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IRELAND IS TO sign a controversial international agreement tomorrow which promises a major international crackdown on the trade of counterfeit goods – and illegal internet filesharing.
Irish representatives will sign the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) at a ceremony tomorrow – as will representatives from each of the other 26 European Union member states, and the EU itself.
Once the agreement is signed, it can then be formally ratified and adopted into law once it has been cleared by the European Parliament. The treaty will be signed tomorrow in Tokyo by Ireland’s ambassador to Japan, John Neary.
Although the treaty is primarily aimed at stopping the trade of counterfeited physical goods, it contains provisions which demand that participating countries offer equal protection and enforcement procedures against digital copyright infringement.
The deal – which is unrelated to the controversial ‘Irish SOPA’ legislation – has been criticised by many, including the digital rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation, for its potential impact on privacy and freedom of expression.
Specifically, it sees member states agree to allow Internet Service Providers (ISPs) disclose a user’s information to a copyright holder, where the latter has a sufficient claim that the user is breaching their copyright.
It also says member states will have to offer “effective legal remedies” to ensure that anti-theft measures – such as the Digital Rights Management (DRM) protection on purchased music files – cannot be circumvented.
The clause could potentially mean that Apple, for example, would have to disable its MP3 recording facility in iTunes – because it could be used to remove the DRM protections from a piece of music purchased through its iTunes store.
Other critics of the treaty suggest that it will forbid the distribution of cheap generic drugs – because they would infringe the copyright of pharmaceutical companies whose research led to their discovery.
A European Commission spokesman said ACTA would not create new intellectual property rights, but would merely serve to enforce existing ones – and would not lead to constant monitoring of internet traffic.
Michele Neylon of Carlow-based internet hosting company Blacknight said the treaty could force internet hosts to deal directly with orders issued by copyright holders, instead of being able to ensure that such orders were handed down by a court.
“If we’ve been given a court order, fine – there’s no discussion, a judge has made a decision – but that’s not what happens, you don’t get your day in court.”
Neylon said it was a matter of “basic economics” that companies like his could not run up significant legal fees, ensuring that court procedures were followed, when those legal fees vastly exceeded the money it received to host sites in the first place.
He added that the current Irish legal situation, where there is no formal definition of ‘fair use’, meant even the likes of personal blogs could be subject to takedown orders if they included a company’s logo without permission, for example.
The agreement is aimed at clamping down on the trade of counterfeit consumer and electronic goods, which the OECD believes was worth some $200 billion in 2007 – the equivalent of around 2 per cent of all legal trade worldwide that year.
All Irish government Departments will have to confirm that Ireland has the legal means to implement ACTA before it can be formally adopted.
A government spokesperson said, however, that Ireland did not expect to have to amend its current legislation – believing that the provisions of the deal were already accounted for in Irish law.
She added that negotiations on the deal had included representatives from the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and members from Ireland’s permanent representation at the EU in Brussels.
News of ACTA being ratified by Poland earlier this week drew the wrath of Anonymous and another group called Polish Underground, which attacked the websites of many government departments in protest at Poland’s signature of the treaty.
The United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Morocco – all of which took part in negotiating the treaty – signed up to ACTA in October of last year.
The European Union and Switzerland said at the time that they would offer their support for the treaty and would sign it as soon as was practicable.
Other interested countries can sign up to the deal before May 2013.
Yep, training small time burglars in retrofitting homes sounds like a plan!
Perhaps if the education system changed they may not end up in prison! There are a lot err due to boredom with the education system!!
@Ollie Fitzpatrick: The vast number of us don’t end up in prison so why does it need to change for the 1%(or so) that do end up there?…..It’s always someone or something else’s fault in this country.
@John Terry: I know what you are saying, John, but personally, I feel that the education system does nothing for students who have skills in other walks of life. What good is in teaching a child Shakespeare, or languages, or metal work, etc, if he or she will never use them again.
If a student excels at a particular subject or activity, let them concentrate on that subject. It will make school more exciting for them and help them on their chosen path in life at an earlier stage!
@Ollie Fitzpatrick: I understand your point but I think the system is quite broad as to give everyone a ‘standard’ of education and to give everyone an opportunity to see all subjects and then determine what they want to do.I knew from an early stage that I wanted to work with my hands ….. but lots don’t have their minds made up at 17/18.
@John Terry: Don’t be complaining you can’t walk down O Donnell street so. What we are doing isn’t working.
@Ollie Fitzpatrick: that’s nonsense in fairness, Ollie. The education system here is excellent, streets ahead of most countries. You’ll find that people who are in and out of prison usually left education early like their parents and siblings and peer group. There is little to no social incentive for them to stay in formal education. There is access to apprenticeships for students who might not be academically inclined but good with their hands etc. But the vast majority of these people have no interest in that either. I’m not saying I have the answer, I don’t, but people need to stop blaming the world for their bad choices.
