EU ACTA Chief Resigns

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Posted by samzenpus on Thursday January 26, 2012 @07:55PM from the take-this-treaty-and-shove-it dept.

bs0d3 writes "The EU ACTA chief has resigned, saying, 'This agreement might have major consequences on citizens' lives, and still, everything is being done to prevent the European Parliament from having its say in this matter. That is why today, as I release this report for which I was in charge, I want to send a strong signal and alert the public opinion about this unacceptable situation. I will not take part in this masquerade.' 22 EU members signed the controversial ACTA treaty Thursday in Tokyo."

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Another politician with half a brain? by ToiletBomber · 2012-01-26 20:09 · Score: 5, Funny

I think my faith in humanity might yet be vindicated.
1. Re:Another politician with half a brain? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-26 20:12 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Apparently you've missed the Republican Presidential race.
2. Re:Another politician with half a brain? by SeaFox · 2012-01-26 20:35 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Looks like a classic case of "Push the red button and then then run into hiding to avoid the angry mob".
3. Re:Another politician with half a brain? by petman · 2012-01-26 20:39 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  He got ACTA signed in Europe.
  
  That's not how I understand it. I think you got misled by the misleading title of TFA/TFS. He's not the 'EU ACTA Chief'. He was the European Parliament's rapporteur on ACTA. His job was to investigate the issue and produce a report on it.
  
  --
  Dropbox drops it like it's hot.
4. Re:Another politician with half a brain? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-26 20:44 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  I think my faith in humanity might yet be vindicated.
  Not so fast.
  He got ACTA signed in Europe. He did the job he was paid for, only now can he say whatever he likes.
  He did no such thing. Signing is the responsibility of the respective member countries, specifically their ministers. In "EU-speak" the Council. The next step is to get ACTA ratified in a) the EU parliament and b) the national parliaments, without which ACTA is just a piece of paper with no impact whatsoever except for wasting a lot of time.
  What this man did was (at first glance) admirable. Had he done this after the ratification in EUParl had gone through, not so much, but that vote is not until in a few months, and is going to be a highly influenced by this kind of high-profile action.
  Still, that doesn't mean you shouldn't call your MEP to make them aware of this action, and the importance of saying no to ACTA
5. Re:Another politician with half a brain? by ArsenneLupin · 2012-01-26 20:59 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Looks like a classic case of "Push the red button and then then run into hiding to avoid the angry mob".
  Vada a bordo, cazzo!
6. Re:Another politician with half a brain? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-26 22:43 · Score: 0
  
  hahahahahaha, grande Schettino
7. Re:Another politician with half a brain? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-26 22:54 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  Get a clue before spurting nonsense. The vote in the parliament is still not done, if the vote fails (which he wants to make sure with his dramatic exit), the all the signing by the member states isn't worth the paper the treaty is printed on
8. Re:Another politician with half a brain? by TapeCutter · 2012-01-26 23:42 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  He's a little fucking late, don't you think?
  Nope, handing over the report and quitting at the same time is perfect timing, especially if you want to draw attention to why you are quitting. Finishing what he started shows he's a professional, had he quit half way through they would have simply replaced him with someone more malleable.
  
  --
  And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
9. Re:Another politician with half a brain? by Mister+Transistor · 2012-01-26 23:47 · Score: 1
  
  Whooosh....
  
  --
  -- You are in a maze of little, twisty passages, all different... --
10. Re:Another politician with half a brain? by L4t3r4lu5 · 2012-01-26 23:47 · Score: 1
  
  Ahhh... I read "22 member states had signed ACTA" and assumed the worst. More fool me. Now I've read the back-story to that, I'm a little less irate.
  
  Fuck you very much, samzenpus, for your once again inflammatory stub posting. kdawson would be proud.
  
  --
  Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
11. Re:Another politician with half a brain? by rtb61 · 2012-01-27 00:17 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Also he is now free to tell all and sundry, as often and as loudly as possible exactly why he quite. He is basically in the best position to deliver a swift kick in the goolies to ACTA in Europe.
  
  --
  Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
12. Re:Another politician with half a brain? by cpu6502 · 2012-01-27 01:28 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  Exactly.
  This "ACTA Chief" sounds like a coward If he is displeased with the process, and he's the one in charge, then he should be using his position to make the ACTA a formal treaty to be passed b y the People's representatives in Parliament. To scurry away shows an supreme lack of fortitude and irresponsibility.
  
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  My AC stalker: " I personally agree with your posts most of the time, but that won't keep me from modding you troll"
13. Re:Another politician with half a brain? by cpu6502 · 2012-01-27 01:45 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  âI want to denounce in the strongest possible manner the entire process that led to the signature of this agreement: no inclusion of civil society organisations, a lack of transparency from the start of the negotiations, repeated postponing of the signature of the text without an explanation being ever given, exclusion of the EU Parliamentâ(TM)s demands that were expressed on several occasions in our assembly..... This agreement might have major consequences on citizensâ(TM) lives, and still, everything is being done to prevent the European Parliament from having its say in this matter.â
  Wow.
  Do Europeans still have the right to own guns? If I read that my government was bypassing my elected representatives to pass ACTA, I'd be visiting the local target shooting store to polish my skills. Passage of laws without representation is just 1 step short of tyranny.
  "No legislation without representation."
  
  --
  My AC stalker: " I personally agree with your posts most of the time, but that won't keep me from modding you troll"
14. Re:Another politician with half a brain? by cpu6502 · 2012-01-27 01:51 · Score: 1
  
  I'm confused by EU procedure.
  In the U.S. somebody signs the treaty (typically an ambassador or president), and then the Senate decides whether to ratify or reject it (reflecting the wishes of the States and the People). It's a very simple and straightforward process.
  
  --
  My AC stalker: " I personally agree with your posts most of the time, but that won't keep me from modding you troll"
15. Re:Another politician with half a brain? by Luckyo · 2012-01-27 01:54 · Score: 2
  
  Europe is a sum of the countries. In cases where EU intervention is generally needed and welcomed is rules that are needed to improve economy in all member states. I.e. finances, competition, or in this case, copyright.
  Guns are a local issue. They're not going to be easily allowed over borders, and few will care if us finns own a shitload of guns that may not be even legal in many member states. Because it's not an issue which requires pan-European input.
16. Re:Another politician with half a brain? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-27 01:55 · Score: 1
  
  Your devotion to 18th century slogans is adorable, but the application of those slogans to the EU in the 21st century is far from straightforward.
  Each of the 22 governments that agreed to pass ACTA was democratially elected by its own citizens. The European Parliament was also democratically elected, by the same citizens, at a European level. The turnout for European elections is typically lower than the turnout for national elections. So the question of who has the stronger democratic mandate in a conflict between member states and the European Parliament is not a simple one.
  I despise ACTA as much as anyone, but your flintlock-based rhetoric has nothing to do with the real issues here.
17. Re:Another politician with half a brain? by thereitis · 2012-01-27 02:08 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  If you've ever been a manager, you'd know that being "in charge" of something doesn't always mean "in charge" the way you think it should. Obviously, there are larger forces at work here and rather than battle them himself and lose, he's letting the world know what's going on. I think that's a smarter plan. There's some very powerful people behind this legislation. I'd hate to be on the receiving end of whatever tactics they might employ.
18. Re:Another politician with half a brain? by hesiod · 2012-01-27 02:20 · Score: 2
  
  grande Schettino
  Think I had one of those at Starbucks the other day: tasted like schettino to me, anyway...
19. Re:Another politician with half a brain? by Boscrossos · 2012-01-27 02:26 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  EU decision making can be daunting, but I'm a Belgian, so it don't scare me. Essentially, in the EU, a law has to be ratified by both the Council and the Parliament of the EU. The Council is made up of the relevant ministers from the member state governments. The Parliament is directly elected by the citizens of the member states in the European elections. There is also the European Commission, who, in a very badly summarized nutshell, propose laws, define strategies, etc., but do not, themselves, have a vote on what gets passed or not (though they do have a lot of power in some cases). As mentioned, the Council has given ACTA the OK, but the Parliament has not. Every issue to be discussed in the EP is discussed in one or more relevant Committees, and analyzed in a report by one MEP, the rapporteur. It's this guy who actually quit, after he had handed in his report. So no, he didn't help ACTA in any way, and has given a strong signal that he at least opposes it.
  
  --
  Jesus saves... the rest takes full damage.
20. Re:Another politician with half a brain? by Majik+Sheff · 2012-01-27 02:28 · Score: 1
  
  Not quite. Now we wait for them to settle into their cushy promised position at one of the main beneficiaries of ACTA.
  
  --
  Women are like electronics: you don't know how damaged they are until you try to turn them on.
21. Re:Another politician with half a brain? by jo42 · 2012-01-27 02:37 · Score: 1
  
  "Apparently you've missed the Republicantard Presidential race..."
  Fixed it for you...
22. Re:Another politician with half a brain? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-27 02:44 · Score: 0
  
  What's better? Or worse.... ?
  Quitting your job the very next day after a project is signed off on, while it's still fresh in the media?
  Or, attempting to fight the project from within, only to be quietly replaced by someone who isn't going to stand in the way of the project?
  I think this guy saw an oppurtunity to draw further public attention to dangerous over-sweeping legsislation. In my book, it's a play that goes right along with 'Internet black-out' day last week.
23. Re:Another politician with half a brain? by cpu6502 · 2012-01-27 02:52 · Score: 2
  
  Ahhh thanks. The Commission sounds like a pointless organization. But isn't that where the EU President sits?
  I should probably add here:
  The U.S. President already signed the ACTA. Our States' House (Senate) will be ratifying or rejecting the treaty in a few days.
  In other news: SOPA is dead but it's already taken-on a new form called OPEN (Online Protection and Enforcement). These media monopolies refuse to give-up. In my opinion neither Microsoft or Google are entitled to government-granted monopolies over OSes or search engines... neither are RIAA/MPAA or their affiliated companies for monopolies over media.
  
