ACTA and TPP

The same people and corporate entities that backed SOPA, that horrible piece of legislation that would trample on Internet freedoms and innovations based on falsehoods and misdirection, also strongly support ACTA and TPP. The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) and Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) are secretive, backdoor trade agreements that would criminalize Internet behavior, globally. The wording of the agreements continues in the same vein as SOPA and PIPA, that is: vague, ill defined and designed to effectively trample on the rights of average, everyday citizens.

The law as it now stands is well thought out and efficient at combating threats to the interests of copyright holders. No new laws were required to arrest and jail the people involved with Megaupload. That case clearly shows no new initiatives are needed to counter online copyright violations. The FBI has all the tools it needs to perform its duties with the utmost diligence.

A lucid and conservative approach to law easily shows ACTA and TPP for what they really are, a radical and dangerous power grab on the part of giant media and multimedia conglomerates, the MPAA and the RIAA. The sane, commerce friendly course on these matters is to trust in the well functioning system as it now stands, and refuse to allow dangerous changes to the way the Internet works. Conservatives should be just as outraged by these shady maneuvers as liberals and progressives, or more so, as ACTA and TPP would radically alter a major facet of our lifestyle, in direct conflict with conservative values.

Please do everything in your power to spread the word about these secretive trade agreements, and help stop them. We don't need government mandates encouraging our ISP's to spy on everyday citizens. We don't need our sons and daughters running the risk of being branded as criminals, if they ever make the mistake of file sharing without full knowledge of the consequences of their actions. ACTA and TPP would create legal pitfalls for an entire generation of youth that simply do not need to exist. There's nothing positive about these agreements, and we, as thoughtful, competent citizens of the world, should not stand for this sort of shenanigans on the part of politicians in the back pocket of big money.

Thank you for your time, and please, please consider speaking out and contacting your representatives. They do listen. You can make a difference. Your voice does matter.