You can't see the text of the proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) because it's being drafted in secret, but it's not so secret that the RIAA doesn't get to submit its own wishlist to the government. Knowledge Ecology International, an NGO that works on trade and public knowledge, published the alleged list (hat tip to Michael Geist) late last week. I hope you like mandatory ISP filtering.

Filters aren't just for faucets



ACTA architect, USTR Susan Schwab

William Patry, Google's top copyright lawyer, wrote recently about news from several sources that indicated such ISP filtering language was making its way into the text of the treaty. The RIAA certainly hopes so, asking the government to require "Internet service providers and other intermediaries to employ readily available measures to inhibit infringement in instances where both legitimate and illegitimate uses were facilitated by their services, including filtering out infringing materials, provided that such measures are not unduly burdensome and do not materially affect the cost or efficiency of delivering legitimate services."

Of course, "repeat infringers" should also have their Internet connections cut off, and ISP liability (both direct and secondary) would be increased, and any "deeplinking" to infringing content could incur liability. That last provision should go over really well with search engines.

The RIAA's points, taken in tandem, seem aimed at gutting the best part of the DMCA (yes, it wasn't all bad), the "safe harbor" rules that gave ISPs immunity from material passing through their networks. In the RIAA's world, ISPs would themselves become filters and enforcers, cutting off users and immediately removing access to material based simply on a phone call. In addition, P2P use would be generally banned on government computers.

Lock up the polycarbonate

It's not just Internet users and ISPs that would feel the heat, though; traditional CD stampers are still targets. The RIAA suggests that countries "with high rates of production of pirated optical discs" be required to institute a licensing system that would control both the manufacture and export of discs—even supplies of optical grade polycarbonate would be restricted.

Replicators around the world would also be required to "maintain complete and accurate records" so that rightsholders could figure out who ordered a batch of infringing discs, and unique ID codes would need to stamped into each disc for easier tracking.

Don't ask, don't tell

As we've noted in our past ACTA coverage, the hysteria over "iPod-searching border guards" seems largely misplaced. The real rightsholder concerns here are to crack down on big pirate stamping operations on the one hand, and Internet P2P use on the other. Unfortunately, while rightsholders appear to have access to government treaty-makers, the public has been largely excluded from the process so far.

That might be less important when trade deals are really of concern only to specific industries, but the Internet, it's fair to say, has broader applications than swapping copyrighted songs. Is it really too much ask that the billions of users this might affect get a say in the treaty before it emerges full-grown into the light of day?