Secrecy claims on copyright treaty

http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,24202770-15306,00.html

Karen Dearne | August 19, 2008

THE Bush administration's plans for a copyright treaty, dubbed "Hollywood's Christmas list" by privacy advocates, may be disrupted as protests over "secret negotiations" emerge in participating nations, including Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

US Trade authorities had been hoping to conclude the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement by the end of the year.

But documents posted on Wikileaks have raised global concerns that the treaty goes far beyond tackling counterfeit and fake goods trafficking, and overhauls existing intellectual property and digital copyright laws.

Electronic Frontiers Australia chair Dale Clapperton said the proposed multinational treaty had been "developed behind closed doors" in consultation with big music and film industry copyright owners.

Little information had been made available, but "there appears to be significant involvement by the Recording Industry Association of America and other copyright lobby groups", he said.

Without consultation over the legitimate interests of copyright users and the wider public, "the resulting treaty will look like Hollywood's Christmas list".

The association recently published its "suggestions for the content of the agreement", including criminal sanctions for copyright infringements on a commercial scale, and making it an offence to make or distribute devices that could be used to circumvent copyright protections.

It also proposes requiring internet service providers to monitor users for potential copyright infringements and disconnect or throttle internet access.

There are fears the treaty will extend the definition of "commercial copying", turning ordinary consumers into criminals for downloading music or entertainment files.

Internet Industry Association spokesman John Hilvert said the IIA was hopeful of getting a briefing from Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade negotiators.

"It's certainly unusual," he said. "The treaty is being seen by some as an attempt to amend the current international trade agreements on intellectual property in a fairly secretive and unusually informal way."
nford Center for Internet and Society.

" and making it an offence to make or distribute devices that could be used to circumvent copyright protections. "

This would of necessity have to include
any device that had a record function and
and audio line in.

Wasn't Dell caught a few weeks ago
messing with the line in function on
new laptops ?

I really don't believe in coincidence.

We were just about to consider buying a Dell laptop, Dredd... You may well have stopped that idea now!

"and making it an offence to make or distribute devices that could be used to circumvent copyright protections."

How far will that extend to? Virtually any piece of hardware that can record? Imagine tomorrow's computer without a floppy drive, USB port or DVD burner... Yeah right!

I say crap, ca-ca, and poo-poo on these types of international treaty agreements!
It's an ill wind that blows over those who arrange to make bad policies and backroom deals.
I'd have to add, though, that these types of things would align with the coming new world order (global government).
[insert gnashing of teeth]

It's a cat and mouse game. Cats get meaner, mice get sneakier, as for bollixed line ins, it's a software gimmick, and the mice have allready bagged the cat on this.

Read~
http://www.ripten.com/2008/07/07/bend-over-dude-youre-getting-a-dell/

And watch the web get peppered with all kinds of little programs that are out to bollix the bolloxers!

"" and making it an offence to make or distribute devices that could be used to circumvent copyright protections. "

This would of necessity have to include
any device that had a record function and
and audio line in.

Wasn't Dell caught a few weeks ago
messing with the line in function on
new laptops ?

I really don't believe in coincidence."

I beleive this means making it so that you need to have a permit to use many of the things that most people use every day:

Track Machines
MP3 Recorders
CD and DVD Burners
VCR Tapes
Say bye bye to portable flash keychain drives
Say bye bye to OGG (must be DRM / Licensed MP3)
iPods
the list goes on and on and on...

It would make it impossible for independent music and independent film to survive, giving the industry 100% hitler-style domination over not just the film and music industry -- but over a good chunk of our personal lives.

and it'll never happen because it could literally mean both civil war here and world war 3 in general. people have fought and died for less than this.

-Dave

Onboard audio always sucks especially in laptops and should be replaced immediately with a proper audio interface.

STereo mix in is not included in a lot of new laptop audio cards, which are bought for their CHEAPNESS not their quality and in some respects, stereo mix was often a pain as it was often on by default, so if using a DAW program i.e. Sonar, Cubase, etc, if you tried to record say vocal overdubs, it would always record the vocal audio with the backing music too as it merged everything together.

Whether it's a sinister plot or not, it's not unique to Dell, Dell only buy the card from the vendor, which is almost invariably Sigmatel, Soundmax or Crystal Media. They also supply the drivers in most cases, so aim your shots at the right target !!

NEVER EVER stick with an inbuilt audio card on a laptop if you want to do even semi-serious audio work. This also applies to stuff like the Creative Audigy card, which is slightly better but still not up to snuff for proper audio recording. It is designed for gaming.