@John Terry: I do agree with you John that everyone needs a standard of education to get through life , but my vision would to have say the first year as an assessment year and after that have a divergent system where pupils show an adeptness in a particular subject that their education would revolve around that subject. Say for instance a child is a skillfully football then their
@Ollie Fitzpatrick: sent before finished sorry…..
If a child is skilled at football then their education would revolve around that with less emphasis on core subjects. This would take time to implement but I think it would be a win win situation for both pupil and society in general!
@Ollie Fitzpatrick: I get where you’re coming from but it’s so multi layered. Poverty, social background, family and peer pressure-or lack of it-come into play too. I get as angry as anyone when it comes to some of the anti-social behaviour and while I get that individual choice still exists, most of us are irrevocably moulded by our surroundings and social background. I think there’s logic in getting kids to focus earlier on the things they are passionate about or will find useful but we also need to aim for a well rounded educated population as much as possible. Deciphering the current media and propaganda environment on its own is so important. The comments around here tell us this every day. Critical thinking is becoming an existential issue now with so many dire threats to deal with.
@Gearoid MacEachaidh: I don’t feel that it’s a nonsense Gearoid otherwise I wouldn’t have said it! I know many who have come from respectable good living families and ended up in trouble. Yes sometimes it’s hereditary but it can be weeded out if got in time. Access to apprenticeships are not as available as you may say. The old system whereby apprenticeships started when you were at inter cert age was good. Children are there to be led. Let’s lead them on the right path!!
@Ollie Fitzpatrick: apologies, calling it nonsense was a bit strong. But all kids have access to the same education service and only a tiny minority end up in prison. There are some people in prison from good families with a good upbringing and decent but from my experience they are in a very small minority. They tend to be in prison for one off offences, sometimes more serious offences in fairness but they don’t tend to be in and out of prison. It’s usually a once off unless drugs are involved. Whereas the vast majority of people in the system here are repeat offenders on short sentences. They tend to have a few things in common. Not finishing education is the big one. I don’t really know what the education system could do differently to prevent this. I think it’s more a sociatal problem
I just wanted to say that I appreciate the healthy exchange and tone today in the comment section. keep it up everyone!
@Gearoid MacEachaidh: is the problem not that they don’t finish their education but that our society is structured to allo people to lie in bed in the mornings, to chose not to work? If everybody who gets a state benefit had to get up five mornings a week and do something to earn that payment, it might cut down on the problem.
@John Mulligan: I think that issue is a bit more grey too. There are a section of society that are completely unemployable. You know who they are, the yokes looting shops in November spring to mind. If I owned a business I wouldn’t hire them. So society has a choice. Stop all welfare assistance, which would affect any kids they have and lead to increased crime so they can make ends meet. Or pay them 232 per week. There are very few 1st world countries that don’t do it this way. People who don’t work can be “activated” after 12 months and have their welfare reduced if they don’t make an effort to find work. But there is a percentage who will never be in paye employment.
Does not paying your tv licence constitute a minor offence? And does anyone know the length of such sentence?
@No Label: non payment of TV licence usually means a visit to Mountjoy or Cloverhill for people in the greater Dublin area. You get processed into the system and in the vast majority of cases released that evening. It’s rare for them to be kept more than 1 night.
@No Label: Simon Coveney favours criminalizing ordinary citizens who conscionably object paying their hard earned money to an organization that has lied & covered up fraudulent governance, Coveney wants them all to be given criminal convictions, but a different rule of law to apply to those at the top in RTE, including his brother.
@Gearoid MacEachaidh: But you still have a criminal record.
@Athena: yup
These prisons will be on the CAO form next
@James Carolan: I know you are being facetious but it should be encouraged ++ in prison. Look at all the research, it shows without education in prison nothing changes and many turn into a revolving door situation, in and out all their lives. They have a window in a young lads life to turn that around, it should be taken with both hands.
@Dramafree 2023: I actually do agree with you and yes I was being facetious.
Replacing them by corrupted politicians ?… Nah….
Might one call that rehabilitation…the whole purpose of the Irish Prison Service!
The Kerry poet Brendan Kennelly visited Mountjoy Prison to give informal classes in literary appreciation and poetry writing. Funds were found to publish a selection of poems by young prisoners. I once met the late Mr. Kennelly in a Dublin pub in Suffolk Street in the late 1970s and he spent fifteen minutes telling me about his efforts. Maybe classes/workshops of this kind should be encouraged by the Department of Justice?
I produce Irish into the prison curriculum. Sure to keep an re-offending low.
To all the people claiming that prison is too soft, a holiday camp, a 4star hotel, I’d love to see you spend a few days in an actual prison amongst the general population. I really would. See you crying and wetting yourselves!
@Soundy Sound: been there done it (in cells in the CCJ) never made it to the Dóchas because I was innocent obviously of my domestic abusive step dad… the girls/ women if you want to call them that who I had the ‘privilege’ to meet in the cells had their hair extensions, tan, nails done etc. Give me a break.
@Soundy Sound:
If you choose that path its on you.
have your say