EFF and other organizations calling for ACTA draft release

Cyndy Aleo-Carreira — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 19:27:21 -0400

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), along with an estimated 100 public interest organizations around the world, are calling for the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) draft text to be made public. The proposed legislation, which is intended to combat privacy, is rumored to

"require Internet service providers to monitor all consumers' Internet communications, interfere with fair use of copyrighted materials, and criminalize peer-to-peer electronic file sharing."

P2Pnet news has a version of the suggestions made by the recording industry for the draft, and notes that staff counsel at the University of Ottawa's Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic describes the draft as a dream come true for the film, television, and music industries:

"If Hollywood could order intellectual property laws for Christmas, what would they look like? This is pretty close."

More news, commentary, and predictions from The Industry Standard:

Analysis: A new paradigm for copyright law: Shifting the focus to the user
News: UK proposing music tax to cover illegal downloads -- or worse?
News: Public will be consulted on copyright policing plan