As Americans, we embrace freedom of information. We appreciate the expanse of knowledge and secrets we can find on the Web. Needless to say, we hate legislation that tries to limit or censor the information we access.
We watched the world stand up against the Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect IP Act: proposed bills that would limit content available to Web users in the United States. But our battle is not yet won. In fact, it is just getting started.
ACTA, which stands for The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, is a global treaty that seeks to enforce copyrights and remove counterfeit items both online and in the pharmaceutical industry.
Unlike SOPA and PIPA, which are both bills in Congress, ACTA is a global treaty. The main problem with this treaty is that all negotiations are done secretly. Proponents have already worked around the World Trade Organization and, if fully ratified, will dodge Congress’ ability to amend or undo the treaty.
ACTA currently holds signatures from Poland, France, Italy, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland, South Korea and, yes, the U.S.
“As a member of Congress, it’s more dangerous than SOPA,” Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said on issa.house.gov. “It’s not coming to me for a vote. It purports that it does not change existing laws. But once implemented, it creates a whole new enforcement system and will virtually tie the hands of Congress to undo it.”
So what U.S. citizens do?
First of all, we still have time to stop it. The treaty will not be fully ratified until this summer. As for now, there is a petition at whitehouse.gov with more than 30,000 signatures currently on file with the Obama administration. It is calling to end ACTA and protect our right to Internet privacy.
I urge you, more than anything, to care about this issue. Take a minute to look back at the examples of censorship legislation throughout history.
The Alien and Sedition Acts, which limited free speech and privacy for resident aliens, were passed during a quasi-war with France following the French Reign of Terror. The Espionage Act of 1917 prohibited the disclosure of government and industrial information regarding national defense during World War I. The McCarron Internal Security Act limited First amendment rights and fueled the fear of Communism that drove the Cold War era.
Every example shares the common theme of the American government enacting censorship against enemies during war time.
What is the American government trying to tell us? Is the U.S. government at war with the people?
If not, it sure does feel like it.
