Sometimes, I’m made painfully aware that, as a US citizen, I might be stuck in some sort of magical bubble that prevents facts from reaching through. This isn’t to say I’m ignorant of what’s around me, I stay fairly well informed despite the media’s attempt to do otherwise. I’m just saying sometimes certain things happening in foreign countries will not quite be included in the “what’s around me” part of that statement. Every once in a while, certain world events will slip by unnoticed like a ninja and catch me off guard.

See, one of the things that I’ve observed for some time is that the US has been in two wars for a while. I don’t mean “wars” in the sense of “Iraq” and “Afghanistan” because those were just two fronts of the same war – “The War On Terrorism”. But there’s a second war that’s been pretty aggressively fought lately: The War On Piracy. All forms of piracy, from guys in speed boats to New Zealanders who store some files for people for a fee.

Well today, I spotted the ninja.

We’re all very aware of the struggles with SOPA and PIPA that took the internet by storm for several months, especially in the last few weeks when the whole damn internet managed to say in one united voice “fuck off” to the man. This was a moment of pride for many of us, including myself. We’re still talking about it, even in the media where we get gems like Bill Maher saying “all people really wanted to do was steal”. This from a man who readily smokes pot and declares it on national television, mind you. But we’re still in the afterglow of our victory and it’s going to be on our lips for a while.

And, seeing as I’m here, I might as well put in my two cents on the topic. SOPA dying was like overthrowing a dictator before they could be put into power. It’s not that I approve of uncontrolled piracy: in fact it would probably bite me in the ass. As a self-published author I’m in a precarious position where the honor system is the only thing keeping people from turning me inside out. Many popular authors have had it happen to them in the past. Leaked manuscripts have even caused enough damage that official releases were shelved for books that, likely, could have made a tremendous profit anyway. So I’m not completely desensitized to piracy.

Despite Disney’s out of character attempts to make it look cool.

With friends in animation, game design and soon to be film; I know people who are impacted by piracy all the time. The thing is that there’s long been a method of control over a lot of these on the internet. The DMCA was never perfect, but it gave the corporations a chance to control their content and people a chance to fight back if it was unfair. If the DMCA was a tazer, SOPA was a Desert Eagle. So, yeah, I’m glad it failed, even if I may someday find myself being pirated.

And, I have to admit, it felt good. With the other things that have gotten past people lately, like the passing of the NDAA with some nasty provisions intact, it feels good to win one for once.

But then today I realized that they kind of threw the fight. You see, after years of being negotiated in secret, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, SOPA’s international cousin, is apparently getting pretty damned close to passing. So close, in fact, that Poland’s taking the same steps recently taken to fight SOPA and PIPA: they’re blacking out parts of their internet.

Typically, this kind of thing actually goes unnoticed by the US because “it doesn’t effect us”. Sadly, this is where the “Ninja” part comes in. See, while the EU is still fighting over this whole thing, Obama signed the ACTA treaty already. And while it hasn’t exactly ended the internet, no one’s exactly sure what it actually -does-. Due to what little has actually been negotiated and worked on in public view, we really only know a fraction of ACTA’s true scope. In fact, when asked for the treaty’s terms through the Freedom of Information Act, the White House said that it was a matter of “national security”.

“Sir, I’m hearing someone streaming My Little Pony. Should we prepare the Anti-Brony Drone?”

But what has been studied by the people shows that ACTA is just as dangerous as SOPA. In fact, some would say, it could be even more draconian in the fact it doesn’t just cover the internet. ACTA, due to the fact it’s about all forms of counterfeit, stretches to real world objects just as much as online. The specifics of this aren’t entirely clarified, due to the secrecy of the whole thing, but one interpretation that I’ve encountered even stated that this could stretch to cosplay of all things.

No, seriously, cosplay. Because, clearly, those people are pirates.

Somali Pirates: Seen here being arrested for ripping off South Park

And as for online? There’s provisions in the treaty that are supposed to actually force internet companies to spy on the activities of their users. So, obviously, if this has already passed, it’s not acceptable. Fortunately, there’s several rays of hope.

First and foremost of these rays of hope: it’s a treaty and can only be enforced so far as each country’s laws will allow it to be. President Obama, having signed onto ACTA already, has probably tried to slip this past people without contest and put it into law. But, the joke’s on him, since in the United States ACTA is illegal and wouldn’t be able to stand in court. Why? Well, while the constitution grants the President the power to sign treaties and trade agreements as part of foreign policy, a responsibility of the executive branch, he’s got no control over copyright law without the power of congress. And, despite ACTA calling itself a trade agreement, it’s specifically part of copyright and patent law.

The second of these rays of hope is that the EU still hasn’t officially pulled the trigger on this thing. Like I said, Poland is protesting it as we speak. I’m aware that it being legally toothless here in the US might not mean people here care about it, but the devil you know is better than the devil you don’t. We as a society stepped up to tell the man off about one of their attempts to put the squeeze on our rights. And ACTA, existing as the shadowy beast it is now, cannot be allowed to pass.

Even if you’re not European… even if you’re someone who might want to prevent piracy for self-preservation…

Tell “the man” off.