"The BSA, RIAA and MPAA successfully lobbied the U.S. Congress to include [0]DMCA-like provisions in the recently approved CAFTA treaty, according to CNet. Among other provisions, [1]Chapter 15 of the treaty requires treaty signatories to allow software patents, extend Copyright protections to 70 years after the author's death, and make it illegal to produce 'circumvention devices' for protected works."
So they successfully paid off the right people to include restrictive laws that benefit US companies into the Treaty which before had absolutely nothing to do with that. It's a similar tactic to tacking on a National ID card amendment to a bill on War Veteran benefits. If you disagree with the national ID card, you are forced to disagree with the whole. This is something that leaders and analysts have complained about previously, the litigous state of the US is being exported to other countries that previously did not have these draconian laws, and that the more natural Copyright laws in these countries are being overridden by US policy which favors cartels like the RIAA and the MPAA. The DMCA is totally flawed and should be repealed,but Money talks, the consumer can go to hell. Copyright law was written to allow copyrighted works to eventually pass into the Public Domain! That was the purpose of it! To protect an Author's rights to his works for a very LIMITED TIME. It was also meant to encourage said author of the work to continue CREATING! IT was NEVER meant for cartels to maintain their profits indefinitely! So too with Patent law. Disney itself is proof of the worth of derivative works! Our rights worldwide are beginning to be affected and steadily eroded by the actions of the US and their foreign policy. It would be great to say these countries should simply have never signed the agreement, that they had a choice...but did they **really** have any practical choice in the matter? If someone tells you paint your hair blue or else you can never sell anything you create, causing your family to starve and become destitute, can one honestly say one has a 'free choice' in the matter? Whatever happened to all these buzzwords, 'Freedom' , 'Liberty' , 'Fellow Man' , 'ethics' etc.? The US seems to be being run by a corporate aristocracy that isn't beholden to any notion of 'ethics' or any of the other buzzwords that the US holds dear.That's why they should not be in a position to dictate US policy. Anyway, many people tell me that I was naive and just now realising how the world is really run. They insist I'll get over it. *mutter* *grumble* ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Find out how CFTicket can increase your company's customer support efficiency by 100% http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=49 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:167977 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
