ACTA, and the ongoing desire to copyright the world ...

(Above: free the mouse from intellectual property rights. Is Mickey Mouse PD? Yes! But make sure you get a good lawyer, son, you're gonna need a good lawyer).

Never heard of ACTA, known to the greater unwashed ducks on the pond as the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement?

Here at the pond, we're not much given to causes, except a relentless campaign against Senator Stephen Conroy and his great big new Internet filter.

But we also don't like the kind of House of Mouse intellectual property rights extensions and court actions and jailings that the United States and a few others think is the right way to end piracy, and incidentally turn intellectual property rights into a never ending cornucopia of payments, right down to the point where you need to copyright your DNA to make sure it stays your own.

And we think even less of ACTA, which thus far has been negotiated in secret, and has largely been ignored by mainstream media. Accordingly we're giving over space today to this plea which came to us by way of email (yes, we're on a list):

Dear Friends,

As you are probably aware, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA ) (as a pdf) is a dangerous proposal to radically expand intellectual property rights at the global level. The draft agreement has been negotiated in secret, without inclusion of developing nation perspectives, and without any participation from civil society or regard for the global public interest. ACTA specifically targets the Internet and regulates the flow of information in a digital environment. ACTA would create significant negative consequences for fundamental freedoms, access to medicines, innovation, the balance of public/private interests, access to knowledge and culture, to name a few of its problems. ACTA represents a "wish list" from Hollywood and Big Pharma which will be imposed unilaterally on developing countries through trade pressure from the US, Europe and other wealthy states.

Please consider signing on to the below (draft) International Civil Society Declaration, which was the result of a meeting in Washington, DC this week of over 90 academics from 5 continents, public interest organizations and other legal experts concerned with the public interest aspects of ACTA. The meeting of international experts was hosted by American University Washington College of Law Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property (PIJIP ).

Both organizations and individuals are welcome to sign-on to the statement until 23 June 9am (US East Coast time) by email to acta.declarationxgmailxxx (insert @ and .com, since we don't like to encourage spammers).

Further details for sign-on and proposing edits to the draft declaration are below. Please take a moment and read the declaration and consider signing-on and adding your support to raise awareness on ACTA. And also please help to spread the word and gather additional civil society support from your own networks and contacts by forwarding this email on to others or reference to the website: http://www.wcl.american.edu/pijip/go/blog-post/urgent-acta-communique for details.

The next closed-door ACTA negotiations are scheduled for 28 June - 2 July 2010 in Lucerne, Switzerland, and the US promises a final agreement will be concluded shortly thereafter. Time is of the essence to act on ACTA.

Thank you for any support and assistance you can provide to raise awareness on the public interest concerns with ACTA. It is only through global grass-roots efforts and small individual actions made by many people that we can fight to overcome this flawed treaty.

All best,
Robin Gross

Robin Gross by the way is the head of IP Justice, and in the usual way of things has her own wiki here.

In the cultural arena, Australia has already been done over by the Australia-US Free Trade Agreement, which the Howard government negotiated with supreme artlessness, and which has proven a dud in the areas that matter, while turning out to be yet another invidious, insidious blow against Australian content. (Mind the gap: benefits from free trade haven't gone the distance).

Here at the pond we're never convinced that signatures and petitions carry any weight, up against the power of market forces and governments intent on doing the bidding of big business, but any attention paid to the wretched implications of ACTA is worthwhile.

Meantime, it's enough to make the dissolute and the defiant go out and pirate some goods ...

Phew no need, the pirates are diligently at work in Newtown, selling dubious goods under plastic wrapper no more than fifty yards from the cop shop.

Suck it up, Hollywood ... Oops, I swear, I swear studios, someone must have put it in my player when I wasn't looking ...