Last week, we took a look at SOPA and PIPA and the resulting backlash. However, there is another piece to the grand puzzle that is internet legislation.
The AntiCounterfeiting Trade Agreement, or ACTA is a multilateral agreement between over 36 countries, including the U.S., aimed at establishing an international framework for combating counterfeit goods, generic medication and copyright infringement committed through the internet.
Information about ACTA was first leaked by Wikileaks in 2008, as many negotiations for the treaty were kept secret. Because of this secrecy, people both here in the U.S. and abroad demanding that the text of the treaty be made public.
One of the provisions of the bill focuses on the potential threat that “new technologies pose for enforcement of intellectual property rights.” The broader nature of the treaty and secrecy has become a cause for concern, particularly with the recent extradition controversy surround the UK college student, Richard O’Dwyer.
Another concern is how the ACTA committee proposed in the treaty would be formed outside of organizations such as the World Intellectual Property Organization, the World Trade Organization, and the United Nations. This echoes the concerns of a lack of due process in internet censorship that was present in SOPA and PIPA.
Black March
There is a vast number of protest movements currently in the works to oppose legislation like SOPA, PIPA, and the U.S. involvement in ACTA. One of those movements that is known as “Black March.”
March is the last month of the first fiscal quarter of 2012, with the second quarter starting in April. During the month of March, “Black Marchers” will seek to do economic damage to the industries in support of internet censorship.
The plan is fairly simple. They won’t buy any movie tickets, DVD’s or Blu-Ray movies. They won’t buy any albums or download any music from iTunes, and they won’t buy any video games, since Activision, the game company behind the popular “Call of Duty” series is one of the major supporters of SOPA and PIPA.
The purpose of Black March is to speak to the industry in the only language it cares to here, the language of money.
Next week, The Weekly Reel will return to its normal schedule, as we put our attention toward the monument of human greed, the re-release of 3D converted movies.
