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EU Pirate Party members of parliament have walked out on a EU meeting to discuss the ACTA global copyright treaty when they were told that they could not inform the public as to the details of the treaty which will affect millions of web users from day one.
The negotiations of the ACTA treaty has been kept secret due to fears of a public backlash. The treaty, being pushed by interest groups such as the RIAA and the MPAA, will attempt to toughen copyright laws around the globe. Measures include criminalizing DRM breaking (previously a civil matter), banning the use and development of file sharing technology, and even just thinking about copyright infringement could be a crime under the "imminent infringement" clause (searching for pirated content could be a criminal offence, even if you don't actually manage to find or obtain the material). In other words, the ACTA is the RIAA and MPAA's wish list, but governments, especially the US government, want to make their wishes come true at all cost, even at the cost of angering allies.
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The negotiations of the ACTA treaty has been kept secret due to fears of a public backlash. The treaty, being pushed by interest groups such as the RIAA and the MPAA, will attempt to toughen copyright laws around the globe. Measures include criminalizing DRM breaking (previously a civil matter), banning the use and development of file sharing technology, and even just thinking about copyright infringement could be a crime under the "imminent infringement" clause (searching for pirated content could be a criminal offence, even if you don't actually manage to find or obtain the material). In other words, the ACTA is the RIAA and MPAA's wish list, but governments, especially the US government, want to make their wishes come true at all cost, even at the cost of angering allies.
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