EU To Sign ACTA Later This Month

rysiek writes "At a meeting of Polish Government officials with Polish NGOs and business representatives it was confirmed that the European Union is poised to sign the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement as soon as January 26th. But all is not lost. The Treaty still needs to be ratified by the Euro Parliament and member states individually. The ratification vote is important, as it is an either-or vote — if not ratified there, ACTA gets rejected in its entirety. The Ministry of Administration and Digitization is not amused and has asked the Prime Minister (who promised this May to hold ACTA adoption until the kinks are worked out) to cancel the signing authorization for the time being."

Comments

someone's pressing their agenda

[tebee]

So who's bribed who to get this pushed through ?

Re:someone's pressing their agenda

[TheLink]

The industry will always try to push it through, there's no significant penalty/cost for failing. So they can just keep trying till one day it gets signed.

They may not need to bribe (directly anyway)- don't be surprised if many people just look at the title see stuff like "anti counterfeiting", "stop online piracy", "protect intellectual property", and then think yeah good idea.

Blackout?

[bfandreas]

Will Wikipedia, Google and TotalBiscuit black out for us?
No?
Damn, we're screwed.

Picketing the EU Parliament won't work because most representatives don't show up anyway

:(

Re:Blackout?

[Seumas]

Of course they won't. People blew their wad on SOPA. They didn't give a fuck about the initial ACTA. They didn't give a fuck about NDAA. Hell, they didn't give a fuck about the PATRIOT Act. The flurry of activity against SOPA was an aberration.

ACTA bad, Piracy good.

[metrix007]

Stuff like ACTA is bad, because piracy is inevitable. I don't think we should be trying to prevent piracy at all, as piracy is actually a good thing.

Firstly, it is copying. It isn't stealing. If it was just stealing the term piracy would not need to have been invented as distinct from stealing. Keep in mind that the word Piracy has existed for about 500 years, and only in the last decade or so has come to be taken as stealing.

Why is Piracy good?

1. Guaranteed DRM free content - I don't want someone else in control of something I own
2. Availability, instead of waiting up to 1.5 years if the studios decide that it should be available in my country.
3. I believe it's good for society. Allowing people who can't afford something to be influenced and give back to society.
4. It helps the artists. Almost every study about piracy posted on /. shows it leads to an increase in sales

Keep in mind piracy is legal in many countries, for good reason. This is an important point for people who rely on the piracy is stealing argument. Those countries tend to be smarter about such matters than the US and western Europe.

Piracy is not going away. Piracy is inevitable. Why waste so many resources on what is arguably a good thing?

Re:ACTA bad, Piracy good.

[Xest]

"In any case, would you do your job on that basis? No, so you have no right at all to tell others that they should."

Not sure about the AC, but I know I do. I turn up to work each day, write code, and get paid for being at work to write code. What happens to that code when it's left my desk and gone to clients I really don't care about, it could be copied and reused as many times as they want it to, the point is I've been paid whilst I've been actually working, not continued to be paid long after I've stopped working. This is the case with public performances too.

See the point is the vast majority of the world's working population (like on the order of 99.99% of it or maybe even more) already work around the "public performances" type concept - they get paid for actually turning up and doing something. The problem musicians have is they're too lazy, they don't want to work the hours people in almost every other profession do, they just want to do a few hours every few weeks, with the option to take a few years out, and still make millions.

They complain if it's not profitable for them to do this, but so fucking what? It's not profitable for me to sit playing CoD online all day every day, but it doesn't mean I still have the right to do it and make millions in the process - life isn't like that, if you can't provide something the market wants then you need to retrain to do something you can, the world doesn't owe you employment doing your preferred task, in your preferred way.

So excuse me if I have zero sympathy for the whining artists, it's not my fucking fault they're lazy layabouts who refuse to do what most of the rest of the working population has to. So assuming the GP has a job like nearly everyone else in the working population has, then yes he fucking does have the right to tell others how to work - he has the right because it'd mean he's working his way through life, providing something the world wants and is willing to pay for and shouldn't have to subsidise lazy bum artists who feel the world owes them through all sorts of legislation set up to support their lazy lifestyles through lobbying and corruption.

