I began writing this post with two simple objections to ACTA - what ACTA is and my objections are explained in the post below. However, as I did more research, the more insidious the whole thing seemed. My country, Canada, has already signed ACTA. It now needs to pass legislation that makes it enforceable. There are two pieces of proposed legislation paving the way. While I read ACTA and large portions of the proposed bills, I relied too much on the internet to interpret them for me. Now that the post has gone up, I'm taking a step back and updating it in an attempt to differentiate between the fearful responses and the realities of the bill (as interpreted by me). Updates are surrounded in square brackets "[Update: the update.]“. and I have struck out parts that I feel are inaccurate. I still feel that ACTA and the proposed Canadian legislation are dangerous and I hope that this post is as informative for you to read as it was for me to write. These updates are ongoing, so be sure to check back in the days to come.]

The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is a multi-national agreement for the purpose of establishing international standards for intellectual property rights enforcement. -Wikipedia

Before I discuss ACTA, I would like to take a moment to outline my stance on copyright.

Q: Is creating a counterfeit product stealing?
A: I believe it is.

Q: Is it stealing to duplicate and distribute a piece of commercial digital content without compensating the creator?
A: If fair use does not apply then, yes, I believe it is stealing.

Q: Does piracy hurt content creators?
A: I believe it does.

Q: Should rights-holders be able to protect the intellectual property upon which their livelihoods depend?
A: I believe they do.

Q: If you believe all of the above, what’s the problem with ACTA?
A: That is what I will attempt to address below.

Like the recent Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA) in the United States, ACTA poses more of a threat to legitimate business and the social good than it does to pirates and counterfeiters. If you are not familiar with SOPA and PIPA, I would encourage you to watch this video because we are now facing the same dangers with ACTA. However, unlike SOPA and PIPA, ACTA has a larger reach – affecting Canada, the United States, Australia, Japan and most of Europe.

The Bad Stuff

I have two major concerns with ACTA and neither requires creative interpretation of the act.

1. ACTA attacks the public channels that you and I use every day because criminals can use them too.

Each [country] shall provide that, in civil judicial proceedings concerning the enforcement of intellectual property rights, its judicial authorities have the authority to issue an order against … a third party over whom the relevant judicial authority exercises jurisdiction, to prevent goods that involve the infringement of an intellectual property right from entering into the channels of commerce.
- ACTA Article 8 – 1

To use the internet as an example, this means that a private corporation can demand that your internet service provider (ISP) censor your ability to view websites that contain offending material. Such sites could include knowledge aggregates like Wikipedia, YouTube or news outlets (there is a precedent for this kind of abuse that I will discuss below). In order to comply with the act, signing countries may establish internet regulation similar to that used in the People’s Republic of China. Canada is taking its first steps towards this system with the currently tabled Bill C-11 which makes internet service providers liable for copyright violations found on the internet – except instead of being beholden to government regulation they are subject to regulation by corporations.

[Update: That's a pretty bold claim up above, so we'll take a closer look at it now. These are excerpts from the proposed C-11

To clarify the above. ACTA makes ISPs fully liable while C-11 attempts (but fails) to be more lenient. In subsection 31.1 (1), C-11 attempts to reduce ISP liability. However, the exception in subsection 27 (2.3) again places full liability back on the ISP. The ISP is fully liable because they would still need to heavily censor access to the internet to prevent access to "another digital network". One could also point out that "knows or should have known" is vague language and creates the potential for abuse.]

2. ACTA places the onus of copyright patrolling on governments and pays for it with public funds (i.e. our taxes).

a [country] may authorize its competent authorities to provide a right holder with information about goods, including, but not limited to, the description and quantity of the goods, the name and address of the consignor, importer, exporter, or consignee, and, if known, the country of origin of the goods, and the name and address of the manufacturer of the goods, to assist in the determination referred to in Article 19 (Determination as to Infringement);
- ACTA Article 22 – b

1. Each Party shall encourage the development of specialized expertise within its competent authorities responsible for the enforcement of intellectual property rights.

