks the final text says that sanctions must be balanced and that the rights to privacy and freedom of information must be protected. The specific  rules aimed at Internet intermediaries are exclude from the final text.
> 
> ISOC can of course say something critical about ACTA (personally I would criticize the secret process and the use of trade agreements to build international rules on intellectual property), but it must be based on facts not hearsay. To say that "ACTA is worse than SOPA" or "would end the Internet as we know" it is simply wrong. As I said, I don't think that ACTA poses any significant treat to the open Internet we are trying to protect.
> 
> If we want to criticize DNS blocking and intermediary liability we should, in my view, focus on the national courts interpretations of the current European legal framework or on that framework in itself, not on ACTA.
> 
> Best regards,
> Daniel Westman
> ISOC-SE
> 
> 
> 
> -----Ursprungligt meddelande-----
> Från: european-chapters-bounces at elists.isoc.org [mailto:european-chapters-bounces at elists.isoc.org] För Christian de Larrinaga
> Skickat: den 30 januari 2012 17:13
> Till: Jacek Gajewski
> Kopia: Markus Kummer; Christine Runnegar; european-chapters at elists.isoc.org
> Ämne: Re: [European-chapters] Contribution re ACTA from Estonia
> 
> Leaving aside for a moment the melodrama of this piece. 
> 
> This video claims the Vienna Convention together with secret documentation of ACTA will harden interpretation when it comes to legislation in national legislatures. i.e.,the point is being made that the apparent sloppiness of ACTA language and openness to interpretation masks the true underlying intentions which are currently secret and will only be revealed after it is a fait accompli. 
> 
> Well... hmmm  
> 
> Perhaps Markus, Christopher or others exposed to the world of international diplomacy might be able to set the record straight here? Or set some wheels in motion to do so?
> 
> Does Article 29 (or any other relevant agreement) together with the secret documents surrounding the negotiation of ACTA support such a conclusion? 
> 
> The masked rapporteur in the video ends weakly by playing into the hands of the proACTAvists  making some unspecific threatening noises at politicians. To my ears his message would be far more effective if this was cut or replaced with links to substantiate the claim he is making. 
> 
> 
> 
> Christian
> 
> 
> 
> On 30 Jan 2012, at 11:34, Jacek Gajewski wrote:
> 
>> Dear Collegues,
>>    please see below contribution from Estonia. One of persons involved in creation of ISOC Estonia Chapter (Elver Loho) is in forefront of anti-ACTA activities in this country.
>> WBR
>> Jacek
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Begin forwarded message:
>> 
>>> From: Elver Loho <elver.loho at gmail.com>
>>> Date: January 30, 2012 3:07:23 AM GMT+01:00
>>> To: JACEK GAJEWSKI <gajewski at isoc.org>
>>> Subject: ACTA
>>> 
>>> Hi Jacek,
>>> 
>>> As a direct result of the public debate about ACTA, which we have 
>>> been encouraging in the Estonian media, one of our members (who 
>>> prefers to remain Anonymous), today produced a video, which I believe 
>>> will be of crucial importance in defeating ACTA:
>>> 
>>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dy3zBZ4vI4E
>>> 
>>> All the best,
>>> Elver
>>> 
>>> elver.loho at gmail.com
>>> +372 5661 6933
>>> skype: elver.loho
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> European-chapters mailing list
>> European-chapters at elists.isoc.org
>> https://elists.isoc.org/mailman/listinfo/european-chapters
> 
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