Tuesday 3 August 2010

The secret treaty we should all be shouting about

From Mises Daily:

ACTA: The War on Progress, Freedom, and Human Civilization


A clandestine international treaty is currently being negotiated among parties including the United States, Canada, New Zealand, the European Union, Japan, Singapore, and Morocco. It can justly be called the greatest threat of our time to the advancement of human civilization. Considering the magnitude of the other abuses of power pervading the world today, this might seem an exaggeration, but the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) contravenes every principle of civilized society, both in its content and in the nature of the proceedings leading to its creation.

It threatens to undo the accomplishments of the great Internet revolution and to thrust humankind back to a time when individuals had no public voice and no countervailing power against politically privileged mercantilist institutions. ACTA tramples on essential rights that have achieved even mainstream recognition: innocence until one is proven guilty, due process, personal privacy, and fair use of published content. Moreover, because of its designation as a trade agreement, ACTA could be imposed on the people of the United States by the president, without even a vote of Congress...

Read the article.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looks like you've taken the baton from Captain Ranty (whose just bloggered off this evening).

Joking apart, this news of ACTA is deeply disturbing Trooper Thompson - keep us posted mate.

Steve

Trooper Thompson said...

I'll try my best!

It's easy to grow disheartened or question the point of blogging. I couldn't be arsed for most of July, but for some reason I feel like doing it again. The power of the medium comes from having all these independent units. When one disappears, another springs up.

Anonymous said...

Very true - I'm tempted to start one myself.

I scan the blogs daily via uknn. Great bunch, juicy with a hint of pepper, like Shiraz, lol.

What have I got to give: ex-forces, precision engineer and, last but not least, an Englishman and a patriot.

Steve

Trooper Thompson said...

I was going to suggest that very thing. Consider your experience of life. Then consider the average mainstream journalist. Why should I respect their opinion more than yours?