Musing and Gadgets

Why are we so willing to give up our rights so that an industry which is unwilling to move into the future can continue to survive. That is what the movie and music industry are trying to do thru the Anti Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). This is an agreement which is being negotiated in secret among several countries. The only participates are members of the industry, their are no consumer advocate participating. The only reason that anything is known about the agreement at all is that there was a leak. According to the leak documents, if the agreement was to be adopted, ISP would be forced to cut off Internet access to anyone who is accuse three times of downloading illegally from the Internet. The accused name would then be on a data base which all ISP would have access to. There are a couple of things that I want to point out about the last statement, first mere accusation is enough, second the cut off has no time limit and third there are no exceptions for individual use.

If this agreement passes it would mean that it it would over ride the Fifth Amendment of the US Constitution:

"No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation."

Under this agreement there is no due process, there is no need for the accusation to be proven in a court of law. If you are accused three times that's it you are cut off from the Internet. For how long you ask, no one knows it could be for a month it could be for a life time, I assume the accusers will decide. Most people believe that if they purchase a song or movie, that they have the right to copy that movie or song for personal use, both the MPAA and the RIAA consider the action illegal. If this agreement is ratified, then they would get their way, no matter what the courts of an individual country decides. As I said before this agreement would over rule the law of the land.

Putting aside the constitutional issues, trying to enforce this would be a nightmare for the ISP, who would have to keep the records and act as the police. Do they enforce base on IP address or by name. If they do it by IP address that means anybody using that IP would be cut off, punishing a group for the action of one. What would stop someone accused under this agreement of simply going to a local Internet cafe and login there. Besides with the use of encryption and bots, the real pirates will get around the enforcement easily. Clearly there is a large part of old media who would rather use the law to try to maintain their control instead of innovating and embracing the new technology. I believe that one of the most important tenants of the U.S law is that a person who is accused of a crime has the right to face his accusers in a court of law. The rights and profits of an industry should never override the rights of an individual. If you want to find out more about this agreement and how you can act please go to the Electronic Frontier Foundation Web site. If you do act, please let me know, I would appreciate it.