RoonMian said:
Therumancer said:
To be honest, all hype aside (and comments about how they would never go to war) I'd imagine if the US went to war like I describe to leverage China and other robber economies France and Germany are two of the nations that would be right behind us given their huge levels of victimization by REAL IP/patent thefts and knockoffs.
Germany cannot actively go to war unless it is a defensive one when one of the NATO countries is attacked. USA attacking China for economic reasons... Will have to do it without Germany.
And now I feel awkward for even trying to counter that ridiculous extremism with fact.
If any country these days would even think of attacking China They would find themselves without money to fund the campaign anyway. Most of national debts are at least partially held by China. Have fun.
Why do You think it's okay to fight for "freedom" and "human rights" in places like Iraq, Afghanistan and so on, but You won't hear a bad word about China from officials ? Western world can't do a thing to the biggest and currently, most thriving, economy in the world. It would be insanity... And good luck convincing Russia to even allow You to use their air space.
On topic however. The problem with ACTA is how it phrases stuff, like with all such bills and agreements. They are way too vague and open to interpretation which causes whole lot of issues. Sure the idea is noble, but it all comes down to execution. That's why in most countries where ACTA was discussed the first to rise red flags were institutions that deal with basic civil and privacy rights.
Another thing is the fact that big corporations having such influence over international laws. Thing is They still think people with blindly buy overpriced products, throwing money into Their, and only Their pockets. Times changed. Ever since services like iTunes or Netflix became popular we were given alternatives. You don't have to buy a full music album for single song, You don't have to pay all the "profit margin" fee's to retailers and distributors and can actually support artists directly.
I recently talked with one of writers in my country who told me that one of biggest media retailers here puts up a 75 % profit margin on books. This means 75% of a book cost goes to the retailer, not the publisher nor the writer behind it.
Industry needs to move forward and accept new trends. People who use internet regularly are often the most aware consumers, and They do research the options before deciding on purchase. Recent studies done showed, that even tho the problem of piracy is obvious and widespread, it's still the same group that spends the most money on all kinds of media, legally, while people who do not use internet spend way less on books/music/movies.
Thing is the big corporation feel threatened by the fact They will loose control over the products, because why do You need a contract with huge music company, which has very little benefits for You as an artist, when You can sell Yourself on Your own through internet, and get majority of the share into Your pocket instead?
Even the recent Tim Schafer's success on kickstarter shows, that if You provide good product You can count on Your fans to throw money at You if You just simply ask them, cutting out the middle man entirely from the process.
Bottom line is, ACTA is just another try to keep status quo without any real benefits for either artists or consumers.
