Comments on: ACTA Draft Leak

By: Evan

Evan — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 20:58:02 +0000

It’s interesting that you frame the “three strikes” rule as consumer-friendly, because I think it’s all about where you set your baseline.

I think most objections to three strikes are more about what gets called a strike than how many you get, i.e. is it sufficient for the copyright holder to merely allege that you infringed (which is the case in some proposed rules)?. To extend the baseball analogy, that might be like letting the pitcher call the balls and strikes rather than the umpire; all the close calls would only ever go one way.

By: Gabriella De Abreu

Gabriella De Abreu — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 20:46:55 +0000

I agree with Natalie. I think we’ll have to wait and see how the treaty plays out. I’m still confused about the internet provider’s role. The user will be kicked out at first, but then couldn’t he or she just go to the next internet provider? Or use wi-fi at a different location? Just how strick will the treaty be? I guess I just don’t see how it’s going to work out, but it will be something to keep an eye on.

By: Natalie

Natalie — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 19:55:23 +0000

This is personally frightening. I suppose that I did not expect content providers or the RIAA to sit idle this whole time and watch their hard work get downloaded for free. It’s an inevitable step to get the Internet providers involved because they are the true gatekeepers to the websites that people rip from. I’m threatened by this treaty, but I understand the necessity for it. I guess the 3 strikes component of the treaty does favor the consumer somewhat, in the sense that you don’t simply get the boot after a minor offense.

It’ll be interesting to see how this treaty plays out, and how different countries, each with their own needs, will respond to it. It’s difficult enough to draft any international treaty because of this and other implications, however, the Internet is such a broad network that certainly unites the global community. Nonetheless, taking away peoples rights on this network can generate some real outrage among users, possibly effecting whether or not each country will accept this treaty.