[tomhr]

Originally Posted by solaris

Tom, ALL these intellectual property rights bills might have different names but for the RIAA they have just ONE purpose: To be able to bypass the legal rights of you and I

The ACTA proposal is the EPITOME of all the disgusting behaviour the Music/Movie MAFIAA and their lobbyists have EVER done (which says A LOT): Convincing the governments of the otherwise civilized western world to create and effectuate law(s) that bypass the rights of the consumers WITHOUT inviting any organisations that represent the rights of the consumers, to these negotiations

If this hadn't leaked in the late spring, then we wouldn't have heard about ACTA until it was effectuated

I agree with you that ACTA is horrible. It would be a 21st-century return to feudalism -- the idea that the property rights of the few outweigh the human rights of the many.

However, I am hopeful because of one little bit of US history: President Woodrow Wilson was the world's biggest cheerleader for the League of Nations, and yet the US Senate said, "BFD." The United States never ratified the Treaty of Versaille, and the USA never joined the League of Nations.

Once in awhile, our senators prove that they are not sheep.

Now, in the USA, there is a lot of (currently impotent) anger about Bushie reading our mail and tapping our phones and packet-inspecting our Internet traffic without a warrant. In that environment, I think that the RIAA/MPAA would find it to be no slam-dunk to take away civil liberties over a little illegal uploading.

Bottom line: I don't think that the US Senators will ratify ACTA, unless they can water it down a lot. And if the Senate's only two choices are take it or leave it, they'll shoot it down.

[solaris]

http://www.aom3.org/forum/f5/acta-he...html#post48490 (The ACTA Hearing: USTR Claims There's Nothing To See Here... Move Along...)