How New ACTA Internet Lockdown Measures Are Coming to Canada

The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), once believed dead, is back from beyond the grave, and could criminalize and otherwise restrict your use of the Internet by overwriting our copyright rules. Join over 69,312 Canadians who have spoken out about ACTA’s threat to Internet freedom. Click here to send our leaders a message. ACTA and New Internet Restrictions Through the Back Door As you may have heard, on March 1, 2013, the Canadian government introduced Bill C-56,[1] which aims to bring Canada into compliance with the globally unpopular[2] and widely discredited[3] Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).

ACTA is an international trade agreement designed to create a global set of Internet restrictions in the name of copyright enforcement[4] that could change how you use the Internet. These standards were decided behind closed doors by industry lobbyists and bureaucrats, without public input, and promise to go above and beyond any participating country’s own national laws.

ACTA is extremely unpopular globally.[5] The agreement was outright rejected by the European Union, and has found heavy resistance in Australia, Switzerland, and Mexico, among others.[6] Given that the EU and Mexico voted No on ACTA, it seems bizarre that the Canadian government wants to forge ahead to bring our legislation into step with an agreement that so clearly lacks public legitimacy.

Why New ACTA Internet Lockdown Measures? Why Now?

So, why is the government plowing forward with Bill C-56?

1. Ratifying ACTA:

NDP MP Charmaine Borg rightly dubbed Bill C-56 as “ACTA through the back door”.[7] On the same day that Canada announced the bill to comply with ACTA, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) posted its yearly report, [8] stating that US officials were working with Japan and other parties negotiating ACTA, “to ensure that ACTA can come into force as soon as possible,” and, crucially, to encourage Canada “to meet its [ACTA] obligations.” As Maira Sutton at EFF rightly points out, “Canada did not miss a beat to satisfy this demand.”[9]

It looks like the US Trade Representative gave the Canadian government its marching orders behind closed doors, and Canada bowed down without missing a beat. Or as tech blogger Michael Masnick of Techdirt puts it, “'Bow Down And Accept ACTA!' Canada: 'Yes, We Shall Do Your Bidding”.[10] Or better yet, as popular science fiction writer and copyright commentator Cory Doctorow puts it, “US Trade Rep orders Canada to comply with the dead-and-buried ACTA treaty, Canada rolls over and wets itself”.[11]

Canada’s border security rules are currently not compliant with ACTA’s rules and Bill C-56 will amend this by changing our border security rules. Michael Geist suggests that border guards will have more power to restrict Canadian activity and seize citizens’ electronics without court oversight. Border guards would essentially become copyright enforcers - a position they are currently poorly equipped to administer, leaving the process open to abuse by big media lobbyists and others.[12]

2. Slow Walking Canada Into the TPP’s Internet Trap:

ACTA also brings Canada’s laws incrementally closer to the new Internet restrictions in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement’s Internet Trap. The TPP is extreme and secretive and promises much greater restrictions than even ACTA on what you can do on the Internet.

As our own Steve Anderson told the Huffington Post, our government has refused to commit to uphold our own digital policy laws in TPP negotiations. The Canadian and US government and their lobbyist backers likely realize that citizens are more likely to swallow the drastic Internet restrictions proposed in the TPP if countries incrementally water down our digital rights through Bill C-56 and other ACTA-based legislation.[13] Bill C-56 feels like the start of a process to slow walk Canada into the TPP’s Internet Trap.

ACTA and the TPP are a gruesome twosome for our digital rights, promising criminal penalties for copyright violations, the ability for governments to block content and take down websites (which is already happening in the U.S.), and the capacity for border guards to seize and destroy our electronics at border crossings without court oversight.

What can we do about it?

To speak out against ACTA and Bill C-56, we have created the No Internet Lockdown petition telling our elected officials to say No to the ACTA Internet lockdown before it’s too late.

Now is the time to stand up and stop the renewed moves to lock down the Internet in Canada and around the world. Click here to send our leaders a message.

--------

[1] Harper Government Protecting Canadians from Counterfeit Goods. Source: Canada News Centre.

[2] The European Parliament Rejects ACTA: The Impossible Becomes Possible. Source: Michael Geist.

[3] Here Comes ACTA: Canadian Government Introduces Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement Compliance Bill. Source: Michael Geist.

[4] ACTA’s Not Dead Yet: The detailed breakdown. Source: OpenMedia.ca

[5] Supra note 3

[6] Supra note 3

[7] NDP Calls It: Bill C-56 is "ACTA Through the Backdoor". Source: Michael Geist.

[8] USTR 2013 Trade Policy Agenda and 2012 Annual Report. Source: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

[9] US Trade Office Calls ACTA Back From the Dead and Canada Complies. Source: EFF.

[10] USTR To Canada: 'Bow Down And Accept ACTA!' Canada: 'Yes, We Shall Do Your Bidding'. Source: Techdirt.

[11] US Trade Rep orders Canada to comply with the dead-and-buried ACTA treaty, Canada rolls over and wets itself. Source: BoingBoing.

[12] Supra note 3

[13] Trans-Pacific Partnership: Chief Canadian Negotiator Refuses To Say If Canada Will Uphold Copyright Laws. Source: Huffington Post.