tl;dr forthcoming ACTA copyright treaty is a Bad Thing, times 10 - though I'm not sure why he keeps talking about 'gutting existing copyright laws' rather than drastically reinforcing them - I assume he refers to the fair use provision which may be a victim of the secret negotiations. I largely agree. But...
It will no longer be a medium of the people but instead it will be the new money machine of the entertainment industry and any voices against them will suddenly find themselves silenced and bereft of any legal recourse.
Wait, what? Those who speak up against the abuse copyright (qua privilege) will be censored? I doubt that. You'll still be able to publish your work under a creative commons license if you see fit to do so, and you could, you know, produce more original content. I'm not convinced that creativity will grind to a halt if we don't have easy access to existing content.
I'm not supportive of ACTA or the secrecy which surrounds its development, indeed I am quite disappointed with the current administration's lack of transparency in this area. On the other hand I don't see that just projecting random and inchoate fears onto the legal fog surrounding it leaves us any better informed or empowered.
ACTA is just more evidence of the excessive control that corporations/new world order want to exert over individual communication. I've written 16 published books and I have never lost a moments sleep from worrying about being ripped off by piracy. There is a little concept called 'the public good' that to me means that people who create content want both to make a little money and to help people.
BTW, there are worse problems in the world than ACTA, but ACTA is pretty bad.
It will no longer be a medium of the people but instead it will be the new money machine of the entertainment industry and any voices against them will suddenly find themselves silenced and bereft of any legal recourse.
Wait, what? Those who speak up against the abuse copyright (qua privilege) will be censored? I doubt that. You'll still be able to publish your work under a creative commons license if you see fit to do so, and you could, you know, produce more original content. I'm not convinced that creativity will grind to a halt if we don't have easy access to existing content.
I'm not supportive of ACTA or the secrecy which surrounds its development, indeed I am quite disappointed with the current administration's lack of transparency in this area. On the other hand I don't see that just projecting random and inchoate fears onto the legal fog surrounding it leaves us any better informed or empowered.