  --
  My AC stalker: " I personally agree with your posts most of the time, but that won't keep me from modding you troll"
24. Re:Another politician with half a brain? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-27 02:53 · Score: 0
  
  Psssst hey you may want to start polishing. USA and Canada are in on this too. Infact the past two administrations have refused requests to make this thing public but were refused on grounds of "National Security".... A trade agreement that threatens national security?
25. Re:Another politician with half a brain? by noh8rz2 · 2012-01-27 02:59 · Score: 2
  
  "Apparently you've missed the Republitard Presidential race..."
  ftfy^2
26. Re:Another politician with half a brain? by noh8rz2 · 2012-01-27 03:01 · Score: 1
  
  uh, EU parliament was first convened in 1996, hello? About 50 years too late, don't you think?
27. Re:Another politician with half a brain? by noh8rz2 · 2012-01-27 03:03 · Score: 1
  
  woosh? bang!
28. Re:Another politician with half a brain? by David+Chappell · 2012-01-27 03:07 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Exactly.
  This "ACTA Chief" sounds like a coward If he is displeased with the process, and he's the one in charge, then he should be using his position to make the ACTA a formal treaty to be passed b y the People's representatives in Parliament. To scurry away shows an supreme lack of fortitude and irresponsibility.
  He is "using his position", just not in the way that you expect. Giving up a well-paying job because you believe that what your superiors require you to do is unethical is a dramatic way to draw attention to the problem. The alternative, to take their money while trying to undermine their goals is problematic at best. He would have had to mute his criticism and would probably soon have had to resign in disgrace.
  This way is much better. First of all, it makes a news story. Second, he can now speak frankly about the ACTA and his opinion will be considered important because he is "the former ACTA chief who resigned in protest".
29. Re:Another politician with half a brain? by V+for+Vendetta · 2012-01-27 03:08 · Score: 2
  
  The European Parliament was also democratically elected, by the same citizens, at a European level.
  
  Elected? Yes. Democratically? That depends. A few basic requirements for being a real democratic election don't apply to EU Parliament elections. One of those basics is 1 man = 1 vote, which has two implications: First, no one has more than one vote in the election and second each vote weighs the same. The later isn't the case in the EU. A vote from Luxembourg is worth more than 1,000 votes from France, U.K. or Germany, for example, due to the way the countries are represented within the parliament (number of seats).
30. Re:Another politician with half a brain? by cpu6502 · 2012-01-27 03:10 · Score: 1
  
  ACTA comes before the Senate in just a few days.
  SOPA is dead.
  PIPA is still alive.
  And now SOPA has been replaced with a new bill called OPEN (online protection and enforcement of copyright). These guys in hollywood just won't capitulate. They will keep trying-and-trying until they get their way and have the power to yank citizens' websites.
  
  --
  My AC stalker: " I personally agree with your posts most of the time, but that won't keep me from modding you troll"
31. Re:Another politician with half a brain? by SteveFoerster · 2012-01-27 03:32 · Score: 1
  
  Starbucks has stuff that tastes like chicken?
  
  --
  Space game using normal deck of cards: http://BattleCards.org
32. Re:Another politician with half a brain? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-27 03:36 · Score: 0
  
  Whatever tactics they employ, I suspect similar tactics may be employed as a counter.
33. Re:Another politician with half a brain? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-27 03:45 · Score: 0
  
  He is the rapporteur for ACTA in a committee in the European parliament. The parliament has not been handling the negotiations, the commission has, and they have been extremely secretive about it. He, and many others in the parliament, have repeatedly demanded to see the working drafts during the negotiations but the commission has refused and the only reason that members of parliament knew anything at all about the contents of the treaty before the negotiations were finished is that drafts have leaked onto the internet. All the parliament can do now is to either ratify or reject the treaty - there is no way for the rapporteur or anyone else to actually amend it.
34. Re:Another politician with half a brain? by Curunir_wolf · 2012-01-27 03:50 · Score: 1
  
  Each of the 22 governments that agreed to pass ACTA was democratially elected by its own citizens.
  Not so fast. I noticed, for instance, that Greece and Italy are on the list. Their governments were displaced recently by non-elected former banking industry executives, because they are so heavily in debt. Democratically elected? Hardly.
  There are democratically elected officials in several bodies of EU nations, but they are quickly losing power, and the United States of Europe will be run by aristocrats that are not accountable to the people of Europe at all.
  
  --
  "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
  --- Jerry Garcia
35. Re:Another politician with half a brain? by A+beautiful+mind · 2012-01-27 04:15 · Score: 1
  
  Not true. Appointment to the EP uses a system of degressive proportionality, under which seats are roughly proportional to the number of voters, but less so the smaller the country is. However, even in the extreme case of Luxembourg, the weight of the voter compared to the european average is 10.86x (last election), not over a thousand votes as you state. This is due to the fact that there is a minimum of 6 seats per country, probably a good idea to fairly represent the political differences in parties of a specific country.
  
  --
  It takes a man to suffer ignorance and smile
  Be yourself no matter what they say
36. Re:Another politician with half a brain? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-27 04:19 · Score: 0
  
  Do Europeans still have the right to own guns? If I read that my government was bypassing my elected representatives to pass ACTA, I'd be visiting the local target shooting store to polish my skills. Passage of laws without representation is just 1 step short of tyranny.
  Guns are illegal/restricted in most sane countries, including the majority of the EU.
37. Re:Another politician with half a brain? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-27 04:28 · Score: 0
  
  Spouting nonsense. "Spurting" has a different connotation that I think you'd rather avoid.
  captcha: foursome. /chuckle
38. Re:Another politician with half a brain? by Eunuchswear · 2012-01-27 05:21 · Score: 1
  
  What happens when they run out of FLAC's (Four Letter ACroyms)?
  
  --
  Watch this Heartland Institute video
39. Re:Another politician with half a brain? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-27 06:50 · Score: 0
  
  buddy, what rock you been hiding under? especially if you are a USian (which from your post, seems like a reasonable conclusion) your corporations CONTROL your government, and have been bypassing the CITIZENs for decades, especially since George dubya started his war against freedom, and drove the price of OIL through the roof so HIS oil companies are raping the Americans - AGAIN! PATIOT Act and AT&T surveillance society, anyone? buy more guns and start shooting, reclaim your RIGHTS and FREEDOMS now. Question Authority before Authority Questions YOU.
40. Re:Another politician with half a brain? by cpu6502 · 2012-01-27 08:45 · Score: 1
  
  Well first they had 3 during the FDR years. Now 4. Maybe 5 letters will be next?
  Or maybe just go nuts: U.S.P.A.T.R.I.O.T.A.C.T.
  
  --
  My AC stalker: " I personally agree with your posts most of the time, but that won't keep me from modding you troll"
41. Re:Another politician with half a brain? by Skal+Tura · 2012-01-27 10:07 · Score: 1
  
  Indeed, but it is important we as people don't stop fighting against.
  And when, if, they manage to pull through this stunt we develop technology further to avoid this :)
  
  --
  Pulsed Media Seedboxes
42. Re:Another politician with half a brain? by Skal+Tura · 2012-01-27 10:08 · Score: 1
  
  They go for 5 letter ones ;)
  SOPA2, PIPA2 ;D
  
  --
  Pulsed Media Seedboxes
43. Re:Another politician with half a brain? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-27 10:53 · Score: 0
  
  The Commission is the EU's civil service. It is responsible for drafting new laws and administering existing laws, but it doesn't get a vote on new laws. That's up to the Council of Ministers (representatives of the member states, analogous to the US senate prior to the 17th amendment) and the Parliament (representatives of the citizens, analogous to the House of Representatives).
44. Re:Another politician with half a brain? by shutdown+-p+now · 2012-01-27 13:04 · Score: 1
  
  Are you sure? Last I checked you could still own a rifle in most EU countries, though not a handgun. In some you can own a handgun but can only shoot it at the range. Countries like UK which ban everything in sight are an exception rather than a rule, and I don't think you'd want to argue that UK is a "sane country" in any case.
45. Re:Another politician with half a brain? by tragedy · 2012-01-27 13:31 · Score: 1
  
  Are you from the US? If so, you do realize that you just said that, at least for the presidency, the US doesn't have "real democratic election[s]".
46. Re:Another politician with half a brain? by Zugok · 2012-01-27 23:37 · Score: 1
  
  Ahhh thanks. The Commission sounds like a pointless organization.
  Maybe it is now, who knows.. In its creation after WW2, the idea of the Commission was and still is that it is run by "technical experts" (technocrats) rather than politicians. The technocrats do not represent their home member state, instead they represent the European Union. In this respect as another post as mentioned they are like the civil service. And why aren't they politicians? Well the track record in Europe leading up to WW2 even isn't that great with politicians.
  
  --
  "I just can't sit while people are saying nonsense in a meeting without saying it's nonsense" J Watson, Sci Am 288:(4)51
47. Re:Another politician with half a brain? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-28 00:20 · Score: 0
  
  The Commission is, in essence, a team of technical experts, advising the politicians. They are absolutely not pointless, and very important in EU politics, because they create most of the proposals for legislation that go to the EP and the Council. He who holds the pen, etc...
48. Re:Another politician with half a brain? by Zugok · 2012-01-28 10:04 · Score: 1
  
  This is true that their technical expertise is valuable. Perhaps what is not clear from my previous post is that the power the Commission holds in the law making process is constitutionally and the relationship between the high level institutions wiht in the European Union is different to what most western countries would be accustomed to.
  
  --
  "I just can't sit while people are saying nonsense in a meeting without saying it's nonsense" J Watson, Sci Am 288:(4)51
49. Re:Another politician with half a brain? by V+for+Vendetta · 2012-01-28 23:38 · Score: 1
  
  However, even in the extreme case of Luxembourg, the weight of the voter compared to the european average is 10.86x (last election), not over a thousand votes as you state.
  
