Pirate Party Pillages Private Papers

Recently, a document that is allegedly a consolidated discussion paper of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement was leaked in full to the internet. Today, due to the complete lack of a transparent public consultation process with ACTA, Pirate Party Australia will also be mirroring this controversial document, in order to fuel public awareness and debate surrounding government transparency. You can view the PDF with

software such as Adobe Acrobat Reader or Foxit Reader by visiting the following link.

Download PDF Version of Secret ACTA Documents

Download PDF Version of Press Release

The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, or ACTA, is a secret agreement in negotiation between the EU, Canada, the USA, Japan, NZ, Australia and other nations. While it does propose some legitimate anti-counterfeiting measures, the copyright-related chapters are the result of commercial interests seeking to limit society’s rights to material designed to enhance our culture.

These vested interests are the reason that the negotiating parties do not wish for the closeted discussions of ACTA to be public. Proposals such as a graduated response scheme, or ‘three strikes’ as it is commonly known, have been considered in multiple leaked ACTA documents over the past two years. ‘Three strikes’ would force ISPs to disconnect households from the Internet upon three accusations of copyright infringement.

“The most alarming part of these proposals is the complete lack of judicial oversight, allowing the copyright owners to play both judge and jury, while forcing ISPs to take on the

role of executioner,” said David Crafti, Pirate Party President.

Pirate Party Australia has twice attempted to gain ACTA documents under a Freedom of Information request, but both were rejected. Most recent attempt documented here.

Notable sections include Section 4 (p25)which includes sanctions that would require ISPs to enforce copyright, effectively deeming them copyright police and overriding the AFACT vs iiNet trial verdict entirely. It is disgraceful that this agreement continues to be negotiated without public oversight and transparency.

The EU recently voted to oppose ACTA, with 663 votes for and 13 against. Many EU members claimed the negotiations were a violation of the Lisbon Treaty. “We have shown that we do not accept secrecy. We have shown that we are prepared to stand up for a free internet open to everybody. Christian Engström, Pirate Party MEP

Pirate Party Australia applauds the EU’s opposition to the Treaty and in the interests of its citizens, calls for the Australian government to withdraw from negotiations. We also encourage everyone to get informed about what the ACTA treaty will mean for individuals and all of us as a nation. We need to make it clear that our personal liberties are more important than a record label’s hip pocket.