{tech}.Ben Buckman.net

The future of copyright & net privacy laws is being negotiated secretly under the ACTA treaty framework. Leaked details are bad: among other things, ACTA includes a global "3 strikes" law for online copyright infringement that would require every ISP to spy on their users. (So basically kiss the idea of online privacy, or of the internet expanding intellectual property definitions goodbye.)

Sadly I have seen close to zero coverage in the news here. The EFF has been tweeting about it occasionally, including today when they linked to a great timeline by Canadian internet legal professor Michael Geist. (See his background on the threat here.) I don't see a section devoted to the issue on the EFF's website, however; maybe I'm not looking in the right place.

Jesse Brown of the great Canadian podcast Search Engine has been covering ACTA for some time now. He was criticizing Canadian Industry Minister Tony Clement for inviting public feedback, then negotiating secretly behind everyone's backs. So Brown tried to get him on the show and asked listeners to submit questions, but the minister silently declined. (Clement finally responded to the Canadian public a few days ago, saying any law is still subject to ratification by the legislature, but if I understand Brown correctly -- and the U.S. would be similar -- treaties can be adopted without the legislature in Canada.)

When will it start getting news traction?