  You're right, my memory failed me terribad. However Luxembourg:Germany is 5:99 citizens per seat: Seats per inhabitants (German). The point is that it's a compromise, one you can agree with or not, but it violates basic democratic rules, IMHO.
50. Re:Another politician with half a brain? by metacell · 2012-02-03 00:24 · Score: 1
  
  Do Europeans still have the right to own guns? If I read that my government was bypassing my elected representatives to pass ACTA, I'd be visiting the local target shooting store to polish my skills. Passage of laws without representation is just 1 step short of tyranny.
  You certainly have a point. We have lots of guns here in Sweden, because of the yearly moose hunt. They're safely locked away in weapons lockers, but the owners have the keys, not the state.
  Until the situation gets even more fucked up, people are more likely to write a strongly worded letter, though.
51. Re:Another politician with half a brain? by metacell · 2012-02-03 00:48 · Score: 1
  
  What's your point? ;)
52. Re:Another politician with half a brain? by metacell · 2012-02-03 01:06 · Score: 1
  
  I'm confused by EU procedure.
  In the U.S. somebody signs the treaty (typically an ambassador or president), and then the Senate decides whether to ratify or reject it (reflecting the wishes of the States and the People). It's a very simple and straightforward process.
  The EU member states are more independent than the USA member states. The central EU government has the power to pass laws for all member states on smaller issues, but the really big issues have to be approved by each state.
  So in the case of ACTA, the treaty is signed by ambassadors from each country, and then both the EU parliament and the governments of the individual member states have to approve it.
  In the case of the EMU (European Monetary Union), each country decides for themselves if they want to apply to the EMU and start using the Euro (and they may be rejected).
  The EU is still a young union, and the member states are only gradually relinquishing their power to the central government.
  But you're not alone in thinking it's complicated. Very few Europeans know how decision process works in the EU, and which part of the government decides on what issues. I suspect it's much more complicated and obscure than the American system.
53. Re:Another politician with half a brain? by metacell · 2012-02-03 01:11 · Score: 1
  
  The Commission sounds like a pointless organization.
  Have you watched Futurama, and seen the Central Bureacracy mentioned?
  That's essentially what the European Commission is. It concists of civil servants who gather data, draft legislation, and so on, which the elected representatives then act upon.
  And believe me, when I say it's inherited most of its features from the French bureaucracy, it's not a compliment.
Call me picky but... by Corporate+T00l · 2012-01-26 20:12 · Score: 5, Informative

"News sites" hosted on port 82 set off some alarm bells. That being said, this piece has been picked up by other news sites with more direct citations. Techdirt (http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120126/11014317553/european-parliament-official-charge-acta-quits-denounces-masquerade-behind-acta.shtml) and The Register (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/01/27/eu_signs_acta/) both have articles that are worth reading.
1. Re:Call me picky but... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-26 21:03 · Score: 2
  
  "News sites" hosted on port 82 set off some alarm bells.
  So why don't you fill us in then? What is so suspicious about using port 82? Is that port often used by pedophiles or terrorists? Is that the port that the NSA uses to spy on people?
  Inquiring minds want to know.
2. Re:Call me picky but... by impaledsunset · 2012-01-26 21:09 · Score: 1
  
  Port racism!
3. Re:Call me picky but... by Rockoon · 2012-01-26 21:12 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  What is so suspicious about using port 82?
  Because its not 80. Why isnt this alleged news site (that is either down or is slashdotted right now) not using the standard http port?
  
  --
  "His name was James Damore."
4. Re:Call me picky but... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-26 21:18 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  What is so suspicious about using port 82?
  
  Because its not 80
  That's a circular argument. Care to elaborate?
  I have to defend this argument (that port 82 is inherently suspicious) in a thesis paper. If you can give me the answer before 9:00 AM EST you will have saved me from failure, and possibly protected me from ruining my life (by inadvertently using port 82 to read news articles).
  Thanks in advance!
5. Re:Call me picky but... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-26 21:18 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  Mr Kader Arif gave some insight here [numerama.com]:
  (french) http://www.numerama.com/magazine/21424-acta-demissionnaire-kader-arif-denonce-une-mascarade.html
  (google tr) http://translate.google.fr/translate?sl=fr&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=fr&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.numerama.com%2Fmagazine%2F21424-acta-demissionnaire-kader-arif-denonce-une-mascarade.html&act=url
  "I want to denounce as the greatest of all the process that led to the signing of this agreement: no association of civil society, lack of transparency from the beginning of negotiations, successive postponements of the signing of the text without no explanation was given, setting aside the claims of the European Parliament, however, expressed in several resolutions of this assembly, "he complains.
  The MEP also confirms what we reported on the schedule to the charge imposed for parliamentary committees to express their views on the content of the agreement. "As the reporter on this text, I also faced unprecedented maneuvers of the right of Parliament to impose an accelerated schedule to pass the agreement as soon as possible before the public is alerted, denying that the European Parliament's right of expression and the tools at its disposal to carry the legitimate demands of citizens. "
  For Kader Arif, "everyone knows, the ACTA has greement problem, whether its impact on civil liberties, responsibilities it imposes on providers of Internet access, impact on the manufacture of generic drugs and the lack of protection it offers to our geographical indications ".
  "This agreement can have major consequences on the lives of our citizens, and yet everything is done for the European Parliament has no say. So today, in submitting this report in my charge, I wants to send a strong signal and alert the public about this unacceptable situation. I will not participate in this charade. "
6. Re:Call me picky but... by geogob · 2012-01-26 21:19 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  The whole idea of a "news site" is to be openly accessible. A website on a non-standard port is still openly accessible, but only to those who know the site is accessibly through this port. This knowledge may either be direct or indirect (like through a link like here).
  Basically, its a news site only accessible to the general public through linking. This points a lot to "targeted news", which also tend to point into the direction of "false news" and/or "propaganda". Now, I'm not implying this is the case here. In fact, there are many other possible explanation, one of them being the one I just provided. As the previous post said, it "sets off some alarm bells", but it doesn't necessarily mean something foul is going on. It's just weird.
  As for your open, trollishy questions, I'll say this. Many illegal activities that are performed on the web, regardless of their nature, do so on sites accessible only through nonstandard ports, like port 82, to hide the said activities from general view. Only those within intimate knowledge of the activities know the ports and can thus access those sites.
7. Re:Call me picky but... by jzu · 2012-01-26 21:24 · Score: 1
  
  News sites usually answer on port 80, or 443, you know. 82 is highly unusual, so much that my corporate proxy won't let me connect. Who are these guys, whose site is on 82? Are they serious? I don't know, and couldn't read TFA, but this port does ring a bell in the "amateur news site" section.
  See, they called Kader Arif a "Chief" when he's only the "rapporteur". From Techdirt on this subject, 'A rapporteur is a person "appointed by a deliberative body to investigate an issue."', far from a "Chief".
8. Re:Call me picky but... by ArsenneLupin · 2012-01-26 21:35 · Score: 1
  
  "News sites" hosted on port 82 set off some alarm bells.
  
  ... and they also tend to crumble lots quicker under the slashdot...
9. Re:Call me picky but... by ArsenneLupin · 2012-01-26 22:03 · Score: 1
  
  The whole idea of a "news site" is to be openly accessible. A website on a non-standard port is still openly accessible, but only to those who know the site is accessibly through this port.
  ... and most importantly, it is only accessible to those not behind a coproate firewall which only lets 80 through.
  
  This knowledge may either be direct or indirect (like through a link like here).
  Well, the link was present in the Slashdot summary, so it's not a question about knowledge. And a link would have been needed even on a site hosted on port 80, as there are many pages on a site, and the link allows to directly go to the page of interest.
  
  As for your open, trollishy questions, I'll say this. Many illegal activities that are performed on the web, regardless of their nature, do so on sites accessible only through nonstandard ports, like port 82, to hide the said activities from general view. Only those within intimate knowledge of the activities know the ports and can thus access those sites.
  Indeed. Not only corporate firewalls think that all web sites are on port 80, so do many network sniffers. Thus using a non-standard port is a way to evade some of these sniffers.
10. Re:Call me picky but... by L4t3r4lu5 · 2012-01-26 22:04 · Score: 2
  
  Perhaps because they're not a huge shop, can't afford the kind of security personnel Sony have (fnar fnar), and someone told them that not using the most commonly associated port with a specific service can help protect against automated attacks at the expense of minimal cost to the consumer.
  
  Perhaps.
  
  --
  Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
11. Re:Call me picky but... by ArsenneLupin · 2012-01-26 22:09 · Score: 1
  
  See, they called Kader Arif a "Chief" when he's only the "rapporteur". From Techdirt on this subject [techdirt.com], 'A rapporteur is a person "appointed by a deliberative body to investigate an issue."', far from a "Chief".
  maybe not a chief, but still a very important person to the proposal. The rapporteur is supposed to investigate the proposal, and then to present it to the deliberative body for approval, usually making a case in favor of the proposal. If now the rapporteur, who is supposed to defend the proposal, is already against it, this speaks volumes...
  However, this doesn't mean that ACTA is dead yet. What will probably happen is that the MAFIAA will just chose another rapporteur (being more careful this time around...), and so the only effect will be that the vote will be slightly delayed, if even that.
12. Re:Call me picky but... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-26 22:12 · Score: 0, Insightful
  
  The reason it is (or could be) suspicious is because not using the default HTTP port can cause a tremendous amount of trouble due to corporate firewalls and proxies, and one would need a really good reason to not use the default port. The only reason I can think of not using the default port is If one illegally gained to a machine hosting a well-known public website, one wanted to start hosting an imposter website in parrallel on it without taking the main site down (which would immediately alert the website owners), but still be able to use the domain name.
13. Re:Call me picky but... by Ihmhi · 2012-01-26 23:00 · Score: 1, Troll
  
  So basically, you're saying "It's different, therefore I find it scary and view it with suspicion."
  Yeah, great. That mindset has served mankind very well over the years.
  
  --
  Random Thoughts From A Diseased Mind (Not For Dummies)
14. Re:Call me picky but... by jareth-0205 · 2012-01-26 23:30 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  So basically, you're saying "It's different, therefore I find it scary and view it with suspicion."
  Yeah, great. That mindset has served mankind very well over the years.
  Jeez... we're not talking a moral choice here, we're talking about a technical standard. And if you do something different from the standard and nobody can think of a good reason... but they *can* think of a number of nefarious reasons... that's a pretty good basis for suspicion.
15. Re:Call me picky but... by dna_(c)(tm)(r) · 2012-01-27 01:06 · Score: 1
  
  In this new fangled hypertext thing, you can actually post that as links to TechDirt and The Register instead of making us type it in the address bar
  But thanks for pointing is to some helpful information
16. Re:Call me picky but... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-27 01:09 · Score: 0
  
  Nah, more than perhaps. Stupid is always more likely than nefarious.
17. Re:Call me picky but... by Digital+Vomit · 2012-01-27 01:11 · Score: 0
  
  So basically, you're saying "It's different, therefore I find it scary and view it with suspicion."
  
  Yeah, great. That mindset has served mankind very well over the years
  Yes, the concept of "being careful" has absolutely served mankind very well over the years. Without that mindset, we wouldn't be dominating the planet today; some previously unknown threat would have killed us off very early in our evolution.
  
