European Parliament Declaring War Against ACTA

An anonymous reader writes "The European Parliament is preparing to take on ACTA. A joint resolution (DOC) has been tabled by the major EP parties that threatens to go to court unless things change. The EP is calling for public access to negotiation texts and rules out further confidential negotiations. Moreover, the EP wants a ban on imposing a three-strikes model, assurances that ACTA will not result in personal searches at the border, and an ACTA impact assessment on fundamental rights and data protection."

Comments

ACTA

[sopssa]

It's getting heated up in my country too. People are demanding answers from politicians, but even they don't know what the fuck is going on. ACTA is seriously the kind of secrecy movement that should not be allowed. It's good to see we actually have some backbone. My image towards EU has growth a lot with this.

Re:ACTA

[girlintraining]

My image towards EU has growth a lot with this.

*cough* No, I think the EU is doing this as an act of self-preservation. Unlike the US, that has an economy that is mostly closed (despite what you may think, our import/exports make up only a small amount of GDP), most of the EU has an open economy. The ACTA would screw them a lot harder than the United States. The US is just looking for a way to justify backing out of various free trade agreements and the ACTA is basically a way of us adding tariffs to our imported/exported services by creating artificial marketplaces while maintaining the illusion that we're all about free trade. We've created an artificial division between goods and services because our economy has transitioned from producing goods to producing services. It's in our best interests, financially, to create an artificial framework now to ensure we'll get our cut when other countries' economies transition to this as well -- basically continuing the long-standing tradition of passing the production to poor countries and living on top of them by providing the services and support that ultimately control the means of production.

Quite clever, don't you think? The EU can portray itself as the hero to the people, but it's only delaying the ACTA and similar acts -- once its economy gets closer to being representative of the US model, it'll quietly resurrect. So they get to be heroes today, and tomorrow they're just "going with the flow", portraying it as the inevitable price we have to pay for economic progress.

Re:ACTA

[Anonymous Coward]

once its economy gets closer to being representative of the US model

Why would it get closer to the US model? If anything, the European economies have only got more open in the past decade.

Re:ACTA

[HungryHobo]

You do know that many of the richest EU countries base their economies heavily on providing servies already?
We're not all ignorant savages outside the US.
The service sector is the dominant sector of the UK economy and also many of the other big rich EU countries.

Re:ACTA

[sopssa]

The EU can portray itself as the hero to the people

You do know EU has a lot different system than US? First theres different political systems in all of their member countries, most of them who actually do have 6-8 different parties that have saying over things. EU doesn't need to portray itself as an hero to the people - it pretty much is the EU people, and that's why it will fight ACTA.

(btw, I've seen you shouting bullshit in many different areas, from running trackers to some china government and now this - do you even know what you're talking about?)

Also, are you really serious about us economy being closed? Did you forget China and Taiwan, the Indian coders and phone support, even us mail manual processing being offshored to Singapore? You can't be serious.

Re:ACTA

[YeeHaW_Jelte]

Your theory fails on account of it assuming some centralized leadership that is actually able to coordinate all these manoeuvres so as to make the false impression that they are acting on behalf of the people of the EU, at least for the time being.

You have to take my word for it that 'the' EU as such does not exist, nor that it is lead in such a coherent fashion.

Re:ACTA

[Anonymous Coward]

This is not a struggle EU vs. someone else, it's between the various branches within Europe.

The EU Parliament gained additional privileges in December, and they're eager to use them now, while the EU Commissions feel like they can go on like before. It's an act of self-preservation of the EP as a relevant entity in the European framework. If they don't make sure they get their say in these agreement now (no matter what the outcome), they're mostly irrelevant again.

This is not about eliminating ACTA, but about the secrecy around it. The EP's main gripe is that someone is representing Europe without a mandate or accountability, to create a deal that the EP is eventually asked to sign. And guess what the arguments will be once ACTA is at that stage:
1. "You have to sign this, or the international community will not consider the EU a reasonable partner"
2. Just look what the US did with the SWIFT agreement (ambassadors etc. stalking our representatives)

Re:ACTA

[khallow]

Unlike the US, that has an economy that is mostly closed (despite what you may think, our import/exports make up only a small amount of GDP)

A quarter of the US GDP is in imports and exports. It's not a small amount. Looking at the CIA World Factbook, the EU and US seem to have similar levels of imports and exports (remember interstate trade between EU members doesn't count as imports and exports from the EU itself, else we should count interstate trade between US states as well). I get that the US has 15% of its GDP in imports and 9% in exports. The EU has 11% of its GDP in imports and 13% of its GDP in exports.

