The End of File Sharing–Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement

     It might become a possibility in the not-to-distant future that illegally downloading music and videos could land you in jail.

     According to the article “Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement: Fact or Fiction?” by David Kravets for Wired.Com’s blog network,  people have been panicking about the possible ramifications of the agreement.  One of the biggest controversies, according to Kravets, is that the agreement is being discussed in secret.

      Kravets article provides a link to a fact sheet about the agreement.  However, specific ramifications for breaking the agreement have not be given as of yet.

     According to the electronic frontier foundation’s (EFF) article “Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement: What is ACTA?”  The agreement started in October 2007:

     “In October 2007 the United States, the European Community, Switzerland and Japan simultaneously   announced that they would negotiate a new intellectual property enforcement treaty, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, or ACTA. Australia, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand and Mexico have joined the negotiations, and Canada is considering doing so.”

     Will this have a positive effect on media business?  Could this be the final law that finally sets enough fear into the hearts of those who illegally download media files?  Should governments be allowed to look that thoroughly into the Internet use of its citizens?

     The most disturbing fact of this whole agreement is that it’s secret–which seems hypocritical considering it wants it to be illegal for users to privacy software to hide illegal downloading.  It’s as if they’re saying, “We want permission to look onto your computer and see what you’re doing; but you can’t know how or why we made that decision until we’ve made it.”

     However, this agreement could save media outlets and bring back some of the control that record companies and film studios had lost. 

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     Still, would this agreement be enough?  Could another program be made that thwarts our government yet again?

     Until the discussions become public, we may never know.