  --
  Modern copyright is theft of culture from everyone and it retards the progress of the useful arts and sciences.
18. Re:Call me picky but... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-27 01:17 · Score: 1
  
  There is no standard that mandates a web server to be on port 80. On the contrary, the port is part of the URL standard, and user agents are required to parse it and connect to that port. That there is a default for it doesn't mean that every other value violates the standard. With the same reasoning you could say that every hostname that is not www.companyname.com is "inherently suspicious". Who runs a web server on something called yro.slashdot.org? What do they have to hide?
19. Re:Call me picky but... by Riceballsan · 2012-01-27 01:38 · Score: 1
  
  Straying from the port standards is like running an ice cream truck in the back of a standard white van. Technically it isn't illegal and just seeing it doesn't mean something dangerous is going on, but it's just plain suspicious and I'm not letting my kids anywhere near it.
20. Re:Call me picky but... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-27 01:42 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Only on slashdot can a discussion on a non-default HTTP port turn into one about survival of mankind :D
21. Re:Call me picky but... by poetmatt · 2012-01-27 01:46 · Score: 2
  
  this is entirely inaccurate. There is no requirement that any form of data go across any port. We've simply decided to start doing that. Nothing says it has to be that way, and actually it's only slightly better for security to actually not use standard ports because that's the standard attack vector and gives you hints if someone has a default config, which means *bad* security.
  Way to state backwards reality there.
22. Re:Call me picky but... by bobamu · 2012-01-27 02:01 · Score: 1
  
  This AC truly needs to be modded up :)
23. Re:Call me picky but... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-27 02:04 · Score: 0
  
  There are reason why a website won't be hosted on port 80. Port 80 and 8080 is only official designated for the http protocol but not required. It's done so that applications won't generally try reserve the same port as port choices tend to be pretty random otherwise leading to conflict. That said, reasons not to use it exists like multiple http servers within a lan system (which is redirected by port in a router), weird firewall settings that happen in complex lan settings, and probably other reasons since this is off the top of my head.
24. Re:Call me picky but... by burisch_research · 2012-01-27 02:26 · Score: 1
  
  IF you want to run e.g. Apache and IIS on the same machine, they can't both use the same ports. I've been in this situation before, and had to run one of my servers on a different port, IIRC it was 81. So maybe this chap's got three webservers?
  
  --
  char*f="char*f=%c%s%c;main(){printf(f,34,f,34);}";main(){printf(f,34,f,34);}
25. Re:Call me picky but... by compro01 · 2012-01-27 02:26 · Score: 0
  
  There is no standard that mandates a web server to be on port 80.
  RFC 6335 may not be a "standard", but using goofy ports is still bad practice.
  
  --
  upon the advice of my lawyer, i have no sig at this time
26. Re:Call me picky but... by hesiod · 2012-01-27 02:28 · Score: 0
  
  There is no standard that mandates a web server to be on port 80.
  Mandated, no. But it is mentioned in RFC 2616 (HTTP 1.1) as the default port. To stray from defaults for no reason is inherently suspicious.
27. Re:Call me picky but... by ortholattice · 2012-01-27 03:40 · Score: 1
  
  The reason they don't use port 80 is likely very simple: this "news site" is probably run from someone's home. Cable providers (at least in the U.S.) - Verizon and RCN I know for sure - block port 80 to prevent home users from (easily) putting up their own web sites.
  Historically, this practice probably traces back to the early days of the internet when they wanted to prevent home users from using excessive bandwidth that a web server might consume. However, these days a typical home hobbyist site probably uses miniscule bandwidth compared to a typical user's video streaming, P2P, etc. usage. So basically it's just a ploy to extract another $50 or so per month to get port 80 access with a "business account". The business account also provides a fixed IP address, although in my experience my dynamic address lasts for a year or more as long as I keep my router powered up.
  The Debian webserver at my house uses port 88 for this reason. Some users, particularly in Europe, can't access port 88. Curiously, my ISP doesn't block port 443 (the normal https port), so I also alias 443 as an http port to allow these people access. (There is no confusion with https because they have to use the ":443" domain name suffix with http.)
  I also have a port 80 mirror off-site, but my home site is more up to date until the rsync cron kicks in, and some people don't want to wait.
28. Re:Call me picky but... by Curunir_wolf · 2012-01-27 04:02 · Score: 1
  
  IF you want to run e.g. Apache and IIS on the same machine, they can't both use the same ports. I've been in this situation before, and had to run one of my servers on a different port, IIRC it was 81. So maybe this chap's got three webservers?
  Or he's using some cheap consumer ISP service that blocks incoming port 80 requests. Which explains why it got slashdotted so fast - it's probably a cheap desktop computer running a website. Note that the registrar for the site is DynDNS, and the name server is (interestingly) AFRAID.ORG !
  
  --
  "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
  --- Jerry Garcia
29. Re:Call me picky but... by mbone · 2012-01-27 04:08 · Score: 0
  
  Nothing says that the networks comprising the Internet have to interoperate either, but they do because people decided to follow protocols. The "well known port" concept is somewhat archaic, but it is still there, and so when someone doesn't use it, it is entirely reasonable to wonder why. I presume that they are using an anonymity network, thus the port 82.
  Note that not using port 80 means that you will be blocked by many firewalls, especially including the preconfigured home kinds. That is very unusual for a news service, which presumably actually wants people to read what they are writing.
30. Re:Call me picky but... by burisch_research · 2012-01-27 04:09 · Score: 1
  
  Ah, quite. You are probably correct!
  
  --
  char*f="char*f=%c%s%c;main(){printf(f,34,f,34);}";main(){printf(f,34,f,34);}
31. Re:Call me picky but... by mbone · 2012-01-27 04:10 · Score: 1
  
  Or, perhaps they are using Tor.
32. Re:Call me picky but... by mbone · 2012-01-27 04:22 · Score: 1
  
  Historically, this practice probably traces back to the early days of the internet when they wanted to prevent home users from using excessive bandwidth that a web server might consume.
  It may have more to do with asymmetric bandwidth - home users are frequently given more bandwidth inbound than outbound - for example, it is built into both DSL and Cable Modems. So, they do have reasons to reduce outbound bandwidth, and blocking web servers will do that.
33. Re:Call me picky but... by s4ltyd0g · 2012-01-27 04:27 · Score: 1
  
  In those new fangled GUIS you can cut and paste the url without having to type it into the address bar. (-;
34. Re:Call me picky but... by rwise2112 · 2012-01-27 04:43 · Score: 1
  
  "News sites" hosted on port 82 set off some alarm bells.
  It's Europe so they're using metric!
  
  --
  
  "For every expert, there is an equal and opposite expert"
35. Re:Call me picky but... by KlomDark · 2012-01-27 05:21 · Score: 1
  
  Oh boo hoo ya big whiner. Alternate ports still get picked up by search engines, so it's not some big conspiracy. It's just a way of getting around residential ISP limitations, pretty much all of them block port 80.
  I for one enjoy seeing the fact that small sites can still provide web content. Eventually, with deep packet inspection, and the nefarious scheming of the MAFIAA, this will not be allowed.
  I ran MessageBase on port 8081 for years until I had the money for a business-class connection. Although you can now connect to it on the normal port 80 (MessageBase, it is still listening also on port 8081 (MessageBase (8081))
  It's nothing to be afraid of, it's just "routing around the problem" just like the internet was designed to do.
36. Re:Call me picky but... by green1 · 2012-01-27 05:28 · Score: 1
  
  When I view something with suspicion, it is usually because it is something that indicates a risk to myself, either because of an attack of some form, or because of a likelihood of being misinformed.
  Seeing a website hosted on port 82 is weird and unusual, but I can't think of a single risk associated with it that could not just as easily happen on port 80, therefore as odd as it is, I don't see it as "suspicious" in any way that should convince me to avoid visiting it.
37. Re:Call me picky but... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-27 06:50 · Score: 0
  
  Only on slashdot can the survival of mankind turn into one about a discussion on a non-default HTTP port
  There, fixed that for you....
38. Re:Call me picky but... by shutdown+-p+now · 2012-01-27 13:07 · Score: 1
  
  If you subtract 2 from 8, you'll get 6, and 666 is the number of the beast - QED.
39. Re:Call me picky but... by shutdown+-p+now · 2012-01-27 13:13 · Score: 1
  
  Cut and paste? Is that like sed/grep and pipes? ~
It's not the first time by phantomfive · 2012-01-26 20:13 · Score: 4, Insightful

It's not the first time the government of the EU has made decisions that hurt the people, using tricks to get them past the populace. And it won't be the last. We can expect a lot of bad stuff coming up, with the economic crisis.

--
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
1. Re:It's not the first time by Teun · 2012-01-26 20:25 · Score: 1
  
  What does this personal action of a politician have to do with an economic crisis?
  
  --
  "The likes of Facebook and WhatsApp are free to those whose privacy is of zero value."
2. Re:It's not the first time by alci63 · 2012-01-26 21:12 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Making decisions without taking the people into account is becoming quite common these days in EU. Crisis is the best justification they found. When Papaandreou said he will make a referendum, he was dismissed. An ex-banker is now leading the country. In Italy, it was decided (not by the people) the government should be changed. An ex-banker is now leading the country. See this http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/37700.html ... So the fact that governments are making EU level decisions without consulting the only elected instance at the EU level (the parlament) is quite concerning.
3. Re:It's not the first time by bloblu · 2012-01-26 21:29 · Score: 1
  
  The Parliament, having a say in the matter, protests vehemently. What more can they do? This is a problem at the level of Member States, not EU institutions.
4. Re:It's not the first time by Anzya · 2012-01-26 21:37 · Score: 1
  
  That is because people don't know their history regarding EU. When it first started it was an economic union. The target was to help companies, not the people. Since then it has changed it's name but I belive that its root values are still there. There are people who try to change it though.
  
  --
  "This message was brought to you by Sarcasm and Troll Feeders United (or STFU, for you un-hip people)."
5. Re:It's not the first time by Teun · 2012-01-26 21:57 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  In Italy it was decided and approved in and by the elected parliament they needed a different government than the one led by Berlusconi.
  Of course the rest of Europe put a lot of pressure on the Italians to get this change of government but it was and still is still 100% in the power of the parliament to agree with the new governments policies or ultimately send it home.
  The Greek situation is from a democratic point of view not much different, parliament can send their government packing at any moment it no longer agrees with the policies proposed.
  Since last year the EU has become closer to the electorate now the EU parliament can veto policies put forward by the commission. These EU commission policies don't fall from the sky, they are the result of lengthy deliberations between the governments of the member states who also have to answer to their parliaments at home.
  So when you, like me, are not happy with the signing of the ACTA agreement you should also contact your local politicians, not just the MEP's.
  
  --
  "The likes of Facebook and WhatsApp are free to those whose privacy is of zero value."
6. Re:It's not the first time by Teun · 2012-01-26 22:00 · Score: 1
  
  They can veto the proposal.
  
  --
  "The likes of Facebook and WhatsApp are free to those whose privacy is of zero value."
7. Re:It's not the first time by SuricouRaven · 2012-01-26 22:26 · Score: 1
  
  The EU? Find me a government that hasn't done that.
8. Re:It's not the first time by Mashiki · 2012-01-26 23:54 · Score: 1
  
  Yep. Nothing quite like a quasi-binding non-elected government body dictating to a sovereign nation on what they should do on their internal affairs. You forgot to mention about them wanting to siphon off a few trillion euros and be immune from prosecution though.
  
