A month or so ago, the global media was obsessed about global warming and the climate change conference.

How come there’s a wall of silence about another global issue where controversial movement is taking place?

A secret global internet copyright deal has been negotiated by the European nations, NZ, Australia, the US, Mexico, South Korea, Singapore, Jordan, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates.

The deal, documents about which are now spilling online, means ISPs must snoop on their customers to see if anyone is downloading stuff that affects copyright.

Those who have drafted the treaty think it’s watertight in stopping downloading.

The bill’s main points:

• it become illegal to share copyrighted material
• it’s illegal run a site that indexes where you can find the stuff
• It bans BitTorrent and other P2P networks
• There’s also reference to “border measures,” which means scans at customs for what’s on your USB drive or laptop.
• All countries introduce a ’3 strikes and you’re closed down’ rule where the government can stop you getting back on the net if you breach the ISP warning thrice and you become blacklisted.
• And the ISP will be in trouble if it doesn’t co-operate as it would be taken to court and the owners punished.

France didn’t wait for ACTA – it’s become the first country to already introduce a three strikes law with French president Nicolas Sarkozy warmly welcoming “the future of a civilised internet”. No doubt that’s how other leaders see it, thankful the wild west of the net will be over and countries can at last control it.

The amazing thing about this deal – called ACTA (Anti-counterfeiting trade agreement) – is that it’s been done quickly, without the public anywhere being allowed any debate about it.

Somehow governments are rubber stamping it without letting their citizens in on it , until it’s too late.

The world is only learning about it because someone in Canada slipped up and mentioned it was happenig.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, says that :”Given the speed with which this treaty is being negotiated, and its potentially significant impact, the lack of transparency in the negotiation process and failure to provide citizens with an opportunity for informed consultation is extremely concerning.”

And just as fascinating is that NZ will host the next ACTA meeting of the nations involved in Wellington in April.

Is this really something NZ wants to be seen as leading the world? Apparently so.

I hope they have invited Iran and China. They will be able to fast track the measures by sharing how they control the population’s internet use.