Re:ACTA

[khallow]

The US model is even more open. There are relatively minor state level trading restrictions (the biggest currently is probably the state level differences in health insurance regulation, which are significant obstacles to an interstate insurance market and a contributor to the high US health care costs). And from a pragmatic point of view, there's no language barrier (English being dominant throughout the US) nor a transportation barrier (US transportation infrastructure and regulation is very uniform).

Re:ACTA

[sopssa]

That's because US is a single country while EU is many different countries with several languages, and I would also like to keep it that way.

Regarding trade, EU mandates it to be open within EU countries. On top of that you can also freely live and work in any other EU member country. This is in my opinion the best compromise between independent countries and free trading, movement and living within EU area.

Re:ACTA

[Anonymous Brave Guy]

Doesn't seem to be the way the EU is going

Why do you say that? Countries in the EU tend to have very strong national identities, with their own long histories and distinct cultures. And most of us, aside from a few politicians and industrial heavyweights, like it that way.

Pushing toward some harmonized United States of Europe is pretty much our "third rail", as you can tell from the fact that most national governments have avoided giving their people a referendum on constitution-level reform in Europe and the agreements that made it through did so only against popular sentiment in many of the EU member states.

Re:ACTA

[magus_melchior]

No, I think the EU is doing this as an act of self-preservation.

I've done my fair share of BS'ing/armchair-punditry, but I have to say that this is either grossly naive or overgeneralized. France under Sarkozy has been pushing 3-strikes legislation aggressively, even though it keeps getting killed in court.

And if the US backs out of its FTAs, that'd be akin to committing economic policy seppuku. Another commenter mentioned China, but do you realize how much we're interdependent with East Asia in general? 90%+ of the components you used to comment were either made there (China) or designed by a firm in that region (Samsung, LG, Sony, Asus, etc. etc. etc.). Now imagine what would happen if the US even thinks about going protectionist on these guys-- you'll see a collapse of the US consumer economy as we know it, because we've abandoned the idea of making goods domestically due to higher costs.

Re:ACTA

[copponex]

which are significant obstacles to an interstate insurance market and a contributor to the high US health care costs

I imagine it's the same level of contribution that frivolous lawsuits add - nearly 2%!

Health care is expensive because Americans have terrible diets, they don't exercise, and they expect a pill to solve problems like obesity. Since health coverage is out of reach of nearly 50 million Americans, everyone receives last minute care at hospitals instead of preventative care at less expensive clinics. And when they can afford health care, doctors maximize useless services and tests to push up profits, even when they are duplicative or entirely unnecessary. The incentive structure is totally fucked.

We are so far behind in quality of life at this point that it's embarrassing. Every time I overhear someone making fun of the fact that people in the EU get a month of paid vacation, or like you, claim that all we need to do is release the last threads of protection against the greed of giant insurers, I am again awed by the power of corporate propaganda.

Re:ACTA

[Heed00]

We weren't talking about the price of tea in China. We were discussing why the ACTA is being fought by the European Union. Please stay on topic.

It only looks off topic if you quote your interlocutor out of context. Let's look at the actual context:

Also, are you really serious about us economy being closed? Did you forget China and Taiwan, the Indian coders and phone support, even us mail manual processing being offshored to Singapore? You can't be serious.

Which was in response to this:

Unlike the US, that has an economy that is mostly closed...

Claiming to be subject to a violation of logic (an Ad Hominem) on the one hand, but then blatantly quoting out of context on the other in order to deliver a snide and condescending reply is really inconsistent -- at best.

Re:ACTA

[rduke15]

If the EU decided to standardize power outlets

Well, they actually did (mostly). Switzerland, which is not part of the EU, doesn't use the same standard, and actually has a much better one (much smaller and simpler plugs at same Ampere ratings). Now it's a total mess in Switzerland, with the better local plugs and cables, and the European ones, and lots of adapters in between. (Switzerland is very small; if you need to rent trucks full of electrical equipment, chances are some of them will come from a neighboring EU country, with the EU power standards).

Re:ACTA

[shiftless]

I went to a hematologist about this positive test result and was told point-blank that I did not have this condition as I had not ever been outside the US and this condition is only present in a small numbers in a few third-world countries. I asked for the test anyway, and they gave it to me, confirming what the hematologist said from the start.

