Bulgaria stands up to regulatory pact
I’ll readily admit I don’t know much about Bulgaria. On a day-to-day basis I don’t think about it much unless someone is referencing fine chocolates or asking me about incredibly complicated city names; but today I think of Bulgaria with a smile, and my heart fills with pride knowing that it was the 16th country to refuse to support Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement.
The ACTA has been in action since 2008, receiving signatures from Australia, Canada, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and the United States. Twenty-two more European countries have signed, but the bill requires ratification by all nations concerned, as well as approval of the European Union. This bill will need a lot more signatures and acceptance to go into effect, and if countries like Bulgaria keep passing on it, it won’t happen in Europe.
The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) is the main advocate for the bill, and when pandering for signatures in Mexico, the organization stated the bill is a way to “bring in a censoring firewall to block piracy, and you can use it to shut off sites that embarrass your government, like WikiLeaks,” which, incidentally, first leaked information about ACTA to the public in 2008.
It seems those in the film industry have had just about enough of illegal downloads and copyright infringement on their hard work. So while the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA) were put to a halt after the major blackouts online, ACTA pushes onward internationally.
Bulgarian officials made the decision to halt the already-signed agreement after street protests were held in the capital, Sofia, as well as in 16 other cities.
Germany and Poland previously backed the bill as well, until internal protests changed their minds. Five other states — Cyprus, Estonia, Germany, the Netherlands and Slovakia — rejected signing the bill after thousands of protestors marched on European capitals against ACTA.
After refusing the bill, Bulgarian Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism Traicho Traikov told reporters that “authors’ copyright should not be placed above human rights,” and I couldn’t agree more.
The Internet is a new medium in this digital age, and it’s been an unregulated playground with equal parts information and entertainment. This bill seems to prove once again that although we live in a country that supports freedom of speech, press and religion, the government only works to support those rights for the people with the most money and political advocacy. The Internet is a commodity I’ll be the first one to admit I’ve taken for granted, but it should always live up to its original purpose of connecting and educating anyone who can access it.
While the bill is already signed by U.S. officials, these recent protests in Europe show there’s still a way to change our government’s mind about ACTA.