Description: My letter to the INTA committee chairman. Feel free to use this letter as inpiration for your own.
Subject: Concerned about ACTA
Mail:
Dear Mr. Martin,
With your recent appointment as rapporteur for ACTA, you made known your intentions to have a more open and transparent debate with all of the concerned parties. I applaud you for that, but I would also like to voice my concerns about ACTA in the hope that you will take them into consideration. Your predecessor, Kader Arif, made a strong statement against the negotiation process by quiting his role. The agreement's lack of democratic credibility was his main critique, but to me this suggests that there is something deeply wrong about the agreement and the organisations that were involved in its conception. I urge you to tread carefully and to err on the side of caution.
My main concern is that ACTA will expand and solidify the power of large 'intellectual property' holders. Intuitively speaking, information (and IP) has a 'due date'; after a certain amount of time it's deprecated or evolved to something better. With the fast-paced and interconnected nature of modern society, this happens much quicker than in the past. By strengthening the 'intellectual property monopoly' of existing holders, their need for new and competitive ideas will decrease drastically and ultimately slow down innovation.
ACTA also poses a threat to fundamental rights such as privacy and free speech. The agreement has provisions for tracking people's use of the Internet, preventing access to information (eg. websites where a wide variety of information is shared freely) and creating accountability for neutral parties (Internet service providers). These are dangerous tools in the hands of organisations that already have many legal means to go after infringers of their 'intellectual property' rights.
Such provisions also stand in the way of progressive ideas about the free flow of information (eg. net neutrality) and copyright reform. These progressive topics have had little political attention so far and it would be a shame if they were disrupted before they could even be considered properly.
My final concern is the mixed nature of the agreement. It has provisions about counterfeiting but also copyright infringement, even though these are two very distinct issues. Treating them as similar will become treating them as equivalent, which will make a sensible solution for either less likely.
Some of my concerns may be dismissed as myth, but that would be a consequence of the secretive nature of this agreement. This is still unnacceptable, because it is clear that ACTA can have a large impact on civil society.
I encourage you to break the spell around ACTA, either by putting a stop to it, or otherwise at least by involving (digital) civil rights groups in the process. If this means that ACTA negotiations can no longer be secret, then that would be a good thing.
I would also highly appreciate if you could take some time to respond to my concerns. Thank you in advance!
Kind regards,