paca – Techdirt (original) (raw)

from the yeah,-that's-convincing dept

Sherwin Siy (one of the few people who actually was allowed to glance briefly at parts of the proposed ACTA treaty, though under strict NDA) has written about yet another letter sent by the entertainment industry to the government in support of ACTA. This letter includes pretty much everyone who benefits from abusing copyright laws and is afraid of the internet:

Advertising Photographers of America American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) American Society of Media Photographers, Inc. (ASMP) Association of American Publishers (AAP) Broadcast Music, Inc (BMI) Commercial Photographers International Directors Guild of America (DGA) Evidence Photographers International Council Independent Film and Television Alliance (IFTA) International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. (MPAA) National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) NBC Universal News Corporation Picture Archive Council of America (PACA) Professional Photographers of America (PPA) Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) Reed Elsevier Inc. Society of Sport & Event Photographers Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) Stock Artists Alliance Student Photographic Society The Advertising Photographers of America The Walt Disney Company Time Warner, Inc. Universal Music Group Viacom Inc. Warner Music Group

Funny… isn’t it, that all these companies and industry groups are supporting a deal that no one’s seen yet? Oh wait… that’s because many of them have seen it and actually have had a hand in creating it. But what’s really damning is that no where in the letter do they explain why this is actually needed or how it will do anything valuable. Instead, it’s a pure faith-based letter saying “if you pass this secret treaty, good things will happen.” I don’t know about you, but generally, I prefer there to be actual proof and evidence that restricting consumer rights around the world actually leads to some sort of real benefit.

Tellingly, they don’t respond to any of the points we raised earlier. This is not a treaty to help people or the economy. It’s a deal to try to sneak through a system for propping up an obsolete business model by companies who don’t want to adapt.

Filed Under: acta, copyright, counterfeiting, evidence, lobbyists, secrecy
Companies: a2im, aap, aftra, ascap, asmp, bmi, disney, gda, iatse, ifta, mpaa, nbc universal, news corp, nmpa, paca, ppa, reed elsevier, riaa, siia, time warner, viacom, warner music group