  --
  Om, nomnomnom...
9. Re:It's not the first time by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-27 00:04 · Score: 0
  
  That is because people don't know their history regarding EU. When it first started it was an economic union. The target was to help companies, not the people. Since then it has changed it's name but I belive that its root values are still there. There are people who try to change it though.
  Seems like you need a history lesson as well. The idea of union was to integrate the german economy so tightly into those of the neighboring state to make sure it wouldn't be able to start another war.
10. Re:It's not the first time by Internetuser1248 · 2012-01-27 00:29 · Score: 2
  
  The argument that the EU is evil because they removed Berlusconi from office seems sort of strange to me. He was a mob boss. If that is the worst example of EU conduct you can come up with they must be a fairly reasonable bunch.
11. Re:It's not the first time by cpu6502 · 2012-01-27 02:01 · Score: 1
  
  Except the new Italian PM was never an elected minister by the People. He simply showed-up in the parliament one day, out of nowhere.
  
  --
  My AC stalker: " I personally agree with your posts most of the time, but that won't keep me from modding you troll"
12. Re:It's not the first time by Teun · 2012-01-27 03:17 · Score: 1
  
  So?
  I know some countries have their government elected but there are other equally democratic systems in Europe where the government is not elected but installed by the elected parliament, very similar to how we get the EU commission.
  What I find lacking in democracy is the British system, once a year the Prime Minister presents the new budget and hours later fuel tax is increased, in my country the government presents it's new budget to parliament and only after deliberation can such a change be implemented.
  
  --
  "The likes of Facebook and WhatsApp are free to those whose privacy is of zero value."
13. Re:It's not the first time by phantomfive · 2012-01-27 04:20 · Score: 1
  
  The problem is with the undemocratic activities. Once you have people in power who are not responsible to the people, things go bad. Sure, at first those people may be good, and even act better than the will of the people, but eventually they will be replaced by those who are not so good. And that's when you run into problems.
  
  --
  "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
14. Re:It's not the first time by SwedishPenguin · 2012-01-27 08:33 · Score: 1
  
  Here in Sweden, the Social Democratic party leader, Håkan Juholt, who opposed joining the "Euro plus pact" (thus blocking the right-wing minority government from joining the pact since all other opposition parties were also opposed) was just recently disposed of last week and replaced with a more EU-friendly leader yesterday, the Social Democrats are now all of the sudden in favor and the parliamentary EU-committee met just today with the prime minister in preparation for Monday's EU summit... Granted, Juholt had trouble with the media before that, but the conspiratorial part of me refuses to acknowledge that such timing would be a coincidence, especially given all the other coincidences around Europe lately.
15. Re:It's not the first time by cpu6502 · 2012-01-27 08:48 · Score: 1
  
  It would be equivalent to the British Parliament, rather than choosing one of the ministers elected by the people, suddenly making a banker the new PM. That's what happened in Italy.
  
  --
  My AC stalker: " I personally agree with your posts most of the time, but that won't keep me from modding you troll"
16. Re:It's not the first time by shutdown+-p+now · 2012-01-27 13:15 · Score: 1
  
  The argument that the EU is evil because they removed Berlusconi from office seems sort of strange to me.
  Well, they didn't hang him after they removed him, so... ~
17. Re:It's not the first time by metacell · 2012-02-03 01:28 · Score: 1
  
  The idea of union was to integrate the german economy so tightly into those of the neighboring state to make sure it wouldn't be able to start another war.
  If we go as far back as the European Coal and Steel Community formed shortly after WW2, yes... but after that, it evolved into the European Community, and only after that, we got the EU, which was based mostly on free trade from the start.
  Personally, I think linking the EU to the coal/steel union is a way to style it as a "peace project", when in practice it's about economy.
Re:I can understand why by symbolset · 2012-01-26 20:19 · Score: 5, Insightful

All that is required for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing. - Various attributions.

--
Help stamp out iliturcy.
Why can't more politicians do this? by euroq · 2012-01-26 20:20 · Score: 1

I think it would fix so many problems...

--
Just because the U.S. is a republic does not mean it is not a democracy. Democracy/republic are not mutually exclusive.
1. Re:Why can't more politicians do this? by petman · 2012-01-26 20:42 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  How did he screw everyone?
  
  --
  Dropbox drops it like it's hot.
2. Re:Why can't more politicians do this? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-26 21:58 · Score: 0
  
  Well if everyone who refused to participate in unacceptable acts was to leave, who would remain?
3. Re:Why can't more politicians do this? by Khyber · 2012-01-26 23:00 · Score: 0
  
  How can someone that reads slashdot not know that people with good/excellent karma START out at 3?
  Talk about being poorly informed, yourself, pal.
  
  --
  Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
4. Re:Why can't more politicians do this? by lennier1 · 2012-01-27 00:46 · Score: 1
  
  Probably not the best idea.
  What's to gain if the all remaining politicians with at least microscopic remnants of a backbone resigned as well?
5. Re:Why can't more politicians do this? by mister_playboy · 2012-01-27 02:10 · Score: 1
  
  Errr... the karma bonus lets you post at +2, as you and I are doing.
  
  --
  Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law ::: Love is the law, love under will
6. Re:Why can't more politicians do this? by Khyber · 2012-01-27 06:39 · Score: 1
  
  And default is 1, so 1 + 2 = ?
  Basic math, hard for most slashdotters.
  
  --
  Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
7. Re:Why can't more politicians do this? by shutdown+-p+now · 2012-01-27 13:17 · Score: 1
  
  Well if everyone who refused to participate in unacceptable acts was to leave, who would remain?
  Mostly the same people that participate in them today?
8. Re:Why can't more politicians do this? by mister_playboy · 2012-01-27 15:34 · Score: 1
  
  Karma bonus adds +1, asshole.
  
  --
  Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law ::: Love is the law, love under will
9. Re:Why can't more politicians do this? by Khyber · 2012-01-27 20:30 · Score: 1
  
  Logged In Users get an extra +1, oh 7-digit UID fool.
  
  --
  Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
How do we protest this? by Zandamesh · 2012-01-26 20:23 · Score: 5, Interesting

What we need is a simple webpage with links to complete tutorials of how to protest this for each country, where people can edit the tutorials, like, a wikipedia for protests. I don't know how to create such a website quickly, but I'm sure some guys on Slashdot could whip out something like this in a couple of hours.

--
Lo and behold, for I am a sig!
1. Re:How do we protest this? by JaredOfEuropa · 2012-01-26 20:39 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  Once again the French come through:How to act against ACTA.
  
  In addition, if you're a member or supporter of any national party in Europe, lean on your party's committee members as well. Often they have a large influence on their EU counterparts, and don't forget that your own governments still have to ratify the treaty.
  
  Sadly, it looks like in many countries ACTA will sail through the ratification process: at that point most ruling parties will already have given it their implicit endorsement, and they might look silly nacking out now. Rebelious coalition members might vote in favour as well, out of political expedience. If the EU parliament does not kill this, I guess it'll be too late.
  
  --
  If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
2. Re:How do we protest this? by Khyber · 2012-01-26 23:01 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  "What we need is a simple webpage"
  What you need is to grow a pair and shoot the bastards responsible for this.
  
  --
  Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
3. Re:How do we protest this? by JonySuede · 2012-01-27 01:10 · Score: 2
  
  corrupted politicians are like pirate sites:
  cut one head and 2 grow back....
  
  --
  Jehovah be praised, Oracle was not selected
4. Re:How do we protest this? by Zouden · 2012-01-27 02:23 · Score: 1
  
  Thanks for the suggestion, Jared.
  
  --
  "A week in the lab saves an hour in the library"
5. Re:How do we protest this? by ArsenneLupin · 2012-01-27 03:46 · Score: 2
  
  What you need is to grow a pair and shoot the bastards responsible for this.
  Unfortunately, here in Europe, we don't have a Second Amendment yet: we only get the crap laws from the US, never the good stuff!
6. Re:How do we protest this? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-27 04:30 · Score: 0
  
  corrupted politicians are like pirate sites:
  cut one head and 2 grow back....
  We must submit this hypothesis to the madrigogs. Do you have any corrupt politicians that I could borrow?
7. Re:How do we protest this? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-27 04:31 · Score: 0
  
  Is it really that bad?
  Is it that bad to kill a politician that has or will cause incalculable suffering to a large number of people solely for their own financial gain? How about killing politicians that would sellout your childrens' future to the highest bidder? How about killing the people responsible for handing millions of dollars out to their friends while watching the country slide into desperation?
  I don't killing politicians is bad at all. Heck, most of them deserve to die.
8. Re:How do we protest this? by Khyber · 2012-01-27 06:41 · Score: 1
  
  "their mechanics are flawless"
  Which makes for some of the most unreliable weaponry in battle. Playroom is CRITICAL, too tight a tolerance and shit jams too much, too loose of a tolerance, shit misfires or falls apart.
  Learn from the AK-47. (BTW new model coming out, AK-12.)
  Swiss guns are shit. Germans got good one.
  AA-12 still owns all.
  
  --
  Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
9. Re:How do we protest this? by shutdown+-p+now · 2012-01-27 13:20 · Score: 1
  
  Which makes for some of the most unreliable weaponry in battle.
  Do you have any references to back the claim that e.g. SIG SG 550 is "some of the most unreliable weaponry"? About the only complaint I've ever heard about them is that they're too damn heavy for a 5.56 assault rifle.
10. Re:How do we protest this? by Khyber · 2012-01-27 21:29 · Score: 1
  
  Drop it in the mud, try firing.
  Not happening.
  Shit.
  
  --
  Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
11. Re:How do we protest this? by Khyber · 2012-01-28 12:54 · Score: 1
  
  Are you that buttmad?
  The AA-12 is 10x more reliable than those pieces of composite junk. It *NEVER* needs cleaning, it's self-cleaning, self-lubricating, solid steel construction, and what's even better is it has an actual service record. It's a little heavier but that makes it more useful for close-range melee.
  Oh, I actually know weapons, pal. I learned MUCH from my grandfather, a USMC Lt. Col I know how to assess these system designs, and I do quite a bit of engineering myself.
  
  --
  Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
12. Re:How do we protest this? by Khyber · 2012-01-29 09:35 · Score: 1
  
  Umm, you very clearly have no clue what you're talking about, let alone know what an AA-12 is, let alone fired one. Good day, moron.
  
  --
  Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
13. Re:How do we protest this? by Khyber · 2012-01-30 04:44 · Score: 1
  
  "Cling to your funny short-ranged popgun while I merrily cap you at 300m with a SAPR, loserboy."
  Nope, you have no clue. AA-12 with HE-12 frag grenades have accuracy up to 500m + splash damage, idiot. AA-12 with 12-gauge bismuth slugs has accuracy up to 700m, steel slugs up to 600m. Full-auto buckshot spray? Don't need accuracy. Anything within 1000m of me is dead.
  Note your constant -1 mods. You don't have a fucking clue.
  
