SOPA, PIPA, and now: ACTA

During the past months the debate on SOPA and PIPA has been intense – in the USA (SOPA=Stop Online Piracy Act; PIPA=Protect Intellectual Property Act). The proposed laws would have consequences far beyond the U.S. borders, and protests were worldwide. They culminated in a “blackout” of service of many websites for 24 hours on 18 January, 2012. Among blackout participants was Wikipedia.

The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is now on the European agenda. ACTA has already been signed by the Australia, Canada, Japan, U.S. … and few days ago it was also “signed” by 22 of the EU member states, including Denmark and Sweden. The process has been characterised by very little transparency, but this will change. The debate promises to become fierce during the next months. The ACTA cannot be implemented before it has been ratified both by the European Parliament and by the parliaments of each participating country.

The laws and agreements mentioned are supposed to combat piracy – and much else. The piracy aspect has been treated in depth in the SSRC report Media Piracy in Emerging Economies, previously mentioned on orecomm.net.

Photo above: Polish members of parliament hold up Guy Fawkes masks in protest of the treaty, 24 January 2012. A balanced, brief collection of articles on ACTA has been published – in Danish – by the newspaper Informatíon here.