Between Wikipedia’s and Reddit’s blackouts on January 18 along with Google and other websites posting statements against SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act), the legislation that would destroy the internet as we know it has been a popular topic. Millions of Americans protested these acts last week, which led to both being withdrawn for the time being, though they will almost certainly be brought back in a different form in the future. But SOPA and PIPA and the questions of intellectual property and the internet aren’t important only within the context of the U.S. There are similar acts in other countries (including Spain) and the rest of the world.
In Poland, however, there have been protests and much anger over Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s decision to sign the ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement), an international agreement that covers the gamut of property, including fake designer labels, KIRF phones, and the currently relevant subject of online piracy. This act, in fact, has already been signed by the U.S. in October, along with other countries such as Australia, Canada, and Japan. However, in Warsaw today, hundreds of people took the streets and several popular Polish websites blacked out.
Just like in the U.S., certain groups support the legislation, (like GoDaddy originally did in the US), such as the author and composer group known as ZAiKS, which maintains the ACTA won’t hurt internet freedom in the slightest and will only recoup money their industry loses every year. As protests in Poland continue, which includes a scheduled protest by an extremist right-wing group tomorrow, the discussion of the regulation of internet piracy, intellectual property, and the government’s role in them rages on. While many agree that SOPA, PIPA, and even the ACTA might damage rights in their current versions, should the government set out to try to protect intellectual property through regulation of the internet? The issue certainly isn’t clear-cut from the debates raging all over the media and internet, but I hope more discussion breeds in the public forum so these issues can be resolved.
Just FYI: Only in Cracow there have been 15000 people demonstrating against ACTA and together with dozens of other cities (like Wroclaw, 5000 protesters) and as far I know the overall number of protesters exceeded 60K people (so far … the protest wave is ongoing). There are already over 200K signs on the petition demanding a nationwide referendum about rejecting ACTA.
Many Polish artists and even software companies (like CD Project – leading producer of computer games) are suppporting the anti-ACTA movement. People like Grabaz (a leader of popular rock bands Pidzama Porno and Strachy na Lachy) believe “I am for freedom in Internet even if sometimes someone steals my records. Freedom is more important than money”