Updates to this story
German industry association Bitkom (Federal Association for Information Technology, Telecommunications and New Media) has said it is concerned about the current state of the ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement) proceedings.
Bitkom chairman Volker Smid diplomatically commented "we are afraid that a lot of things are being lumped together and the measures will overshoot the mark".
Smid said Bitkom supported internationally coordinated efforts aimed at product piracy in the IT sector, however he added that "privacy and data privacy, as well as basic principles of our legal system are not sacrificed". Checking PCs and MP3-players at borders, as is currently being discussed in ACTA negotiations, should stay a taboo.
Bitkom also took a stance against measures proposed in ACTA which would see providers cut off internet access if they suspect a customer may or may not be downloading a movie or a song from the internet.
"Turning providers into sheriffs and law enforcers contradicts our principles of law. Prosecution is the duty of the police and judiciary. Companies should only be obligated to cooperate in the case of official investigations. We already have adequate laws for that in Germany," he said.
As ACTA is an internationally binding law, it would mean EU member states would be forced to change their national laws accordingly. Checking someone's iPod or notebook for an IP-related infringement at a border crossing without probable cause sounds like a totalitarian nightmare cooked up by a fascist, not like the kind of law that should even be considered worth discussing in post-Schengen Europe, where free travel amongst countries is a right.
ACTA is set to be voted on this year. Citizens worldwide should be highly concerned, seeing as the Gallo Report recently passed through the European Parliament. ACTA is placing P2P, or simple sharing of music and movies, both of which is either legal or a mere infringement in most countries, on the same level as forgery and counterfeiting perpetrated by organised crime.
Due to its incendiary content, the agreement is being discussed behind closed doors. British MPs haven't even seen the bill itself, whereas India is set to torpedo ACTA and will hold talks with China, Brazil and Egypt to put it into the trash can.
Emerging markets are furious about wording such as that an infringement may occur "if a medicine or product is made for which a company holds a patent in any country, no matter how unclear in scope and validity of the patent is."
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ACTA will (or may) also require governments to have surveillance cameras installed in homes around the world to monitor for any illegal copyright infringement activity, for example if a child draws or attempts to draw a cartoon character (ex. Spongebob, Pikachu, Goku, etc.), that child is violating ACTA, and will be hauled off to prison. Parents and/or family members maybe taken to prison as well because they are responsible for their child's criminal actions.
One or more governments can misuse ACTA to arrest innocent people if, for example, they don't have computers, laptops, iPods, or any other devices that can be used for piracy.
Schools may also be affected by this treaty. taking notes off of textbooks, writing book reports and essays will be illegal.
People who live like this are not free people. People who live under laws like this are not protected by law but constantly reliant on the government's good will to not arrest them for technical violations. And what if, God forbid, a really bad, Godwin's Law type government comes along in one of the countries that are signatory to this treaty? Any dissident could be legally held for any one of these minor violations. We're not arresting you because you're (insert ethnic group of your choice); we're arresting you because of the pirated song on your iPod. Not to mention cutting off international internet access at the first sign of rebellion, using ISPs to track people down...
And because this is a tech site, I haven't even mentioned the issue of generic medicines which is possibly the very worst thing in this treaty! Go to avaaz.org and sign the petition against it, please.
But what Obama is using this treaty is not protecting intellectual property rights but to move the plan ahead for a New World Order. With ACTA, Goverments can now ban all forms of generic prescriptions and destroy the world's population by 90%. ACTA is part of Obama and the world's plan to create a New World Order.
Like I said ACTA can be misused to arrest innocent families who don't have any devices that infringes copyright. And they won't care if you are innocent, they just want to arrest and kill 90% of the world's population to make the NWO happen.
ACTA is affecting a child's creativity, especially our own. It doesn't promote Innovation and Creativity, it stifles and kills them instantly. ACTA is Anti-consumerism, Anti-Innovation, and Anti-Creativity.