StopActaEN
Englisch/German
What is ACTA? "ACTA" is the abbreviation of the planned plurilateral trade agreement "Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement". The participating states resp. supra-national bodies state that the aim is to intensify the fight against product piracy. The agreement shall help to battle the supposedly increasing problem of product piracy. The secret negotiations are held since 2008 and should come to an end this year. The 38 participants include Switzerland, the USA, the EU, Canada, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Jordany, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates.
ACTA – The facts
For over a year now, 38 countries are conducting secret negotiations which will ultimately affect the lives of hundreds of millions of persons.
Fact 1
The public is very badly informed about the current progress of the negotiations. Even after multiple requests no access to the current drafts has been granted . The extremely shallow information contained in the few leaked documents can not inform anyone willing to dive into the topic.
Fact 2
The public is insecure and the rumour mill is turning.
For any defendant of civil liberties, reading the few leaked information on ACTA, is like reading an abstract of George Orwells 1984. The drafts are talking amongst other things about introducing three-strikes-you-out rules, a liability by the providers and content filters.
The fact that the public is not or solely badly informed by the participants to the negotiations only increases the rumors.
Conclusion
Public opinion and democracy can only function if the interested public has access to sufficent information to form their own opinion. If information is withheld from the public, then the formation of a public opinion is massively hampered, leading to an interference with the democratic order.
The way how these negotiations were and are still conducted leads to one sole conclusion: Stop ACTA!
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