Belgium against ACTA
The Petition
What is ACTA exactly? Check the links for more info.
We
The Citizens of Belgium
Conclude
That we are subjected to international treaties that can have major
impacts on our freedom of speech without being protected by our
government.
That a giant treaty like ACTA can have major consequences for our
privacy. That we can’t defend or voice our opinions about it because of
information that is being withheld from the public. That the government
ignores one of the most vital laws (Wet Openbaarheid van Bestuur en
Privacy) and we the public request that the government immediately
utilizes all of the resources to make the documents around the ACTA
treaty public and accessible for everybody and host a public debate.
Until that time we would like a rejection of any further approaches
towards the ACTA treaty from this moment forward or to reject the treaty
completely.
We
The Citizens of Belgium
Conclude
That we are subjected to international treaties that can have major
impacts on our freedom of speech without being protected by our
government.
That a giant treaty like ACTA can have major consequences for our
privacy. That we can’t defend or voice our opinions about it because of
information that is being withheld from the public. That the government
ignores one of the most vital laws (Wet Openbaarheid van Bestuur en
Privacy) and we the public request that the government immediately
utilizes all of the resources to make the documents around the ACTA
treaty public and accessible for everybody and host a public debate.
Until that time we would like a rejection of any further approaches
towards the ACTA treaty from this moment forward or to reject the treaty
completely.
Arguments:
The case for transparency - the use of appropriate democratic processes in the formation of domestic law and government policy
The case for fairness and equity in law -
managing the balance between protecting the rights of copyright
holders, and preserving the civil rights of individual citizens, how
ACTA could undermine the balance and fairness essential to New Zealand
copyright
The case for laws that support value creation -
managing the balance between providing incentives and remuneration for
the creation of creative works, and businesses that rely on copyright
exceptions (e.g. fair use, safe harbours) plus enabling innovation in
business models, products and services through new technology.
The case against protectionism - balancing
the economic good of the profitability of a small number of large
companies with the economic good created by an open and relatively
unregulated Internet
The case for thorough economic analysis and for tough negotiation in Free Trade Agreements - achieving Free Trade Agreements that benefit New Zealand economically
