“Freedom” and privacy online

By Beatrice Marie Basi   

 “Right now, with social networks and other tools on the Internet, all of these 500 million people have a way to say what they’re thinking and have their voice be heard.”-Mark Zuckerberg

THE internet has become an important tool for us to access information and easily communicate with another person in any part of the world. It has allowed individuals to publish thoughts and ideas online. Yes, freedom of self-expression is very evident in the World Wide Web. This is because on the internet, there are almost no restrictions. You can attain the information you want; you can hear songs you desire; and you can watch movies and TV series. Although not everything is free on the internet, you can get practically what you want with just a click.

We truly enjoy this “freedom” and we have gotten used to the fact that the internet is always there to give us what we need. However, many internet-users are not aware of some of the issues that the World Wide Web is facing. One of the most controversial issues at present is the signing of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). It is a law which, in a nutshell, will take away our internet “freedom.”

ACTA establishes international standards for intellectual property rights enforcement.

Basically, ACTA will allow internet service providers (ISPs) to monitor your every step online. It also stops online sharing and it imposes criminal sanctions if you fail to comply. Moreover, it allows the government to keep track of your internet history. Clearly, it has a negative effect on the freedom of self-expression on the internet.

ACTA exaggeratedly values intellectual property. You have to own the rights of the idea or piece that you want to publish online. Otherwise, you will face criminal legal sanctions. For example, you uploaded a video with a song from Lady Gaga as background music — you, the host website (which is youtube.com), and your internet provider could get sued for uploading it. Also, ISPs will automatically have to terminate your internet connection. In simpler terms, if you upload a copyrighted material without permission on your blog, your blog and your internet connection will be terminated. Those behind ACTA are still discussing the so-called “three strikes rule” wherein the internet-user will be cut off if he or she continues to download and upload copyrighted materials after receiving two warnings. After this, ISPs will then disclose the personal information of the internet-user to the national authorities.

Everything you do on the internet will be monitored; the articles you read and publish, and the movies and songs you download. ISPs will document and store everything you do, nothing will be private again.

I know, this may appear as a shock to many, but this is real. Australia, Canada, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, and the United States already signed this agreement last October 1, 2011. And last month, it was also signed by 22 European countries. We can see that almost all the countries that are pro-ACTA are rich and very influential. These countries want to prevent the selling of counterfeit goods online because large corporations from these countries are losing so much income. The websites that we frequently visit and get information from are probably created in these said countries. So, even if our country, the Philippines, doesn’t agree with the ACTA’s conditions, we will still be forced to comply. And if the country complies and signs ACTA, legislation will surely follow to make ISPs in our country monitor its customers. Yes, this will be a threat to their business, but all they could do is conform because bigger and stronger companies form the pro-ACTA countries will find this unfair.

As of now, there is still no news whether the Philippines is planning to sign ACTA. This is because negotiations are all done secretly. Eventually, maybe next year, the country will have to make a decision. If all the powerful countries have signed the agreement by then, there is a high probability that the Philippines will join the bandwagon. ISPs in the country in collaboration with the government will then be able to monitor our internet history.

Last year, Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), was postponed. It is almost the same as ACTA, but SOPA is only effective in the United States. Protect IP Act (PIPA) was also shelved. PIPA prevents “real online threats to economic creativity and theft of intellectual property.”

Every single person using the internet will be affected if ACTA is signed. Next year, countries will have one decision, to approve the agreement or not.

As simple citizens of the world, what can we do? We should spread this information about ACTA because many people are still unaware of it. And with this, leaders of different countries and owners of rich and large corporations will know that internet users all over the globe do not support this agreement.

The internet is an avenue to gain information and express people’s ideas. Sure it is best to keep a balance with some of the information remaining free and others to be paid for, but too much monitoring to the point of privacy invasion should not be allowed.

Freedom of self-expression shouldn’t be limited or worse, terminated. So after SOPA and PIPA, there’s ACTA. What’s next? NIFA (no internet for anyone)? Oh dear.

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