  --
  Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
14. Re:How do we protest this? by Khyber · 2012-01-30 17:37 · Score: 1
  
  "It would be good to have one per team in CQB operations but the claims it doesn't need to be cleaned or lubricated are laughable, and you're stupid for believing the manufacturer."
  Or maybe I've actually blown 10,000+ rounds through one. Your poor ass certainly can't afford one to test.
  "Again, you know nothing of firearms"
  Again, you're too poor to even come close to being able to afford my arsenal. That includes 50w pulse lasers.
  The joys of being a leading semiconductor engineer.
  
  --
  Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
15. Re:How do we protest this? by Khyber · 2012-01-31 04:51 · Score: 1
  
  "Ah, yes, you're also the leader of a company that publicly opposes SOPA."
  Yep, I do. I see you're jealous AND poor.
  Note how you failed to address me owning and firing multiple thousands of rounds through my stated weapon without cleaning.
  You got your ass owned, child.
  BTW, you talk so much that I now know where you live through your easily trackable comments across the web, you weaboo fuck :D
  You're also a mere child, barely 24.
  
  --
  Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
I'm proud of Mr Arif by Trapezium+Artist · 2012-01-26 20:24 · Score: 5, Insightful

What can I say? I'm very pleased that Kader Arif had the guts to make his disgust with the ACTA process known so publicly. His actions deserve to be widely recognised outside the tech community as well as within; we should ensure that "regular" media outlets cover this part of the story.
Will his stand bring down the entire shameful edifice that is ACTA? No. Is it an important part of the battle that is being fought and must continue to be fought? Yes.
1. Re:I'm proud of Mr Arif by Spottywot · 2012-01-26 21:14 · Score: 2
  
  OK, but what is he going to do next? If he feels so strongly about this, why did he not remain in his position and use that power more constructively? This isn't likely to be put in front of the E.U. parliament before June so who is this going to notice this 'falling on my sword act' apart from those who already oppose this, i.e. Slashdotters and the like. I'll gladly eat my words if this makes national news anywhere.
  
  --
  In a cybernetic fit of rage she pissed off to another age...
2. Re:I'm proud of Mr Arif by slydder · 2012-01-26 21:24 · Score: 1
  
  I have to admit. It's one of the few times that the French has impressed me. Respect Mr. Arif.
  
  --
  IT Admins Group: Where you decide the content
3. Re:I'm proud of Mr Arif by mr_gorkajuice · 2012-01-26 21:50 · Score: 1
  
  Exactly. My first thought was "Finally we have a politician worth his salt, and then he quits".
4. Re:I'm proud of Mr Arif by Rakarra · 2012-01-26 22:31 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  OK, but what is he going to do next? If he feels so strongly about this, why did he not remain in his position and use that power more constructively? This isn't likely to be put in front of the E.U. parliament before June so who is this going to notice this 'falling on my sword act' apart from those who already oppose this, i.e. Slashdotters and the like.
  Sometimes you are put into a token position where you have no real power, where no one has to answer to you and you can enact no policies. Not uncommon in, say, a sham investigation. In that case his only power is to resign in the most public and shaming manner possible.
5. Re:I'm proud of Mr Arif by Capitaine · 2012-01-26 22:33 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  Just checked out the 3 major French (Le Monde, Liberation, Le Figaro) and German (Frankfurter Algemein, Süddeutscher Zeitung, Die Welt) newspaper website. No trace of the ACTA. Nothing more in economical newspapers. Your words are safe.
6. Re:I'm proud of Mr Arif by Ihmhi · 2012-01-26 23:02 · Score: 1
  
  "ACTA? It's like that SOAP or PIPE thing them kids been screamin' about on the Facebooks? Who cares, let those cheese-eating surrender monkeys go out and buy some good ol' American films, the thievin' little shits!"
  
  --
  Random Thoughts From A Diseased Mind (Not For Dummies)
7. Re:I'm proud of Mr Arif by Internetuser1248 · 2012-01-27 00:49 · Score: 1
  
  Confirming this. A google.de news search for the the guy's name returns results from many European nations, especially Austria. Germany is conspicuously absent. Living in Germany at the moment I can also confirm in general that the German media is in the pocket of big business. They hide it better than most but if you look closely the evidence is there. Is there anything we can do to expose their lack of ethics?
8. Re:I'm proud of Mr Arif by blind+biker · 2012-01-27 01:35 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah, Arif Kader is one of the unreasonable ones. And thank fuck for that!
  I'm pissed at all those "reasonable" politicians that will merrily let the world go to shit.
  
  --
  "The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
9. Re:I'm proud of Mr Arif by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-27 02:40 · Score: 0
  
  You must try their food some time...
10. Re:I'm proud of Mr Arif by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-27 04:04 · Score: 0
  
  In Poland it's completely the opposite. Since about monday there's been a non-stop appearance of ACTA in the media. TV news, radio, newspapers, including information, articles, debates. Also, people are organizing on Facebook and protest in a lot of different cities - Warsaw saw a few hundred people in front of the European Parliament office few days ago, and incidentally another organized protest begins right now in front of the Presidential Palace.
11. Re:I'm proud of Mr Arif by Spad · 2012-01-27 04:20 · Score: 1
  
  Well it's the top story on the BBC News site's technology section and linked off their front page: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16757142
  Does that count?
12. Re:I'm proud of Mr Arif by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-27 04:49 · Score: 0
  
  Those are all protests against ACTA in Poland:
  http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=protest+przeciw+acta
13. Re:I'm proud of Mr Arif by Karmada · 2012-01-27 08:16 · Score: 1
  
  SOPA and PIPA both mean fellatio in hungarian slang.
  and ACTA can mean file, or slush-fund / corruption money in slang....
  is this some inside joke somewhere?
Fundamental disconnect: by tkel · 2012-01-26 20:28 · Score: 2

'This agreement might have major consequences on citizens' lives'
1. Re:Fundamental disconnect: by JavaBear · 2012-01-26 20:40 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  "might"?
  There is nothing "might" about it. It will have devastating effect on a lot of law-abiding users, and probably very little on the less law-abiding users, if not outright help the "pirates" in the long run.
  But it will criminalize the majority of the internet users.
2. Re:Fundamental disconnect: by petman · 2012-01-26 20:46 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Since ACTA is yet to be passed by the parliaments, then "might" is the right word.
  
  --
  Dropbox drops it like it's hot.
3. Re:Fundamental disconnect: by analyst-cz · 2012-01-26 22:34 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  It is still underestimated by EU governments, that repression can be successful (victorious) in long run only if it is supported at least by the "silent majority" of public. This is not, or at least will not, be the case of ACTA, if ever tried to be really enforced. There REALLY SHOULD be some official government security advisor, that can put together several bits proved by the true human history:
  1) "Bread and games" concept and fall of the Roman empire once it (for any good reason) was unwilling or unable to support it anymore. (No way I say it was the only one reason, off course, but still the significant one.)
  2) It is generally reproved by historians as well as the humanity to cut the hand for stealing the bread during medieval. It can easily be the same about jailing people because they looked at the film or played the game after several hundred years.
  3) Total number of victims in consequence of the Red October Revolution (which was just misuse of general public discontent by selfish political movements) was bigger then the WWII victims count. (And still it failed in long run once it itself turned towards the repressions.)
  Such a revolution could hardly occur (or at least be so massive), if capitalism would timely adapted it's hunger for money to some sustainable position, as it was forced to do anyways as the consequence of the revolution. The parallel is in adapting new, sharing based, business models by major content producers (what, I believe, could paradoxically even increase their profit - at least in the middle horizon) instead of provocative and generally ineffective repressions.
  4) People suffering large (=unpayable) fees, thus loosing their homes and possession, suffering arresting of their children ("stealers" of the copyrighted content) and lack of access to any relaxation, aggression diminishing, sources (i.e. copyrighted content) will tend to join ANY riots, regardless of how obscure goal they serve behind the curtain.
  5) Final prove is the recent Greece history, where EU-enforced saving rules (which in general and especially compared to the ACTA targets are very reasonable) showed to be even more cost consumptive (because of the productivity decrease by strikes and cost increase due to suppressions of public riots plus collateral damage) than would be the status quo. This fact is not too publicly disseminated, but is confirmed by EU officials in some public sources and is behind the very recent statements of the Angela Merkel admitting the ability of the Greece bankrupt.
  
  On the site note: yes, I do agree that any repressive push is just in the favor of the International Pirate Movement (which I foresee to be in the similar position now as Green Movement was in 70 years of last century, large uprise ahead), but still I do not support "the end justifies the means" approach if such a collateral damage is predictable.
  
  --
  "Interesting times to you..." (One of the most feared black magic curses.)
4. Re:Fundamental disconnect: by SwedishPenguin · 2012-01-27 08:42 · Score: 1
  
  Once it's passed the European Parliament (and it will pass, give it some time, maybe a symbolic "compromise"), national governments will have to implement it or face heavy fines, generally the national parliaments rubber stamp anything that comes from the EU without any questions.
Re:I can understand why by Arancaytar · 2012-01-26 20:59 · Score: 4, Insightful

Fortunately, for evil to lose not much more is required than for good men to do something.
Terrorists by __aarvde6843 · 2012-01-26 21:01 · Score: 2

The American Mafia that is terrorising the other (EU, and then some) countries (bribing, black-mailing, pressuring, whatever) should be arrested by "your" patriot act and sent to guatanamo. They are a menace not only to the life of every American, as to the whole world.
I never thought that my generation would ever get the world to this state. Seems we were a bad batch... "I don't want to live in this world anymore..."
1. Re:Terrorists by the+eric+conspiracy · 2012-01-27 03:08 · Score: 1
  
  Folks in the EU need to take action to protect their own interests and stop whining and behaving like pussies any time there is the slightest political pressure from outside and blaming the US any time something they don't like comes up.
  Dammit Europe is not a colony of the US, and it should stop behaving like one. And this includes paying for its own military instead of relying on the US all the time.
  If you don't you are going to get tired of getting ass raped all the time.
awww sh*t! by gciochina · 2012-01-26 21:04 · Score: 3, Insightful

I'm from Romania and I think I can say that I've been actively involved in "down with SOPA/PIPA" movement... and, for now, looks like we've won a battle on these two. However, i'm getting really worried about the whole ACTA stuff, because I don't think that we'll ever manage to get that much support for an anti-ACTA movement. Right now, at least two of the guys (Romanians) we've got in the EU parliament are certified retards and i'm pretty sure that they'll never consider the full implications of their vote on this one. The most disturbing thing is that the majority of the population hasn't even heard of ACTA, SOPA, PIPA... let alone ever heard of what they stand for and how will these change their lives. Without a huge move like the one made by Reddit/ Wikipedia/ Google & Co/ etc we'll never be able to stop it. Right now, the only thing i can think of is FML :(.
1. Re:awww sh*t! by dokc · 2012-01-26 21:32 · Score: 1
  
  Without a huge move like the one made by Reddit/ Wikipedia/ Google & Co/ etc we'll never be able to stop it.
  You must have some important (and independent) site which can black-out Internet. ACTA will hit hard on ISP's, it must be a chance that they can put a pop-up Web Page once per day or every few hours explaining to Internet users whats going on? Or they are just in the hands of politicians who signed the ACTA?
  
