Negotiating the ACTA in exchange for our privacy rights

There is a new international trade agreement being proposed. So far it has been developed in secret, until the documents were leaked. Read the full story. It's called the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).

Basically, major countries around the world like the U.S., Canada, and the countries in the E.U. are developing a law to try to cut down on piracy. They want to be able to search people at border crossings for illegally downloaded media, such as music. They will not only be looking though laptops, but mp3 players as well.

It’s hard to even begin to describe just how wrong this is on so many levels. Let’s start with delays. Someone goes through customs with a 10,000 song library on an iPod. How long do you think that will take to look through? The article indicates that the people in charge of deciding what is copyrighted material or not are the security guards. Great. So how do we prove that the songs we have are actually legal copies? Mp3s are not illegal, just ones that were not paid for. So do we have to carry around receipts for every music purchase we have ever made?

Plus, the security personnel have the power to confiscate or destroy the devises with the copyright material. Wait. They can just throw it away?!?!? How is this being seriously considered in these negotiations? Well, trade agreements are a responsibility of the executive branch in the United States, and they do not require parliamentary approval in Canada. Basically, if this becomes a law, expect ridiculous delay, innocent people accused of stealing and just about anyone with an iPod fined for pirated music.

This leads me to ask the question, are the customs officials bored? Are they just tired of looking for bombs, identifying terrorists, or searching for drugs? Honestly, in the last few years our government has stepped up enforcement efforts to try to keep our borders safe. Now what happens when terrorists sneak chemical weapons in the country because the security officers where too busy listening to Timmy’s music library? Is giving out fines to the people with digital media really a high priority for our border patrol?

That’s not even mentioning the fact that the border patrol can detain and question without allowing a lawyer present. I look at this law, and it sounds like the Patriot Act for illegal music. All they need is some suspicion no matter how unfounded, and they can confiscate your laptop, iPod, etc. without any due process of law. It’s guilty until proven innocent.

I would like to think that the Supreme Court would have objections to this, but based on the voting record, their consistently upholding tighter border control measures, and their support for the DMCA and its anti-circumvention clause, I am not too hopeful. The only way this gets prevented is through the responsible oversight of the American people (and the peoples of the other countries involved in this treaty). Hopefully, if the public is sufficiently outraged, this travesty of justice will never become law.