What does ACTA cover?

What does ACTA cover?

To begin with, it is worth explaining what this ACTA is in general. Probably hearing this term, you return with memories to the huge protests of people in masks who were firmly against it. Why did they act this way? What does ACTA mean in such a way? The term essentially means an agreement that refers to combating the circulation of goods that are considered counterfeit. From the very beginning, however, this agreement has been highly controversial. The purpose of the agreement, known as ACTA, was also supposed to be better enforcement of intellectual property rights internationally. A sizable number of countries are losing budget revenues through the large-scale expanded piracy and trade in counterfeit goods.

So what do opponents of ACTA fear? The answer is simple, they fear that there will be a lack of respect for civil rights. As you know, the parliament in 2012 rejected the ACTA draft, so the agreement did not enter into force.

What’s behind the mysterious acronym ACTA?

The abbreviation “ACTA” came from the English language, in expansion it reads: Anti-counterfeiting trade agreement-translated into Polish-The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. This agreement, is an agreement between: Australia, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland and the USA.

In 2012, people protesting against ACTA even blocked government websites. The entry into force of the regulations that come with this agreement would mean changes in some criminal laws. In the next section, I’ll move on to date what is most controversial among all those who use the Internet on a daily basis.

Internet users don’t want ACTA-why?

Precisely, the question arises: why? After all, this is primarily about securing the state budget, so why is this agreement and the regulations associated with it so unwanted? Well, I am already explaining what this is all about. ACTA is more of a collection of declarations, as well as a framework of conduct. It lacks specific guidelines to deal with the prosecution of actual pirates or counterfeiters.

The most attention-grabbing article is the one that deals with downloading piracy that occurs online. The fifth section says that authorities will have the ability to order an ISP to disclose any information about a subscriber it suspects of copyright infringement. The key word in all of this is “suspects,” the worst part is that ACTA does not require that this suspicion be reasonable or have a specific reason. What does this entail? It means a huge ease in controlling all the content that is sent by Internet users to all sorts of authorities.

What’s more, the ISP could track you! The person who owns the copyright would get the data of the user who is only suspected of copyright infringement. Not only could the Polish owners afford to track you, but you could also be controlled by other countries. The agreement known as ACTA agrees to allow services to act against citizens of other countries. The worst thing about it is that it could happen without listening to the arguments and the opinion of the other side – as a side you should understand the country. There may then be confiscation of property and the ordering of bail, to be posted by the suspect- note, suspect, not caution! What if the case is cleared up, and then the accusations thrown around on the basis of mere suspicion turn out to be wrong? Well, the answer is not very satisfactory, because the court can-with great emphasis on the word “can”, because it doesn’t have to!-order compensation in the form of damages.

An intersecting Nowak may think that the consequences of joining this agreement do not apply to him, as he simply has nothing to hide. Is this a correct statement? Well, no, you do not at all have to be a person who has actually committed piracy on the Internet. As has been mentioned many times, ACTA does not presuppose a specific reason for prosecution, it can only happen on the basis of mere suspicion that is not substantiated. Everyone would then be under scrutiny, Kowalski, Nowak, the neighbors, the lady across the street.

ACTA isn’t just about online piracy legislation

In addition to provisions to prevent piracy online, ACTA has many provisions to combat piracy in real life as well. These refer primarily to the manufacture, distribution and transportation of goods that have been counterfeited, or contain logos that have been most simply stolen. ACTA assumes that if such counterfeits get into the hands of state services, they can be destroyed, in which case the person who sold them will not receive any compensation. Probably each of us encounters fakes of well-known and expensive brands, such as Gucci, Versace or Giorgio Armani, on a daily basis. Fakes are usually worth a few dozen zlotys, while originals reach amounts even in the thousands.

There are also provisions in the ACTA document that talk about inspecting shipments that are small but sent for commercial purposes. For travelers who have purchased supposedly “original” goods, an important provision is the one that allows the consequences to be waived if the goods are shipped in small quantities and are non-commercial in nature. That is, if a T-shirt was purchased by a tourist on vacation, and it is a counterfeit of a well-known brand, such a person will then be exempted from the penalty.

The government sought to sign ACTA-why?

The Ministry of Culture argued that entry into the agreement would not involve forcing changes in regulations, since, according to them, those that were already in effect for that moment complied with the agreement’s requirements. However, the adoption of ACTA will enable authorities in the future to control all content that is sent between users over the Internet. Obviously, this is dangerous for every person who uses the network.

Summary

Preliminarily analyzing ACTA, one can fairly conclude that neither to Polish nor EU law will this agreement introduce large, significant changes. However, an in-depth analysis already tells us that ACTA may be a tool that will be used to restrict freedom of speech. The Allegro group has called for changes to certain provisions. Experts of this service claimed that ACTA would restrict the economic freedoms that companies have by using this auction site. In a negative way, the document was also received by the Inspector General for Personal Data Protection. He pointed out what consequences could result from the fact that ACTA touts the rights and freedoms set forth in the Constitution. Protests against ACTA were held not only in Poland, but also in many other European countries. The cities where larger demonstrations took place were mainly in Germany: Munich, Berlin, Cologne. A large protest was also organized in Vienna, and Austrian citizens were called to demonstrate by hackers from the Anonymous group, the Greens and the Pirate Party.