And if the hematologist had been wrong, and you actually had this rare condition and it maimed or killed you, you or your family would then be suing the doctor for everything he's worth. I think if we want to improve healthcare in this nation, we could start by passing some malpractice protections for doctors so that they can do their damn jobs to the best of their ability, without having to constantly worry about losing everything they have to a case of bad luck. Hell, immunize doctors against lawsuits entirely except in cases which are clearly malpractice, in which case the penalty is a fine and/or removal of license. Then set up a web site anyone for anyone to log in and rate doctors based on prior experiences, i.e. similar to RateMyProfessor. (I wouldn't be surprised if such a site already exists.) Caveat emptor--let the buyer (of health care) beware. Then let's throw the health insurance companies in the garbage where they belong as we don't need them any more. Once the field is open, let the market decide who stays and who goes and what a particular service costs to perform.

Re:ACTA

[mirix]

Despite this, Germany is still the largest exporter on *earth*. At least it was, China might have a slight lead now.

Germany exports more than the rest of the EU combined. The EU as a whole is definitely the world's largest exporter (double the US, and close to double China).

Three-strikes

[ibwolf]

Recent polls show that most people regard Internet access as a fundamental right and considering how important Internet access has become that is very understandable.

Thus any three-strikes law would likely be in violation of the European Convention on Human Rights and be struck down by the European Court of Human Rights.

Given that it makes sense for MEP to oppose three-strikes provisions as they can not be certain of implementing them and could potentially suffer very negative fallout for trying.

Re:Three-strikes

[sopssa]

Exactly this. Most of the government services in my country are being moved to over internet too (or at least trying to), so cutting down ones Internet connection wouldn't cut. It is really required in current day.

Contact MEPs!

[Adelbert]

Finally we have the chance to lobby elected representatives rather than aetherial bureaucracy! Don't let's waste it, guys...

If anyone in the UK wants to write to their MEPs about this resolution (you should), you can use this page to do so. I'm sure similar services exist in other countries, or you could just post the MEPs a dead tree version of your complaint.

Re:Contact MEPs!

[bloobloo]

This is why the Lisbon Treaty is a Good Thing. The power of the unelected commissioners has been reduced and the EP can start to be useful. If they can only stop the ridiculous moves to and from Strasbourg, then the future looks bright (for the moment)

Nice!

[spammeister]

Could this be a sudden outbreak of common sense? News at 11...

Americans and Europeans

[Akido37]

For all the anti-European sentiment here in the United States, specifically against France, it's ironic that we're becoming more dependent on them protecting our civil liberties.

If they don't do it, our government (no matter what Administration) surely won't do it.

An American

[Das Auge]

As an American, I say, "Thank you very much", to the EU.

Re:An American

[tverbeek]

It's times like this where I'm tempted to start calling myself a European-American. (Except that it would come across too white-power-y, so I don't.)

Re:An American

[BobMcD]

I came to post the same thing. Or, actually -

Today I sit as an American watching the Europeans teach us a thing or two about Freedom.

Re:An American

[Idiomatick]

Don't forget Canada and New Zealand. The leaked ACTA docs show that they were standing up for rights and good law from the beginning. The EU was going along with the US before it became public.

Mind you, EU has two sides, parliament are the good guys in general (looking at a large number of cases). The commision (the bad side) is appointed by the EU, they fuck up pretty much everything. Parliament is elected and seem to actually fight for the people. So the shift shouldn't be too shocking. EU commision secretly fucking over the people w/ ACTA, parliament finding out and being pissed about it.

Re:An American

[icebraining]

It's pretty exciting seeing the MEPs I voted for being so vocal in defending my rights. It's a strange feeling :P

He signed the European Parliament resolution on transparency and the state of play of ACTA negotiations.

I don't tweet, but I logged in just to thank him.

Re:An American

[Xphile101361]

As an American, I say, "Thank you very much", to the EU.

As an American, I say that we should have the balls to do what the EU is doing for us.

Re:An American

[frosty_tsm]

I came to post the same thing. Or, actually -

Today I sit as an American watching the Europeans teach us a thing or two about Freedom.

I like "234 years after the revolution, the British have stepped in to protect America's freedom."

Re:An American

[aaandre]

We Americans can teach everyone about Hype of Freedom.

Let's just not mistake it for the real thing.

And the US is .. leading the PUSH for ACTA ... sig

[jgreco]

Wasn't there a time when the US led the world in freedom, liberty, and openness?

