Representative Darrell Issa (CA-49) signed the Declaration of Internet Freedom, a broad online declaration that aims to keep the internet free and open. Issa, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, is the first elected official to sign the document.
Issa has been an outspoken opponent of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). Last month, he drafted “A Digital Citizen’s… → Read More
A big day today for those who have been opposed to measures like SOPA that are aimed at stronger, government-imposed measures to define and prevent counterfeiting and copyright infringement on the internet: the European Parliament has rejected the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), by a nearly-unanimous margin of 478 votes against to 39 in favor.
The rejection means that the European… → Read More
With Europe preparing for a big vote next week on ACTA, the sweeping online copyright and counterfeit trade treaty, today the UK regulator Ofcom set out a proposal for how large ISPs in this country (ie more than 400,000) should tell their users when they’ve been found to be infringing on copyright — illegal activity that the government estimates costs the industry up to £400 million per year in… → Read More
The European Union says it will refer the controversial ACTA anti-piracy trade agreement to the institution’s highest court, the European Court of Justice, to check whether it complies with the EU’s fundamental rights.
EU trade chief Karel De Gucht is leading the process. He said: “We are planning to ask Europe’s highest court to assess ACTA’s compatibility with the EU’s fundamental rights and… → Read More
Let’s stuff our fat faces and pat each other on the back while discussing the fate of the world’s poor! The Guardian claims that the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (Acta) is about to be ratified by G8 governments. The world’s eight largest economies—wasn’t it always the seven biggest economies plus Russia?—are meeting in Japan (and eating like princes!) to… → Read More
That New World Order-sounding anti-copyright infringement treaty that we mentioned a few days ago has been leaked. The proposal, at least. And yes, it looks just as frightening as the original reports made it out to be. How does this grab you? The consequences of such IPR [intellectual property infringement] include (1) depriving legitimate businesses and their workers of income; (2) discouraging… → Read More
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