Controlling the internet ACTA in Poland (Like SOPA)

Polish Internet went supernova when three days ago it was announced that our government was going to sign ACTA. It came out of nowhere, and most Polish users didn’t follow the SOPA/PIPA legislation battle of the US – it seemed much more distant than it is now. First came the official statement from our President’s bureau, in which Poland was supposedly achieving great international success by catching up with the world standards of copyright protection. We were to sign ACTA on January 26.

This was registered by a few niche websites, and went for the most part unnoticed by the mass media. Bloggers and youtubers started to dig into the subject, research the legislation itself and post comments so that more people would get interested. We were caught totally off-guard, but luckily, the Internet stood up to the challenge: in the next 24 hours, literally hundreds of thousands of people started to speak out, write letters to our government, organize protests, record videos and hype the thing up.

Now we can see how different are PolishForums and Poland. In Poland there is now flame war about ACTA while here it is just a few comments:D

That's because Poles in Poland experience the censorship of the mainstream media, whereas here they still have freedom of speech :).

You not talking about media in United States are you?

Polish mainstream media usually translate/reprint the world news from the US or British media anyway.

Polish mainstream media usually translate/reprint the world news from the US or British media anyway.

That's because Poles in Poland experience the censorship of the mainstream media, whereas here they still have freedom of speech :).

please tell me why do you refer to censorship exclusively in Poland?

And yet no big discussion about ACTA here:) Even and especially it is about Poland.

In United States they report garbage the corporation and government is censoring news and they go along with a lie

Interesting how you bring up the USA specifically while overlooking other countries

The agreement has so far been signed by the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore and South Korea.

how in practice, the authorities are going to enforce all this downloading is anyone's guess
however blocking access to the torrent source sites would be a good place to start

Interesting how you bring up the USA specifically while overlooking other countries like.....ooohh I don't know....China?

I was speaking to some IT dweebs and the law kicks in tomorrow apparently

It's not quite so simple - after signing, it must be ratified by Poland. It's quite possible that it will stay in legal limbo for years - quite a few international treaties remain unsigned for decades, like the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic with some countries. I'm predicting that the Government won't dare to attempt to ratify it - especially because there's already a broad consensus against signing it.

Even if it does get passed by the Sejm/Senat - Komorowski has shown that he's willing to veto things when there exists clear public opposition to something.

There's a protest in the Stare Miasto in Krakow today. I'm sure they are taking place all over Poland.

Seems like everyone is in the dark over this.

"Government Should Lift Veil on ACTA Secrecy", noting that before documents leaked on the Internet, ACTA was shrouded in secrecy. Coverage of the documents by the Toronto Star "sparked widespread opposition as Canadians worry about the prospect of a trade deal that could lead to invasive searches of personal computers and increased surveillance of online activities." Geist argued that public disclosure of the draft ACTA treaty "might put an end to fears about iPod searching border guards" and that it "could focus attention on other key concerns including greater Internet service provider filtering of content, heightened liability for websites that link to allegedly infringing content, and diminished privacy for Internet users." Geist also argued that greater transparency would lead to a more inclusive process, highlighting that the ACTA negotiations have excluded both civil society groups as well as developing countries. Geist reported that "reports suggest that trade negotiators have been required to sign non-disclosure agreements for fear of word of the treaty's provisions leaking to the public." He argued that there is a need for "cooperation from all stakeholders to battle counterfeiting concerns" and that "an effective strategy requires broader participation and regular mechanisms for feedback".[

Have a look at the top of this page. Particularly the name of this forum.

And yet no big discussion about ACTA here:) Even and especially it is about Poland.

however it could be an end to downloading films and music

If you check some archive posts, my position about it has been clear from day one (ie. PF = freedom of speech). Some people argued how inappropriate it may be, but if nothing is done soon they will be the ones to cry to go back to the free Internet. Hopefully it won't be too late.

Some people say that Boycott - not wars or violent demonstrations - will be the key to successfully fight for your rights in the future. If people are united, there's nothing that can defeat it. It is reported to work well both online and offline ;).

ACTA concerns me also because it's going to restrict access to medicine. I am so glad it's finally coming under scrutiny from the public.

Boycott - not wars or violent demonstrations - will be the key to successfully fight for your rights in the future.

Wikipedia community announced its decision to black out the English-language Wikipedia for 24 hours, worldwide, beginning at 05:00 UTC on Wednesday, January 18 (you can read the statement from the Wikimedia Foundation here). The blackout is a protest against proposed legislation in the United States – the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the U.S. House of Representatives, and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) in the U.S. Senate – that, if passed, would seriously damage the free and open Internet, including Wikipedia.

more than 7 million other Americans – who stood up for the Web

Some people say that Boycott - not wars or violent demonstrations - will be the key to successfully fight for your rights in the future.

If you check some archive posts, my position about it has been clear from day one (ie. PF = freedom of speech). Some people argued how inappropriate it may be, but if nothing is done soon they will be the ones to cry to go back to the free Internet. Hopefully it won't be too late.

After the hacking protest which closed down Prime Minister Tusk’s web site over the weekend, the Polish government has said that it will enter into a “period of consultation” before deciding whether to ratify the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement.

Unfortunately in the land of free speech we have this Antiboycott Compliance.