[Infowarrior] - ACTA Guide, Part Five: Speaking Out

[Richard Forno]

ACTA Guide, Part Five: Speaking Out

Friday January 29, 2010

http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/4742/125/

The 7th round of ACTA negotiations will conclude around lunch time  
today in Mexico.  If past meetings are any indication, a few hours  
later the participating countries will issue a bland statement  
thanking the host Mexican government, discussing the progress on civil  
enforcement, border measures, and the Internet as well as noting the  
transparency discussions and the continued desire to address the  
issue.  The release will then conclude by looking forward to the next  
meeting in Wellington, New Zealand in April.

As this five part series (Part One on substance, Part Two on leaks,  
Part Three on transparency, and Part Four on local implementations)  
demonstrates, however, there are ongoing concerns with both the  
process and substance of ACTA.  From a process perspective, the  
negotiations remain far more secretive than other international  
agreements.  From a substantive viewpoint, ACTA could result in  
dramatic reforms in many participating countries.  Countering the  
momentum behind ACTA will require many to speak out.

This admittedly feels like a daunting task given the powerful  
interests that are committed to seeing ACTA through.  That said, many  
have begun to speak out.  This last post starts with links to a  
sampling of the politicians and groups that have already made ACTA one  
of their issues:

Elected Officials

	• Senator Ron Wyden, United States
	• Senators Bernie Sanders and Sherrod Brown, United States
	• Senators Pat Leahy and Arlen Specter, United States
	• Rep. Mike Doyle, United States
	• Rep. Zoe Lofgren, United States
	• Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, France
	• MP Tom Watson, United Kingdom
	• UK Liberal Democrats party
	• Minister Åsa Torstensson, Sweden
	• European Parliament Resolution
	• MEP Jens Holms, Sweden
	• MP Clare Curran, New Zealand (second time) (third time)
	• Peter Dunne, New Zealand
	• MP Charlie Angus, Canada (editorial)

Public Interest Group Letters
	• Library Content Alliance
	• Oxfam
	• EFF, Essential Action, KEI, PK, Salud y Farmacos, TACD, UAEM, PIRG
	• Worldwide NGO Coalition
	• European Telecommunications Network Operators' Association
	• KEI and PK
	• KEI

So what can the general public do?  One thing is to learn more and  
work together with groups already active on ACTA.  These include:

	• ACTA.net.nz
	• EFF
	• Public Knowledge
	• FFII
	• KEI
	• OpenACTA
	• IP Justice
	• ACTAActionNow!
	• CIPPIC
	• Electronic Frontiers Australia
	• La Quadrature Du Net
	• Movimento ScambioEtico

Every individual concerned with ACTA can also speak out.  Write to  
your local MP or national leader or participate in the specific  
activities sponsored by some of the organizations listed above.  These  
include the EFF ACTA Action Alert, the effort to encourage UK MPs to  
support the cross-party motion for ACTA transparency, and the signing  
of the A2K ACTA Petition.