[Guardian.Co] Act on Acta now if you care about democracy and free speech

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The anti-counterfeiting trade agreement could criminalise internet users globally. But it hasn’t been ratified yet …

[…] Some elements would go further than existing laws in most of the countries that sign up. Acta criminalises activities such as breaking the digital locks on rights-protected files, or even distributing tools to help people do so. Stripping the artist information from a music file becomes a crime, as does decrypting content that has been scrambled for copyright protection. Acta also codifies the flawed idea, in calculating damages from so-called piracy, that every unlawful download represents a lost sale.

[…] Those who want to see Acta defeated need to go to their MPs, MEPs and congresspeople and ask them, facts in hand, to vote against its ratification. […]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/feb/03/act-acta-democracy-free-speech