I know I'm going to get horribly trolled for this, but damn it, it needs to be said.

Tabled?

[Rysc]

A joint resolution has been tabled

Whose "tabled" is that? Is that "brought forward" or "set aside"?

Re:Tabled?

[Anonymous Coward]

It's the non-American English use of the term: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_%28United_States_parliamentary%29

Europe

[Lifyre]

I find your ideas intriguing and wish to subscribe to your newsletter.

Sincerely,
USA

Re:Europe

[cbope]

Thank You!.. plus you won't need to go through that whole photograph, fingerprint and awkward questions thing at the border when you come for a visit! Welcome to the EU!

Re:And the US is .. leading the PUSH for ACTA ...

[Vayra]

Having too much freedom for the people and too transparent a government is endangering the power of individual politicians as they can more easily be held accountable for their actions. This they do not like, and so they came to the conclusion that going back to secrecy and less freedom for the people is the way to go, as that would help secure their powers. Sucks monkeyballs, but that's what you get when you have people who think of themselves instead of the people they represent in power.

Give an example of such bureaucracy

[Nicolas MONNET]

One, real life example of this alleged "bureaucracy" inconveniencing you.

Go ahead. ....

Stop reading the Daily Fail. kthxbye

Re:Give an example of such bureaucracy

[HungryHobo]

stop being a self rightous cunt.
I'm pro EU.
I like the whole free trade and free movement.

Not everyone who thinks the EU is overly ineffecient and bureaucratic is a daily mail reader or even actually against the EU.
Not everyone who thinks the EU has had a long standing problem with corruption and lack of accountability is a daily mail reader or even actually against the EU.

Re:Give an example of such bureaucracy

[Plammox]

Judging from your top level domain, you don't see the conflict in the first place. The EU system seems to be closely modelled on the French way of government, i.e. non-transparent decision making, the European School system for EU employee's kids (my sons are in one of these) are resembling the insane way the French conduct their education system, the EU hiring competitions (French as well) plus the insane and bureaucratic francophone administrators employed in the system.

Did you ever read the annual audit reports from the EU court of auditors? Left page: EU Court of Auditors: "We think the commission didn't provide enough documentation to show where billions of Euros went in agricultural support" EU commission response: "We don't see the problem....". The list goes on.

Incidentally, the previous EU commissioner of anti-corruption was implicated in a major corruption case in his home country.

Not to mention the lack of an investigation into the case of Antonio Quatraro. The EU commission prevented the Belgian police from investigating their premises for several hours after his death. Any investigation into this case has been obstructed by the commission and even the whistle blower from the EU court of Auditors, Douglas Watt, lives in hiding in fear of his life.

Understand that this culture of corruption is contrary to the customs in some other (typically northern) EU member countries.

Re:Give an example of such bureaucracy

[TheMidget]

EU legislating beer glass sizes (making it smaller, of course...). Or EU legislating what a hot dog should be called. Or any of the thousands other equally pointless directives.

Re:How about we just kill ACTA?

[jgreco]

We (the consumers) aren't really a party to the negotiation; the government is negotiating on our behalf to work on legitimate problems such as counterfeit goods. The real parties to the negotiation are businesses and government. As such, the businesses are pushing to get all the things they'd like to see, even where they're not really in the interests of the public. Government is dazzled by the show, and will tend to go along with a lot of things, especially where the businesses have been successful with propaganda.

Kudos European Parliament

[realsilly]

The secrecy behind this act is insane. People have the right to Fair Use. And our Constitution and Bill of Right are meant to protect the people. Companies are not People, and that what this ACTA seems to be protecting, the bottom line of profit. Kudos European Parliament!

Re:And the US is .. leading the PUSH for ACTA ...

[Vapula]

Well, I think it's only a false image... At first, "american" were greedy colonists (either going to america to flee some judicial problems in europe or going there to make some big profit).

While esclavagism had mostly disappeared in Europe, it had been brought back in US...

US has always be about freedom without limits... If you succeed in earning money, it gave you the right to "enslave" other people (well, employing them with minimal salaries), to crush the other trying to earn their living (most known example on slashdot is Microsoft... but it's true for many other),...

On the other hand, in Europe, it had been more and more about limiting personal freedom so it don't infringe on someone other's freedom (I won't say it was perfectly done)... Corporate greed also existed in europe... long ago... And it's brought back from the US (and other) thanks to the buyouts, merges, ...