  --
  In love, war and slashdot discussions, everything is allowed.
2. Re:awww sh*t! by gciochina · 2012-01-26 21:48 · Score: 1
  
  You must have some important (and independent) site which can black-out Internet. ACTA will hit hard on ISP's, it must be a chance that they can put a pop-up Web Page once per day or every few hours explaining to Internet users whats going on? Or they are just in the hands of politicians who signed the ACTA?
  good point, but that's exactly my concern above ... there are 22 countries that have already signed. basically it's impossible to get people from 22 countries informed via one or two important sites. what we are using here everyday are basically the same big-name sites that US/Australia & others are using (Wikipedia, YouTube, Google) but asides from that, everyone is on his own: For instance in Romania, (probably) the only high-impact news site is hotnews(.)ro. But can't guarantee for it's independence.... And even if we would manage to get hotnews to make a blackout/popup warning about ACTA, this would only get us 1 vote down.
3. Re:awww sh*t! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-26 21:59 · Score: 1
  
  Or they are just in the hands of politicians who signed the ACTA?
  Now that's an understatement! :)
  You'll understand my (sad) amuzement once I explain some thing about most of that region (Russia, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Ukraine etc.). It's rife with politician collusion in Mafia-like organizations at national level. Basically the entire system becomes one big corrupt blob which infiltrates everything: justice, administration, religion, health, economy, education, mass media etc. It's core purpose: making money for the members, mainly by robbing massively from national resources, EU grants, IMF loans, anything and anyhow, without any regard for long term consequences.
  Choices for average Joe: A) join the system, leave backbone and scruples at the door; B) don't join the system, lead an honest life, but you'll never get ahead; C) GTFO of the country. Of course there's also D) civil disobedience and protests, but the population in these countries is usually brainwashed by decades, sometimes centuries, of "bread and circus", and sistematically kept out of practice with any kind of stepping out of line.
  Even so, in the long term the resources eventually dry up and the shit hits the fan. Now, I'm not gonna throw all those countries in the same basket; each of them has very different circumstances. But the economical crisis has exposed the ugly underbelly of the system and brought the end so much closer, and it's coming to a conclusion soon.
  Coming back to topic: adopting ACTA against the interest of the citizens is perfectly natural in such systems, but it's a drop in the ocean. Stuff like that is business as usual in these countries, and they have much bigger issues right now, such as nearing complete collapse of economy, health care, education etc.
4. Re:awww sh*t! by gciochina · 2012-01-26 22:43 · Score: 1
  
  Or they are just in the hands of politicians who signed the ACTA?
  Now that's an understatement! :)
  You'll understand my (sad) amuzement once I explain some thing about most of that region (Russia, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Ukraine etc.). It's rife with politician collusion in Mafia-like organizations at national level. Basically the entire system becomes one big corrupt blob which infiltrates everything: justice, administration, religion, health, economy, education, mass media etc. It's core purpose: making money for the members, mainly by robbing massively from national resources, EU grants, IMF loans, anything and anyhow, without any regard for long term consequences.
  Choices for average Joe: A) join the system, leave backbone and scruples at the door; B) don't join the system, lead an honest life, but you'll never get ahead; C) GTFO of the country. Of course there's also D) civil disobedience and protests, but the population in these countries is usually brainwashed by decades, sometimes centuries, of "bread and circus", and sistematically kept out of practice with any kind of stepping out of line.
  Even so, in the long term the resources eventually dry up and the shit hits the fan. Now, I'm not gonna throw all those countries in the same basket; each of them has very different circumstances. But the economical crisis has exposed the ugly underbelly of the system and brought the end so much closer, and it's coming to a conclusion soon.
  Coming back to topic: adopting ACTA against the interest of the citizens is perfectly natural in such systems, but it's a drop in the ocean. Stuff like that is business as usual in these countries, and they have much bigger issues right now, such as nearing complete collapse of economy, health care, education etc.
  What this guy wrote here is totally true, (sadly) especially in my country.
5. Re:awww sh*t! by dokc · 2012-01-27 01:02 · Score: 1
  
  You must have some important (and independent) site which can black-out Internet. ACTA will hit hard on ISP's, it must be a chance that they can put a pop-up Web Page once per day or every few hours explaining to Internet users whats going on? Or they are just in the hands of politicians who signed the ACTA?
  good point, but that's exactly my concern above ... there are 22 countries that have already signed. basically it's impossible to get people from 22 countries informed via one or two important sites. what we are using here everyday are basically the same big-name sites that US/Australia & others are using (Wikipedia, YouTube, Google) but asides from that, everyone is on his own: For instance in Romania, (probably) the only high-impact news site is hotnews(.)ro. But can't guarantee for it's independence.... And even if we would manage to get hotnews to make a blackout/popup warning about ACTA, this would only get us 1 vote down.
  1 vote down is a message like what Kader Arif did (of course we both agree that this whole discussion is academic in nature)
  
  --
  In love, war and slashdot discussions, everything is allowed.
6. Re:awww sh*t! by dokc · 2012-01-27 01:10 · Score: 1
  
  Yes, you are right, but in mentioned countries nobody cares about ACTA because copyright policing will anyway be ignored. Government doesn't give a shit if somebody pirates movies or music. ACTA is just a piece of paper and Hollywood Studios can wipe their a** with that paper.
  
  --
  In love, war and slashdot discussions, everything is allowed.
activepolitic.com:82 Link not work by sugarmotor · 2012-01-26 21:06 · Score: 2

URL: http://activepolitic.com:82/News/2012-01-26d/EU_ACTA_chief_resigns_in_disgust_over_disrespect_at_citizens.html
Connection to 64.30.66.124 failed.
The system returned: (111) Connection refused
Here's some alternative, https://www.laquadrature.net/wiki/ACTA_rapporteur_denounces_ACTA_mascarade which quotes from Kader Arif's blog:
http://www.kader-arif.fr/actualites.php?actualite_id=147

--
http://stephan.sugarmotor.org
Probably was the best course of action by BeforeCoffee · 2012-01-26 21:06 · Score: 4, Interesting

It's probably best for himself and his family that he made a big show of his dissent like this. There's probably some angry, big moneyed cockroaches that are scurrying after the light was shone on their big bureaucratic power grab.
These fat media/government cockroaches are appearing more and more desperate, no?
It's just a matter of time till the lazy-ass 1337 network hackers get their collective acts together and start shunting their god-given right to free traffic off onto a pure P2P, encrypted, usually-connected, fido-net style worldwide wireless network grid a la "media net" from The Diamond Age by Neil Stephenson.

"The media net was designed from the ground up to provide privacy and security, so that people could use it to transfer money. That’s one reason the nation-states collapsed – as soon as the media grid was up and running, financial transactions could no longer be monitored by governments."
'Monitored' is post-central-government era term that means the same as 'controlled'. In our lifetimes, there will be no centralized corporate/governmental infrastructure worth controlling. And the most delicious part: their goofy special protections for DRM in the 90's will be their undoing.
Computer networks, exchange and value, ideation and realization - these have all become interlinked concepts. The hub is the network.
Guess what, cockroaches? The democracy genie is outta the bottle, and it has been for 15 years. These desperate, piddly attempts of yours to stuff it back in the bottle won't work for long. (And if the people would just WAKE UP, they won't work at all!)
1. Re:Probably was the best course of action by CRCulver · 2012-01-26 21:17 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Guess what, cockroaches? The democracy genie is outta the bottle, and it has been for 15 years. These desperate, piddly attempts of yours to stuff it back in the bottle won't work for long.
  
  It's funny for me to read this not two minutes after I finished Roger Hutchinson's book High Sixites, a sweeping view of 1960s youth culture. The final pages are an interview with the artist Jeff Nuttall held in 1991, at the end of the Thatcher era. Nuttall poignantly recalls that he thought at the time that his generation had triumphed, that conservative forces should just step out of the way since they had already plainly lost. And then came two decades (and more) that did away with all that they had accomplished, and with their hope itself.
  For our own generation, the genie may well go back in the bottle...
2. Re:Probably was the best course of action by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-26 22:02 · Score: 0
  
  Some 'hippies' from that era are now Big Business themselves, directly making deal with government leaders.
3. Re:Probably was the best course of action by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-26 22:09 · Score: 0
  
  the second coming in a revolution?
4. Re:Probably was the best course of action by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-26 22:19 · Score: 0
  
  One wonders if Ireland will be the turncoat in this saga - Ireland is at the forefront of imposing ACTA-type restrictions (already in force with the ISP Eircom, and coming into force on all other ISPs through a statutory instrument being prepared this week, following the failure of a case against the ISP UPC). Ireland is also host to the European headquarters of Google, Twitter, Facebook and almost every other internet company whose business is threatened by carrier-liability laws.
  I can see Ireland's government having a Damascene conversion to oppose ACTA if there is enough public anger combined with enough business lobbying.
5. Re:Probably was the best course of action by BeforeCoffee · 2012-01-26 22:23 · Score: 0, Offtopic
  
  It's funny for me to read this because I'm a rabid conservative libertarian. I've always thought the liberal forces should just wither away (as they are designed to do) and yield to those who would lead and do. There's this odd built-in, self-hating weakness in liberal thought that usually breeds more weakness whenever it gains traction with the herd.
  As to whether the democracy genie will go back in the bottle or not, I like to think nature always finds a way. So, I'm thinking these niggly bureaucratic speedbumps we're running into today will eventually get ground away to nothingness by natural progress. The way the internet works is core to our human nature, and we're survivors, but it's also all very v1. Needs lots of refining just like our individual thinking needs refining.
  Don't misunderestimate Gen-X, we're punchy and we're taking power.
6. Re:Probably was the best course of action by Rakarra · 2012-01-26 22:34 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Some 'hippies' from that era are now Big Business themselves, directly making deal with government leaders.
  The pot smokers of that 60s eventually had kids, but those parents come up with all sorts of BS reasons for why it was ok for them to smoke, but not their kids. Those same hypocrites will also change their business ways now that they actually have some money in the game.
7. Re:Probably was the best course of action by MatthiasF · 2012-01-26 23:53 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  Every generation grows up thinking it invented revolution, rebellion, drug-use, sex, and a new world.
  
