Comment on hoyhoykung's profile
Attention, attention! This is a very important message. Read thoroughly!
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement has just been published, and it is going to substantially threaten DeviantArt's life and future. This deal is dangerous for DeviantArt because of its intellectual property enforcement chapter, whose provisions could destroy this site's mission, which is to "[create] the cultural context for how [art] is created, discovered, and shared," and "to exhibit, promote, and share their works with an enthusiastic, art-centric community." On a larger scale, the TPP would also destroy the careers of nearly every artist who posts works on this site.
The TPP's intellectual property chapter includes provisions that could censor the Internet, endanger online privacy, impose draconian copyright standards, abolish freedom of expression, criminalize whistleblowing, and rob the public domain. Internet service providers could be held liable for hosting copyright infringement, and they could also be forced to become private copyright enforcers, forced to take down, filter, and block content with only a private notice from the copyright holder. So, under the TPP's provisions, DeviantArt could be shut down and its users and staff could be treated like criminals.
The TPP would push for the widespread use of Digital Rights Management software, or DRM, to prevent consumers from tinkering with devices or content for purposes that corporations fear will infringe their copyrights and patents. Consumers could be prevented from unlocking their mobile phones to change telecom carriers, and prevent documentary filmmakers and other artists from breaking encryption on DVDs or sampling online streaming videos, where legal threats could be faced even if the video is created legally. People with visual or reading disabilities could be prevented from changing the formats of books and movies to make them more accessible. Not only unauthorized content, but also unauthorized software, could be blocked under the TPP's digital locks provisions. There is NO EVIDENCE that DRM does much to combat copyright infringement or protect consumers from viruses. All DRM does is suppress companies that promote innovation, criminalize sharing, and hinder and break the Internet and new technologies.
This is an emergency. I have attempted to strike fear of the TPP into the entire DeviantArt administration, and so I am urging you to take action before this extreme pact can be implemented. And if the TPP is passed and entered into force, our right to share, modify, and experiment with content and technology could be faced with overly severe restrictions. As such, this site could be brought to its end, once and for all.
You can help stop the TPP by signing the below petition:
act.rootsaction.org/p/dia/acti…
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement has just been published, and it is going to substantially threaten DeviantArt's life and future. This deal is dangerous for DeviantArt because of its intellectual property enforcement chapter, whose provisions could destroy this site's mission, which is to "[create] the cultural context for how [art] is created, discovered, and shared," and "to exhibit, promote, and share their works with an enthusiastic, art-centric community." On a larger scale, the TPP would also destroy the careers of nearly every artist who posts works on this site.
The TPP's intellectual property chapter includes provisions that could censor the Internet, endanger online privacy, impose draconian copyright standards, abolish freedom of expression, criminalize whistleblowing, and rob the public domain. Internet service providers could be held liable for hosting copyright infringement, and they could also be forced to become private copyright enforcers, forced to take down, filter, and block content with only a private notice from the copyright holder. So, under the TPP's provisions, DeviantArt could be shut down and its users and staff could be treated like criminals.
The TPP would push for the widespread use of Digital Rights Management software, or DRM, to prevent consumers from tinkering with devices or content for purposes that corporations fear will infringe their copyrights and patents. Consumers could be prevented from unlocking their mobile phones to change telecom carriers, and prevent documentary filmmakers and other artists from breaking encryption on DVDs or sampling online streaming videos, where legal threats could be faced even if the video is created legally. People with visual or reading disabilities could be prevented from changing the formats of books and movies to make them more accessible. Not only unauthorized content, but also unauthorized software, could be blocked under the TPP's digital locks provisions. There is NO EVIDENCE that DRM does much to combat copyright infringement or protect consumers from viruses. All DRM does is suppress companies that promote innovation, criminalize sharing, and hinder and break the Internet and new technologies.
This is an emergency. I have attempted to strike fear of the TPP into the entire DeviantArt administration, and so I am urging you to take action before this extreme pact can be implemented. And if the TPP is passed and entered into force, our right to share, modify, and experiment with content and technology could be faced with overly severe restrictions. As such, this site could be brought to its end, once and for all.
You can help stop the TPP by signing the below petition:
act.rootsaction.org/p/dia/acti…