[lbo-talk] ACTA - Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement

Homo indy homoindetermin at aim.com
Tue Aug 3 11:43:50 PDT 2010


Has anybody followed this? Following is excerpted from a piece on mises.org; it's pretty alarmist, catastrophising even, but does seem to raise some important concerns, mainly around the considerable potential for abuse and chilling effects:

"A clandestine international treaty is currently being negotiated among parties including the United States, Canada, New Zealand, the European Union, Japan, Singapore, and Morocco. It can justly be called the greatest threat of our time to the advancement of human civilization. Considering the magnitude of the other abuses of power pervading the world today, this might seem an exaggeration, but the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) contravenes every principle of civilized society, both in its content and in the nature of the proceedings leading to its creation.

"It threatens to undo the accomplishments of the great Internet revolution and to thrust humankind back to a time when individuals had no public voice and no countervailing power against politically privileged mercantilist institutions. ACTA tramples on essential rights that have achieved even mainstream recognition: innocence until one is proven guilty, due process, personal privacy, and fair use of published content. Moreover, because of its designation as a trade agreement, ACTA could be imposed on the people of the United States by the president, without even a vote of Congress."

Full at: <http://mises.org/daily/4593>

One possibly naive question about the last statement in the excerpt above: Is there a precedent for trade agreements creating criminal sanctions? Not clear whether this one will ultimately do that, but it does seem to be under serious discussion.

For easy reference, the rather more balanced wikipedia entry is at: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Counterfeiting_Trade_Agreement>



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