WHAT IS THIS. (Or: the ACTA.)

AND WHY DID I NOT HEAR ABOUT IT SOONER.

Oh, of course! Because the combined governments involved in the "Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement" have refused to release the content of their proposed bill to the public.

So what is the "Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement?" This video on YouTube sums it up:

Unite Against ACTA - To Arms!

Think the video's being a little scare-tacticky? Think again. The passage of the ACTA will:

1. Make ISP providers accountable for the behavior of their customers. They will be required to monitor their customers' movements and block websites that they decide are unsuitable - including BitTorrent, one of the best sites available for easy sharing of freeware.
   
2. Give copyright holders the legal right to search and seize the property of anyone they suspect of copyright violation. (And what makes you a suspect? Here's a hint: age, race, and sex will be bigger factors than criminal history or downloading habits. Black kids with iPods, watch out.)
3. Enable copyright holders to demand compensation for stolen property - at rates that far exceed actual loss. A precedent lawsuit, waged by the RIAA, demanded damages at the rate of $150,000 per song. (Source: http://www.zeropaid.com/news/8175/riaa_sues_allofmp3_for_165_trillion/)
4. Operate independently of the World Trade Organization, World Intellectual Property Organization, and United Nations.
5. Require that all media files be DRM-protected, essentially placing an expiration date on everything you download.
6. Restrict the transportation of generic medical drugs between countries, keeping needed treatments out of the hands of people who can't afford the big-business versions.
7. Allow copyright holders to demand damages from people who had no idea they were infringing copyright in the first place.
   

IT'S THE FUCKING MASTER CONTROL PROGRAM, PEOPLE. In order to feed their ever-expanding asses, media companies are demanding an act that will give them complete monopoly over the types and amounts of information that are allowed to be transmitted via the Internet and stored on your computer, phone, iPod, whatevs. Don't think that just because you haven't stolen anything means you're not a target. Anyone who owns information-transmitting-and-storing technology is instantly a suspect - especially if they are Generation Y or younger, male, a person of color, and/or poor. Hell, I can only imagine how this thing will play out in, say, Korea. The ACTA isn't just bad for Americans - it's bad for everyone in a country that relies on the Internet for free communication.

Read more about it at http://www.anti-acta.com. Seriously, do. The government officials behind this heap of shit want to sign it into effectiveness no later than next month. We're almost out of time, people.

(If this seems a little excessive, check out the Wikipedia page.)

Here is a draft of the text, released back in April.