2. Each Party shall promote the collection and analysis of statistical data and other relevant information concerning intellectual property rights infringements as well as the collection of information on best practices to prevent and combat infringements.

3. Each Party shall, as appropriate, promote internal coordination among, and facilitate joint actions by, its competent authorities responsible for the enforcement of intellectual property rights.

4. Each Party shall endeavour to promote, where appropriate, the establishment and maintenance of formal or informal mechanisms, such as advisory groups, whereby its competent authorities may receive the views of right holders and other relevant stakeholders.

- ACTA Article 28

The first article states that government officials are responsible for reporting the contents of shipments across their borders (through both physical and digital channels[Update: It is unclear if border measures apply to digital channels. See the updates below.]) to private corporations. The corporation may then demand the delay and seizure of those items based on their description (ACTA Article 16). The government then must pay to house the items pending determination of violation. If we apply this article to the internet, it means monitoring your internet traffic without warrant (another issue that Canadians need to worry about due to pending legislation).

The second article is self-explanatory in that a participant government must establish and pay for groups to represent the interests of private corporations (who do not necessarily pay taxes in that country).

[Update: Where does C-30 fit in? C-30 is a bill that allows "any police" officer to request ISP subscriber information without a warrant. While it does not directly create the conditions for ACTA enforcement, it does mandate the creation of mechanisms that would allow it, while also creating legal precedent. Below is the oft referenced Subsection 17.

So your ISP is “allowed” to give up your personal information without legal repercussions. Michael Geist discusses the implications of this here.]

[Update: Does ACTA really ask countries to spy on all internet traffic as suggested by this video? That question has no easy answer. Yes, if ACTA's border measures apply to the digital frontier. There is nothing in the act that states the internet is excluded as being a border. However, there is also no language that indicates that the internet is a border. I don't know which of the two readings is correct or if either could be used to create or block such digital border control.]

A precedent of abuse

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act is law in the United States intended to curb the distribution of pirated digital content. However, it has been used by private corporations to censor criticism, rather than protect their intellectual property.

Ralph Lauren attempted to censor boingboing.net who teased an advertisement that included a model whose image was manipulated to make her look inhumanly thin. This was not a copyright violation, it was legally fair use. If their site had been hosted in the United States, it would have been shut down without the ability to appeal. Since it was hosted in Canada, it was able to remain online. You can read about it on their site, or watch this Rachel Maddow clip.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) once had Twitter ban accounts that linked to music that was being given away free by the artist.

There are examples in the game industry too. In the January 20, 2012 episode of The Joystiq Show, Joystiq.com editors discuss how “[they] get cease and desist orders… on content that publishers actually gave [them] – frequently. So imagine what’s going to happen when they have the power to pull down your website… on a whim”.

The abuse of copyright law has become so rampant in the United States that the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Harvard, Stanford, Berkeley, and many more have created a joint project to assist those who have been unlawfully targeted by private corporations.

Other Criticisms

ACTA may block access to affordable healthcare

Opponents have expressed concern about ACTA criminalizing generic drugs (read generic and not counterfeit). A member of the French parliament even resigned in outrage. In the Canadian healthcare system generic drugs are currently legal and provide a cost-effective alternative to name-brands. We are now facing the loss of this industry which would be devastating to Canadians – especially since the private companies receive taxpayer money for research and development. [Update: For Canadians, ACTA may only affect the passage of generic medications across borders (like when travelling)[Update: ACTA 14 - 2 "A Party may exclude from the application of this Section small quantities of goods of a non-commercial nature contained in travellers’ personal luggage."]. However, it may still affect the import of generic drugs by developing nations. Also, Canadians should still be wary of patent reform with respect to generic medication.]

Canadian copyright reform is not motivated by Canadian interests

Powerful lobby groups pressure the United States government which in turn pressures the Canadian government. Read about the leaked documents that revealed it in this article by the Canadian Research Chair on Internet and E-Commerce, Dr. Michael Geist.

See for yourself

You can read ACTA here or download a PDF version here.

Closing thoughts

The desire of rights-holders to protect their intellectual property is understandable. However, they currently have the ability to target pirates and counterfeiters directly. I can’t help but think that ACTA exists because the prosecution of individuals is not having the net effect that they desire. Instead of adapting their business models to a changing society, they are attacking the change.

