[pp.int.general] ACTA declaration

[Richard Stallman]

I was unhappy with their declaration because it buys into the enemy's
propaganda term "Intellectual property".

Here is the FSF's declaration about ACTA, which we have invited
everyone else to sign.


Message-ID: <4C194643.6050203 at fsf.org>
Date: Wed, 16 Jun 2010 17:46:43 -0400
From: Peter Brown <info at fsf.org>
To: info-press at fsf.org, info-fsf at fsf.org
Subject: [FSF] FSF says: Take a stand with us for freedom, against ACTA
Reply-To: info at fsf.org
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

FSF says: Take a stand with us for freedom, against ACTA

http://www.fsf.org/campaigns/acta/why-acta-declaration
http://www.fsf.org/campaigns/acta/acta-declaration

BOSTON, Massachusetts, USA -- Wednesday, June 16, 2010 -- The Free
Software Foundation (FSF) today published a new declaration calling for
rejection of ACTA unless key changes to protect the public's freedom are
made, and is asking people around the world to add their names in
support before the next round of negotiations on the treaty happen in
Switzerland at the end of this month.

In an article introducing the declaration, FSF president Richard
Stallman says, "ACTA threatens, in a disguised way, to punish Internet
users with disconnection if they are accused of sharing, and requires
countries to prohibit software that can break Digital Restrictions
Management (DRM), also known as digital handcuffs."

The FSF statement praises the aim of an earlier effort, the Wellington
Declaration published by citizens in New Zealand to condemn ACTA's
prohibition of devices that can break digital handcuffs, but takes a
firmer stance.

Stallman explains the need to go further as, "When we oppose ACTA, we
are not asking our governments for a favor. Defending our freedom is
their reason for being, and we demand it by right. We should not
'compromise' by volunteering to cede some of our freedom so that they
have less to do."

FSF's operations manager John Sullivan added, "Now that some details of
ACTA have been made public, we know that our previous concerns were
justified. We are asking the free software community to join us in
speaking out against this attack on the public's freedom, and I hope
that people will not only sign the statement, but also write and publish
their own specific thoughts about the issues. This is a time for people
to show -- in as many ways as possible -- that they value the freedoms
ACTA threatens. The more signatures and visible support we have, the
weaker ACTA will look."

The petition is available for signing at
http://www.fsf.org/campaigns/acta/acta-declaration, and Stallman's
article explaining the background behind it is at
http://www.fsf.org/campaigns/acta/why-acta-declaration.

About the Free Software Foundation

The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to promoting
computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute
computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and use of free (as
in freedom) software -- particularly the GNU operating system and its
GNU/Linux variants -- and free documentation for free software. The FSF
also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and political issues of
freedom in the use of software, and its Web sites, located at fsf.org
and gnu.org, are an important source of information about GNU/Linux.
Donations to support the FSF's work can be made at
http://donate.fsf.org. Its headquarters are in Boston, MA, USA.

About Free Software and Open Source

The free software movement's goal is freedom for computer users. Some,
especially corporations, advocate a different viewpoint, known as "open
source," which cites only practical goals such as making software
powerful and reliable, focuses on development models, and avoids
discussion of ethics and freedom. These two viewpoints are different at
the deepest level. For more explanation, see
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.html.

Media Contacts

Peter Brown
Executive Director
Free Software Foundation
+1 (617) 319 5832
campaigns at fsf.org

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