Re:Good

[KlaymenDK]

I'm a European. I'm not particularly proud that it took this bloody long for some common sense to throw a spanner in those works.

mod up parent, mod down grandparent

[openfrog]

Moderators please read the parent before modding up the grandparent. The grandparent starts well reflecting on national interests and then veers into total nonsense.

The EU parliament is waking up to a serious threat to democracies everywhere and this is a case for us to acknowledge them wearing pants.

Re:Kudos European Parliament

[KlaymenDK]

Companies are not People

You're absolutely right. In many regards they enjoy superior rights than people. :-/

Go Canada and the EU

[rrossman2]

Yes, I'm an American and I find it fantastic that Canada and the EP have a damn head on their shoulders. As long as Americans believe there are ONLY TWO POLITICAL PARTIES, this country will be f'ed. Those in control have been there too long and need to be replaced. The problem is those two parties have all the money for running real political campaigns. If an independent or some other political party had the money to actually get their name out, AND (and a HUGE and) if the American people wouldn't just vote BASED ON A PARTY NAME, things in this country could be much better. As it is now, you have two real parties and one of them is basically given control of the congress and/or house so they can just push what bills they want out the door. IF American's would actually open up their mind and quit voting by party name, and IF we could get 4, 5, or 6 PARTIES into congress and house, thing would be less "This is what we (as in the controlling party) want, push it though!" to more checks and balances on the whole process. It wouldn't be a controlling group with the same ideas in charge, but a mix of ideas from a range of people.. and I have a feeling it would keep more crap like this from appearing, as well as cut back on all the bullshit tucked away in bills.

Re:Go Canada and the EU

[twisteddk]

The multiparty systems exists in many countries, especially here in the EU.
And I'm sad to say that a lot of bull STILL gets passed, because for an extended period of time, several parties who jointly have a majority simply agree what laws are to be passed. It's no different than the two party system. In fact, on many levels it's WORSE, because now you have 3-4 parties who all wants a piece of the action, so everything is a compromise. And is they ever agree on something, its a political hot potatoe, and any legislation passed in a hurry is crap because noone considers the consequences.

The only real upside is that voters CAN actually "punish" their party by voting for a different party with largly the same views, so you dont have to go from one extreme to the other. Thus its slightly more democratic, and equally bad ;)

Re:Go Canada and the EU

[myowntrueself]

Yes, I'm an American and I find it fantastic that Canada and the EP have a damn head on their shoulders.

Maybe not so much 'head on their shoulders' as 'balls between their legs'.

The EP has 'grown a pair'.

Re:Kudos European Parliament

[Vapula]

well, it's up to you (in USA) to push for SHORTER copyright terms... Vote with your wallet, write to your local politicians, organise some big MPAA hit boycott, ...

At first, copyright was about a SHORT LIMITED TIME, now, it's longer and longer... with the clear intent to make it infinite...

It's up to you to push for a ban on stupid patents... Explain to other that if they have to pay more for their MP3/camera/... it's because of the so many patent fees on trivial or outdated technologies... I'd say that for everything computer-related, max patent duration should be 1 or 2 year... That's the rate at which most computer technologies become more or less obsolete...

It's up to you to say no to the removal of HQ on analog signals on TV/DVD/BluRay/... and to say no to the enforcement of HDCP and removal of analog signal later... Unless you want that your equipment becomes obsolete and you had to replace it...

It's up to you to shake your legal system, to prevent bullies (oops... corporation) from dragging court process until the other part can't pay for court and attorneys fees.

Re:WOOT good work EP

[Xest]

Interestingly there's also a movement in the EU now to do away with the airline data sharing deal whereby something like 49 pieces of information like e-mail address, name, address, telephone number, credit card details and so forth are sent to the US before people are allowed to fly there from Europe.

It's quite a turn around since the Lisbon treaty and the last set of European elections, I was concerned there'd be less standing up to the US, but there is in fact even more now.

acta backfires

[circletimessquare]

media corporations and their paid-for government whores are attempting to backdoor their oligopolistic unneeded parasitical existence into the internet age

but the people have spoken: we like our freedoms very much, and it is clear the internet has meant that your continued existence means compromising our freedoms in ways we don't like. so i guess you'll just have to die then, unnecessary media corporations

artists, writers, directors: you don't need old school distributors. there's a better, free, distributor: the internet. sure, you won't get pennies everytime someone sings your song in the shower (while some lawyer asshole gets the lion share of pennies) but you'll get fabulous exposure and advertising and presence. then you can tour, and make money the honest way

Nitpick

[Das Auge]

I'm not going to nitpick their reasons. So maybe they had plans to go along with that crap, then they were exposed, and are now fighting against it to look good.