I am not a lawyer nor do I have experience as a policy maker. I do, however, have enough formal training in logic to recognize a slippery slope when I see one.

What you can do

Write a letter to your government representative. Do not e-mail them. Write a letter and send it to them through snail-mail. Here’s the how and why.

If you’re a citizen of the United States, you should take action similar to that used to combat SOPA and PIPA. The Electronic Frontier Foundation still has its representative finder posted. You will – of course – need to change the content of the letter to ACTA.

If you’re a Canadian citizen, you can find your federal member of parliament here or here. While you’re at it, you may want to express your thoughts on warrantless surveillance, mandatory minimum sentences, the elimination of the long-form census, and maybe even the Prime Minister forgetting who he works for and naming our government after himself. I have attached a template of the letter that I will be sending here. Canada has already signed ACTA. However, they need to pass new legislation to make it enforceable. This new legislation will not reference ACTA. It will be passed using names like “Protecting Children from Internet Predators Act” (C-30) and “Copyright Modernization Act” (C-11).

[Update: I had intended to send my letter today (20/02/2012). However, I must first update it given my new understanding of how ACTA will affect generic drugs in Canada. I will post the new draft here once it is complete.]

If you’re in Poland, you may already be protesting on the streets. Thank you.

There is a copyright notice on the site footer but feel free to copy any portion of this post.

- ACTA does not fight criminals. It forces blindfolds on citizens.

- The internet is too important for public freedom to be censored by private interests.

- Our freedom is for sale and we’re not the highest bidder.

FaceForward nomination
Director’s camera nomination

As seen on the EA Capture Facebook page.

FaceForward

Battlefield 3 is different. We built the facial animation pipeline used for the interrogation scenes and I’m rather proud of what we accomplished. EA Capture was small studio with an aggressive timeline to create a new technology for one of our company’s biggest titles. And we had to do this while maintaining the same workload and quality for our other game teams. It was an incredible experience and if I had to do it again… I would do many things differently. Though, that shows how hard we were pushing our limits and how much better this technology will become. It’s next generation technology used for the current generation of games.

I’m finally at the point where I can watch the cutscenes and see how good they look, instead of seeing the things I want to change. More than anything, I’m excited about what our creative talent will do with this in the future.

As much as I want to celebrate the achievement of my team, I am in awe of the wizards at DICE who actually got this stuff working in Frostbite. You can see the fruits of their labour below.

If you can’t view it on YouTube, check it out on GameTrailers.

Trailer:

Despite his ailing health, the news of Steve’s death was not something that I expected.  The man who conquered the world with functional elegance is gone and my deepest sympathies go out to the loved ones he left behind.

In his 2005 Stanford commencement address, he left us with several musings on life, death and happiness.

“If today were the last day of my life would I want to do what I’m about to do today?”

“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life.”

“Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking that you have something to lose.”

“Your time is limited so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.  Don’t be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people’s thinking.  Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice.  And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.  They somehow already know what you truly want to become.  Everything else is secondary.”

RIP Steve Jobs

I have been very busy since my last post.  In addition to my own projects, I found myself employed.

In June 2010 I was contacted by Electronic Arts for an interview.  By the end of the month, I had moved from Hamilton, Ontario to Vancouver, British Columbia and was working as a Software Engineer on FIFA Online.  In September, I toured the EA World Wide Motion Capture Studio and, within a few weeks, was working for them doing research and development.

The following is the first demo of a project that I was a part of.  It demonstrates a new facial motion capture rig that we developed.  This technology allows us to create compelling performances in which the performer does not need to look like the model.  Essentially, I could do the performance and the coach would act it out.  If I furrow my brow, he will furrow his.  You will see every wrinkle, skin tone change, etc.

The coach is played by a local coach. The team are my multi-talented co-workers (I make an appearance at 0:53 – #72). As you can see from the texture/model recycling, we are a pretty small group.

This was originally posted on the EA Motion Capture Studios Facebook group. Watch it on YouTube in 720P.