Act Up Against ACTA

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On January 26, 22 of 27 EU natons signed ACTA in Tokyo. Many steps remain before ratification. In June, the EU Parliament will vote up or down on approval.  Global activism must stop it. Jeremie Zimmerman , spokesperson for the citizen advocacy group La Quadrature du Net, said:

"In the last few days, we have seen encouraging protests by Polish and other EU citizens, who are rightly concerned with the effect of ACTA on freedom of expression, access to (generic) medicines (and safe foods), but also access to culture and knowledge."

Anti-ACTA momentum's building. Citizens "must reclaim democracy, against the harmful influence of corporate interests over global policy-making." Acting up against ACTA is crucial.

In December, the Council of the European Union (one of two EU legislative bodies representing all 27 member states) adopted ACTA during an unrelated agriculture and fisheries meeting.

In America, constitutional issues remain. Last October, Obama signed it by "executive agreement." He falsely claimed ACTA's not a treaty requiring Senate approval. By law, executive agreements apply only to sole presidential authority issues. Treaties must be ratified by a two-thirds Senate supermajority.

Obama's stonewalling. He's circumventing legal issues like always. He also broke a campaign pledge to preserve Internet freedom. Instead, he's trashing it by diktat authority.

In 2010, Law Professors Jack Goldsmith and Larry Lessig questioned executive agreement constitutionality, saying:

"The president has no independent constitutional authority over intellectual property or communications policy, and there is no long historical practice of making sole executive agreements in this area. To the contrary, the Constitution gives primary authority over these matters to Congress, which is charged with making laws that regulate foreign commerce and intellectual property."

EFF contributors Eddan Katz and Gwen Hinze called US trade policy and intellectual property (IP) enforcement at a crossroads in governing the global knowledge economy.

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