I similarly have the right to tell artists to turn up and actually do some work for a living if they want money, because I provide something the world is willing to pay for and I do so day in, day out. The should also expect only money proportional to the work they do - i.e. if they only want to a few hours work every few weeks or months, then only expect a few hours pay every few weeks or months. The current system despite piracy, already provides them plenty more than that, if they don't like it they can change professions like anyone else would have to, this is why they don't have a leg to stand on whatsoever when they cry about piracy - because they're no more fucking special than anyone else, despite their belief that they are.

I'll start to have sympathy for the profession when there's no more new music in the world. I'll be waiting forever though, because people have always made music, even when there's no money in it, simply because to many, they do it as a recreational thing, rather than an expectation of something to live off.

Re:Explain this to an American programmer

[VortexCortex]

I thought women were covered under the "programmers" moniker, considering the first one was one.

That is to say, If you follow history: Ada Lovelace, the first programmer, was a woman; If you follow the bible: Eve, the first woman, was a programmer (of Adam)... It's told she used an Apple.

Re:Could be good?

[gutnor]

The Eurozone is in quite a deep crisis right now, even if ACTA is bad, a lot of countries are facing worse right now. It is possible that the countries will no want to undermine the union right now when the rating agencies are looking at any excuse to downgrade another country.

It is also possible, especially in countries close to election, that politicians will want to show some backbone against Brussel on such an easy to hate agreement.

Time will tell, as a European, I don't hold my breath. Those agreements take an awful lot of effort to be rejected - look at what it took for the SOPA thing in the US - and they come back slightly changed over and over again. They will pass, it is just a matter of time, unfortunately.

prime minister bit is about poland only

[Anonymous Coward]

The Ministry of Administration and Digitization is not amused and has asked the Prime Minister (who promised this May to hold ACTA adoption until the kinks are worked out) to cancel the signing authorization for the time being.

This bit, the last sentence, is about Poland only, one of the 27 EU member states.

There are no ministers in the EU government, I think the closest would the comissioners in the EU Comission (EU government/executive branch) whose head is the president. And there are several vice-presidents among the comissioners.

Though there is the Council of the EU aka Council of Ministers. This council consists of one minister from each member states depending on the topic of discussion. Agriculture ministers when discussing agriculture etc.

DCMA, SOPA, ACTA ...

[Taco Cowboy]

This world we live in - and I am not only talking about the cyberworld, - is turning into a place where every-single-thing gonna be monopolized by somebody

We can blame the governments.

We can blame Washington D.C.

We can blame the greedy politicians.

But IMHO it has passed time to point fingers.

It's *US*, yes, You and Me, who is responsible for this mess.

You see, it's *US* who have allowed the politicians we have elected to carry out all these bullshits.

The article talked about "all is not loss", WTF ??

What does it mean by "all is not loss" ??

We've given our politicians the blank check to pass all these bullshit bills, and still, we're saying "all is not loss" ??

Re:DCMA, SOPA, ACTA ...

[Digital Vomit]

It's *US*, yes, You and Me, who is responsible for this mess.

You see, it's *US* who have allowed the politicians we have elected to carry out all these bullshits.

I'm really sick and tired of this "blame the victim" mentality. The voting public has been under-educated, manipulated, and deceived by those who are either in or wanting power. Most voters don't even realize that it's happening, or, if they do, they feel powerless to change it (thanks, again, to those in/wanting power).

Stop trying to shift blame from where it really belongs: the people actually trying to enact these treaties and laws against the public's -- and human civilization's -- best interests!

Politicians we elected? You must be new here.

[Anonymous Brave Guy]

You see, it's *US* who have allowed the politicians we have elected to carry out all these bullshits.

The European politicians who are behind this sort of bullshit typically aren't elected in any meaningful sense. Indeed, quite a few EU Commissioners are very politically connected but basically unelectable in their own country; serial resigner Peter Mandelson was the UK's Commissioner for several years, for example.