I don't care. I'm just thankful they're doing it.

I love my country. We do a lot of good things, but we also screw thing ups pretty good. The agreement has been brought to light and, unlike the EU, my country is not chancing its stance. That's what matters.

As for Canada and New Zealand? Thank you too, guys!

Re:Nitpick

[Anonymous Coward]

Another small detail : Parliament has zero power.

If they have zero power, it is all the more impressive that they used that to stop the SWIFT agreement.

More seriously though: you are wrong. And especially since the Lisbon treaty went into effect on December 1st 2009.

Re:Nitpick

[asaz989]

Actually, ever since the Lisbon Treaty came into effect on January 1 of this year, the Parliament has to agree in order for ACTA to come into force. The way it looks now, it would fail by a very large margin, and ACTA would be null and void in the world's largest economy.

Another nonwar

[Thaelon]

Can we please stop saying we're declaring war on things that aren't sovereign nations?

Let's especially stop if they're ideas, conferences, or pieces of paper.

At least the Lisbon Treaty got something right

[Anonymous Brave Guy]

It might be worth explaining for non-European readers that the balance of power between the (elected) Parliament and the (appointed) Commissioners shifted significantly as a result of the Lisbon Treaty, which recently took effect. There was plenty to worry about in that treaty, but this part, at least, they did get right.

A similar difference in opinion between MEPs and the appointed guys explains the recent oddities about allowing the US access to bank records: that provision was pushed through by the appointed government weenies literally hours before Lisbon came into effect, and the MEPs have been working to get it fixed since the change.

We all have to back Eu Parliament in this one.

[unity100]

i told you Eu parliament wouldnt stand for this.

now we all need to gather behind the parliament, regardless who and where are we from. american and belgian, swedish or italian. even hindu, japanese, brasilian.

if you are from Eu or from an Eu candidate status country, you can officially petition European Parliament. this is a legal right. you can do it online, or you can do it with snail mail, as long as you put your name, address correctly. they all are valid and processed.

here is the link to official petition information page of Eu parliament :
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/parliament/public/staticDisplay.do?id=49

in decades now, a parliament is acting on people's behalf with no agenda. support your parliament.

Re:We all have to back Eu Parliament in this one.

[YttriumOxide]

if you are from Eu or from an Eu candidate status country, you can officially petition European Parliament.

Just to add to that: residents of EU member states and people who work for companies headquartered in the EU have an equal right to do so - not just citizens.

(as a resident of an EU country, but not a citizen, this is important for me, as it's one of the few political things I can do here - I'm not allowed to vote, but I can officially petition the EU parliament, and also get a say in some local affairs within the state of Germany that I live in as an employee of a company based here)

Why do you hate it ?

[unity100]

it was in low countries (netherlands and belgium) that the first baselines for age of reason were laid, and it was in late 18th century france that age of enlightenment (which has created the concept of rights of the ordinary man and equality) has come to being.

there is nothing to be ashamed or feel inferior or hate. these are fundamental principles that go beyond and above nationalities and locales. we should all support these from wherever, from whomever they come out.

Re:As a US Citizen...

[unity100]

https://www.secure.europarl.europa.eu/parliament/public/petition/secured/submit.do?language=EN

if you are a eu citizen, or if you are a eu candidate country's citizen, or if you are working for a company with its headquarters is in eu, you can petition Eu parliament directly.

Re:Valid points but

[Anomalyst]

both Red and Blue partys are the same color - servile corporate yellow.

Not totally yellow, of course, it does get very brownish as it reaches the tip of their noses.

Funny Story ....

[unity100]

until 1-2 years ago, lobbies of private interests ignored Eu parliament, because it held no power and it was a 'novelty' parliament. Pretty little parliament.

Lisbon treaty ended up giving powers to Eu parliament. Now, there is a powerful parliament, members of which were elected not through lobby support, but popular support and concerns.

right at the time they were trying to push acta to put a stranglehold on internet and emerging technologies and people's rights .... and there is not enough time to wait for reelection so that they can support their puppet representatives to power - not that they could easily though - europe is close to 1 billion people, and members get elected from all countries. its not something similar to dominating us houses or brit parliament...

funny how things turned out ...

heh

[unity100]

before they 'implemented' modern democracy, modern democracy was being practised in netherlands, britain already long before.