Media, file sharing sites take differing tack

Local firms sound off on the ACTA and intellectual property debate

Parliament may have shelved the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) until public outrage cools, but it has reignited a smoldering dispute between Czech media companies and file-sharing Web businesses.

With 31 signatories, including the European Union and 22 of its member states, ACTA seeks to set international standards for the protection of intellectual property rights on everything from movies to medicine. While Czech copyright experts say the treaty itself would have little impact on domestic law, they say the reopening of the discussion on intellectual property has been the catalyst for increased pressure from copyright holders to tighten restrictions.

"ACTA is very vague and doesn't add much to Czech law," said Stanislav Bednář, copyright attorney with Prague law firm Peterka & Partners. "The real danger for pirates is that it will be used as an argument to update the current law and make it stricter."

More: http://www.praguepost.com/business/12035-media-file-sharing-sites-take-differing-tack.html

Romania reacts to ACTA

A question by opposition leader and PSD President Victor Ponta, asking how the ACTA signed in Romania without prior public discussion, came as a surprise on 8 February.

Following this development, there will be a suspension of the implementation of the agreement until a public dialogue is completed.

Twenty-two member states, including Romania, signed the agreement on 2 February. Besides these states, the agreement was also signed by the UK, US, Australia, Canada, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore and South Korea.

More: http://www.neurope.eu/article/romania-reacts-acta

Today's pirate is the entrepreneur of tomorrow

Before the Super Bowl on Sunday (a frigid Monday morning in Beijing), the FBI prepared for the TV event by closing down more than 300 Internet domains that streamed sports events and sold NFL merchandize. At the same time, the US Department of Justice was prosecuting by proxy the Megaupload boss Kim Dotcom. Meanwhile, the three entrepreneurs behind file-sharer Pirate Bay were denied appeals and will sweat it out behind bars for up to 10 months, in addition to paying millions of dollars in fines.


Their crimes were copyright infringement, and the sentence is commercial death.

Today's pirate is the entrepreneur of tomorrow

Mr Dotcom is a fascinating figure, a German for whom the epithet "larger than life" is entirely appropriate. He and his minions had settled themselves in enviable luxury at a lavish villa complex in New Zealand, where they drove around in Mercs, Rolls-Royces and Maseratis with license plates boasting they were "MAFIA" or "CEO" and "GUILTY" - which was obviously a red rag to a bull.

Here, the buccaneers ran a file sharing and hosting site that was formerly the Web's 13th most popular, with 50 million visits daily, and that employed 150 people.

More: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2012-02/08/content_14556315.htm

The Battle Against SOPA Is Far From Over

Even though a pair of controversial anti-piracy bills were recently sidelined in Congress, online businesses' battle against restrictive legislation is far from over. Current incarnations of other proposed bills still exist and pose equal threats to the free flow of information online.

Effectively tabled late last month, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) both aimed to punish "rogue" websites that publish or sell pirated content. But internet companies and some members of Congress argued that the bills could negatively affect the flow of information online.

That's just the tip of the iceberg. The following are a few issues entrepreneurs should be aware of that could influence the way online business is conducted in the future:

More: http://www.entrepreneur.com/blog/222756

Hackers shut down Polish govt website

Warsaw - Hackers on Wednesday shut down Poland's Culture Ministry website, in a protest against a controversial internet anti-piracy treaty that has already sparked nationwide protests.

The website was to publish documents dealing with the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) which Poland signed but has so far not ratified.

Last week, Prime Minister Donald Tusk postponed the treaty's ratification for at least a year, saying internet activists had been underrepresented at previous meetings on the agreement.

More: http://www.iol.co.za/dailynews/news/hackers-shut-down-polish-govt-website-1.1230089

Pirate Party Arrives in Greece as Early National Elections Loom

The Pirate Party, which campaigns for open access to technology and Internet freedom, has established a political presence in Greece.

The Pirate Party of Greece will hold a press conference Feb. 10 in central Athens to unveil its platform which includes opposition to the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, or ACTA, according to an e-mailed statement from the group.

In a monthly poll by Public Issue for Skai TV and the newspaper Kathimerini, 30 percent of those surveyed said they would not vote for any of Greece’s existing parties and 91 percent said the country is headed in the wrong direction. National elections in Greece are expected some time in April.

More: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-08/pirate-party-arrives-in-greece-as-early-national-elections-loom.html

Croatians to protest against ACTA on Saturday

Protests against the controversial anti-piracy laws have been announced for Saturday in the Croatian cities of Zagreb, Rijeka and Osijek.

The protest against the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) will be held simultaneously in the three cities starting at 3pm.

Zagreb's protest will take place in front of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building, Osijek's on the main square, while protesters will gather in Rijeka in front of radio station, Radio Rivers. Organisers in Croatia of the protests are asking for peaceful and non-violent gatherings.

The protest has been called by the social network Facebook, as over 100 cities across Europe hit the streets on Saturday over the new proposed act.

More: http://www.croatiantimes.com/news/General_News/2012-02-08/24967/Croatians_to_protest_against_ACTA_on_Saturday

Acta debate taken to university

Nationalist MEP Simon Busuttil described Acta this afternoon as an agreement to further strengthen enforcement in the fight against counterfeit and piracy. But Labour MEP Edward Scicluna said he was against it, because he did not want people to rummage through his luggage to see if he had any counterfeit products. This, he said, was one of the provisions of the agreement.

Acta, the anti-counterfeiting trade agreement was the subject of a well-attended KSU debate at the University.

Dr Busuttil said he was positively inclined to Acta because it aimed to strengthen enforcement in the fight against counterfeit and piracy. EU countries including Malta already have strong legislation on these two issues but this agreement sought to focus on the enforcement aspect.

"In principle I cannot object to it because I am in favour of the fight against counterfeit and piracy because itius illegal and because there are thousands of people in Malta who are working for Maltese companies producing goods or software who could be victims of false products. Their job is at risk everyday because of counterfeit and pirate products.

More: http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20120208/local/acta-debate-taken-to-university.405901

ACTA with a side of SOPA

There was a time when “intellectual property” was a lot easier to monitor. Before digital media, people had to buy CDs and records from physical stores and had to purchase newspapers from a rack. But times have changed and, as it is, the Internet now stands as a foundation for providing public access to information.

As with most innovations, the Internet also came with potential theft of what music and movie companies deemed as “intellectual property”. Although the method of protecting intellectual property rights has been weak, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement and the Stop Online Piracy Act are far too extreme to be passed; so extreme that websites such as Google and Wikipedia temporarily shut down in protest.

Online piracy is still illegal, and under current federal law you can still be receive large fine and lawsuit if you are caught. The difficulty in enforcing online criminal activity does not justify stealing movies, books, and music. But common sense says that sites should not be held responsible for the criminal activity for their users and that five-year imprisonment is not justified by extreme downloading.

More: http://my.hsj.org/Schools/Newspaper/tabid/100/view/frontpage/articleid/496840/newspaperid/558/ACTA_with_a_side_of_SOPA.aspx