There are also a few good ones, and I admit I'm a little surprised things have gotten this far with Neelie Kroes (who is normally well-informed and a voice of reason) currently serving as Commissioner for the Digital Agenda.

The only directly elected politicians in Europe are the MEPs. Let's hope they have a bit more spine than their colleagues. At least since the Lisbon Treaty one of the few significant improvements is that the MEPs do actually have real power, and seem to enjoy exercising it when it comes to getting in the way of the unelected Commissioners throwing their weight around.

Re:Politicians we elected? You must be new here.

[Taco Cowboy]

I might be "new" here, but then ...

The European politicians who are behind this sort of bullshit typically aren't elected in any meaningful sense.

Well ...

Who puts them there ?

It might not be *US* who put them there directly but ultimately it's *US* who allow THE SYSTEM to put them there !!

In a democratic system - and I am talking about the *US* in democratic system - the SYSTEM ultimately falls under the control of the society - which is, the voters, like You, and Me, *US* !!

Re:Politicians we elected? You must be new here.

[Anonymous Brave Guy]

EU Commissioners are appointed by their home government based on arbitrary criteria. Here in the UK, for example, that means the only way to prevent such an appointment is to not elect the entire administration that makes the appointment anything up to five years earlier. Clearly no-one is really going to change their one vote for the national government to another political party just so that the wrong EU Commissioner doesn't get appointed 4.5 years later, so there is really no democratic mandate or accountability at all.

Re:Politicians we elected? You must be new here.

[bfandreas]

The EU Parliament is elected. But the election is very low-key. Almost under the radar. Voting for the local mayor has a bigger campaign. When have you last seen campaign posters with that blue and circle of stars logo? I don't even know if the UK sends MPs to the EU Parliament. Seems like a political dead-end to me, anyway.

The EU Parliamant is a rather toothless, feeble thing due to the EU member countries not wanting to sign over sovereign rights. There are a couple of treaties for signing EU stuff into national law but most countries simply drag their feet. The process how this EU law-making process works is also not quite ideal...

The EU Commission is elected by gorvernments who themselves are elected. That's barely legitimate when it comes to democracy.

Re:Politicians we elected? You must be new here.

[Bert64]

Only most of the electorate is not sufficiently well informed to make a voting decision, and would most likely vote differently if they were in full possession of the facts.
Often the only, or at least the loudest source of "information" for most people, is media which is controlled by people affiliated with the two major parties, who therefore have no incentive to rock the boat.

Those of us who do bother to do our research are in such a small minority that our votes count for nothing, and because we do not control big media we have no way of making or voice heard by anyone, even if people would agree once being in full possession of the facts. Those who do control the media benefit greatly from the current system and have no incentive to change anything,

Re:Politicians we elected? You must be new here.

[TheRaven64]

The MEP that I voted for campaigns for the FFII and she is part of a coalition that opposes ACTA. Unfortunately, this is being pushed through without the approval of the Parliament.

Well, this one is kind of lost...

[blind biker]

Unfortunately, the "rich cocksuckers" (just citing Carlin) are influential, and have been projecting their influence all around the world. An EU politician isn't any better than any US politician - in both cases, corporate psychopaths tend to percolate up the chain of power, and therefore, have no quibbles being bribed and acting in their own interest vs. the interest of everyone.

This *could* be stopped if there were a concerted action like the one resisting SOPA/PIPA, but there isn't. There is no time even to mount a half-buttocked campaign, at this point.

I would love to be proven wrong.

EDRi has launched: What's Wrong with ACTA Week

[Alain Williams]

European Digital Rights has launched http://www.edri.org/ACTA_Week with 5 one page briefings that you can send to your National and Euro member of parliaments. Please do so, it will not take you long.

Re:SOPA

[qbast]

More like throwing enough shit at the wall that something will finally stick.

Re:Explain this to an American programmer

[Zarhan]

Here you go:

http://ec.europa.eu/codecision/stepbystep/diagram_en.htm

Technically, we are about to complete step 1.