  Every generation becomes a teenager and picks something the government is doing, thinks it's wrong and protests.
  
  But every generation grows up and eventually realizes they were really dumb when they were younger after they learn every generation before them did the same thing and it made no difference.
8. Re:Probably was the best course of action by SuricouRaven · 2012-01-26 23:54 · Score: 1
  
  "It's just a matter of time till the lazy-ass 1337 network hackers get their collective acts together and start shunting their god-given right to free traffic off onto a pure P2P, encrypted, usually-connected, fido-net style worldwide wireless network grid"
  
  Go support Freenet. It's all of those things except the wireless, which may be added on with ease once node density increases. We're having retention issues at the moment, so if you'd run a node or two with a terabyte-sized store and a fair amount of bandwidth it would really help.
9. Re:Probably was the best course of action by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-27 01:09 · Score: 0
  
  What the hell are you talking about? Try again AFTER coffee.
10. Re:Probably was the best course of action by Flammon · 2012-01-27 02:38 · Score: 1
  
  Really? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_revolutions_and_rebellions
  
  --
  ayottesoftware.com
11. Re:Probably was the best course of action by Attila+Dimedici · 2012-01-27 02:48 · Score: 1
  
  It reminds me of a front page article in Time magazine (in the early 90s, I believe), which asked the question of how parents who had smoked pot would justify telling their children not to smoke pot. I did not understand what was so difficult about this question. I smoked pot as a teenager and into my 20s. If I have kids I have a really easy answer to the question, "I was stupid to smoke pot. You should not make the same mistakes I made." If you smoked pot and do not think that you made a mistake to do so, then you are a hypocrite to try and keep your kids from doing so. On the other hand, if you think it was a mistake and regret doing so, then there is nothing hypocritical about telling your kids not to do so.
  
  --
  The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
12. Re:Probably was the best course of action by Xyrus · 2012-01-27 03:02 · Score: 1
  
  Government is always a good idea until people realize they can make money from it.
  
  --
  ~X~
13. Re:Probably was the best course of action by misexistentialist · 2012-01-27 03:04 · Score: 1
  
  They didn't just say it was "not OK": those pacifists supported a war against drugs, and didn't mind seeing many of their children destroyed as "enemies of the state".
14. Re:Probably was the best course of action by dkleinsc · 2012-01-27 03:32 · Score: 1
  
  There are lots of problems with that argument:
  1 (A) Every generation has improved the refining of recreational drugs. For instance, the hallucinogenic drugs like LSD were found in mushrooms, and used there, but there was no process for extracting just the drug. Similarly, cocaine was a more refined version of opium,
  1 (B) Similarly, while sex has always happened, what's acceptable to talk about has changed. For instance, homosexuality was perfectly acceptable in ancient Greece and Rome, became completely unacceptable by the 1800's, became steadily more acceptable thanks to late Victorians like Oscar Wilde but still mostly behind closed doors, and in modern times the debate about whether homosexual couples can formalize their relationship with a marriage.
  So while they didn't invent it, it's foolish to say that each generation doesn't change things.
  2. Not everyone who protests something the government is doing is a teenager. A lot of the Occupyers, the majority of Tea Partyers were over 60 years old, and a lot of the protesters in Egypt, Tunesia, and Syria were over 30. In addition, not all teenagers get into political protest - a lot are just trying to find a way to make it through high school, college, or their first job.
  3. The reason opinions *may* change as people get older (again, no guarantee there - I've known plenty of people who's opinions didn't change much between their 30's and their 80's) is because as people get older they're more able to accumulate wealth and power. Therefor, those policies that favor those with wealth and power, which were oppressive when the person was a teenager, are now benefiting them. For instance, it's not uncommon for people to be vehemantly against paying Social Security taxes when they're working, and then vehemently opposed to any measure that would threaten their Social Security benefits when they're retired. In other words, pure self-interest pushes them that way.
  
  --
  I am officially gone from /. Long live http://www.soylentnews.com/
15. Re:Probably was the best course of action by dargaud · 2012-01-27 03:44 · Score: 1
  
  For instance, the hallucinogenic drugs like LSD were found in mushrooms, and used there, but there was no process for extracting just the drug. Similarly, cocaine was a more refined version of opium,
  LSD is a synthetic drug which has nothing to do with 'shrooms. And cocaine is (still) extracted from coca leaves. Heroine comes from opium which comes from poppy. Maybe you should take less drugs and get your facts straight. With 2 errors already on the 1st line, I'm not going to read the rest of your post.
  
  --
  Non-Linux Penguins ?
16. Re:Probably was the best course of action by dkleinsc · 2012-01-27 04:02 · Score: 1
  
  Actually, I've never used anything stronger than alcohol, which is why I know so little about them.
  
  --
  I am officially gone from /. Long live http://www.soylentnews.com/
17. Re:Probably was the best course of action by CRCulver · 2012-01-27 07:34 · Score: 1
  
  Not only is your first paragraph erroneous, as another poster pointed out, but you go on to make more mistakes:
  
  For instance, homosexuality was perfectly acceptable in ancient Greece and Rome.
  
  This isn't so at all. Pederasty was acceptable, but possibly only among the upper classes. Sexual abuse of slaves was also acceptable. But only the "active" man could get away with this behaviour, and that's only if he did it on the side while also maintaining a marriage to a woman. The "passive" partner in the sex act was absolutely despised by society. For long documentation of what Romans thought about homosexual men, see the Satyricon of Petronius.
18. Re:Probably was the best course of action by BeforeCoffee · 2012-01-27 11:02 · Score: 1
  
  SuricouRaven,
  Piggybacking on Comcast's network isn't a long term workable situation, you'll always be a slave to the man. Control your means of production: adapt Freenet to run on wireless routers that can interconnect and form a zero-administration P2P network grid.
  If you can pull that off, then I'd host a hotspot, a TB of storage, and even give you a CPU to play with.
  Can I stream arbitrary data between endpoints using Freenet, or can I only host and request static resources on Freenet? I also require streaming encrypted data between peers over the usually-connected grid.
  Cheers,
  Dave
19. Re:Probably was the best course of action by SuricouRaven · 2012-01-27 20:29 · Score: 1
  
  Freenet is based around a distributed store, so no streaming. You can host static resources, and you can also host versioned resources like websites that allow you (and only you) to replace the current version with a newer one. But it isn't realtime.
  
  The way the network is designed, adding a zero-administration p2p wireless grid wouldn't be too difficult. The problem is that there isn't much use for it - the chances you have another freenet user within range are just too slim. If Freenet was actually really popular, then it'd be good, but freenet is a niche network because there are very few people who demand that level of privacy. It is inhabited by pirates, free-speech activists, conspiracy theorists who believe the government(s) is out to get them, end-times religious types preparing for the coming oppression of the Antichrist and the occasional pedophile (Rumor says they have a message board somewhere, but I'm not going looking). Not the userbase for a popular network.
20. Re:Probably was the best course of action by BeforeCoffee · 2012-01-27 21:25 · Score: 1
  
  The lack of dynamism and live connections between peers is what discourages me from considering Freenet. The ability to engage in commerce is the first thing I'll be looking for. Simply archiving and transmitting static documents encourages only the "niche" uses of the network that you described. Seems like it would mostly negative effects; not something I would care to support.
  A wireless grid network needs a new standard that starts with connecting wireless routers and getting them to share data. If wireless routers began to support grid networking in their firmware, then we'd solve the chicken or egg problem I think you're describing where no one would setup a Freenet-enabled wireless router because no other compatible routers will ever be in range.
  But, say there was an innocent new 802.x spec that new routers all began to support that happened to interconnect routers and make it possible to route traffic across the wireless grid between peers as well as the internet - then over years, as network hardware is purchased and equipped by normal citizens, the foundation for the grid would be established.
  So I suppose the chicken or egg problem is: how could we go about establishing that router P2P interconnect standard such that new wireless routers will automatically become peers if another compatible router is in range? Is there a use case that could be satisfied that would allow for such a new networking style to become commonplace?
hey dude. by unity100 · 2012-01-26 21:42 · Score: 2

he is the RAPPORTEUR for acta. his duty was to investigate the proceedings, and report to european parliament. he did NOT have anyone sign acta.

--
Read radical news here
Re:I can understand why by dmbasso · 2012-01-26 21:42 · Score: 5, Informative

I did something, I signed this petition. I hope it helps.
http://www.avaaz.org/en/eu_save_the_internet/?fp

--
`echo $[0x853204FA81]|tr 0-9 ionbsdeaml`@gmail.com
Re:I can understand why by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-26 21:44 · Score: 0

We must do something. This is something, so it must be done! -- politicians
Re:I can understand why by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-26 21:46 · Score: 1

Ah, thanks my European friend, I signed a petition too. I guess it did help.
Stealth laws by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-26 21:51 · Score: 1

It seems my country has signed this, and it's funny as hell (or not) that I've only known it through slashdot.
Local journalists don't talk about it, so the information doesn't reach the population. I'm sick, tired and disgusted of these politicians and lobbyists, how come we don't have a say in the matter?
Democracy? It's more like pseudo-dictatorship to me.
1. Re:Stealth laws by Ash-Fox · 2012-01-26 23:54 · Score: 0
  
  how come we don't have a say in the matter?
  Because your government doesn't have a say in the matter either. If you actually followed European politics, you would discover that we are in a situation where we are being ruled by a class of people who are unelected by us, or by our countries. It does not matter who you vote for in your country, they cannot change the EU government, they have no power to do so.
  They use our governments to sign treaties and such to distract public opinion (they could push it through without our consent via self amending treaties like the Lisbon treaty). For some reason, none of the news media really reports on the happenings inside the EU.
  Fortunately, we have some politicians that despite their lack of power, are trying to deal with the situation anyway. But, they need our support in doing so.
  
  --
  Change is certain; progress is not obligatory.
European Citizens' Initiative by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-26 21:56 · Score: 0

http://ec.europa.eu/citizens-initiative
What is a European citizens' initiative?
A European citizens' initiative is an invitation to the European Commission to propose legislation on matters where the EU has competence to legislate. A citizens' initiative has to be backed by at least one million EU citizens, coming from at least 7 out of the 27 member states. A minimum number of signatories is required in each of those 7 member states.
The rules and procedures governing the citizens' initiative are set out in an EU Regulation http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2011:065:0001:0022:EN:PDF adopted by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union in February 2011.
What can be proposed as a citizens' initiative?
A citizens' initiative is possible in any field where the Commission has the power to propose legislation, for example environment, agriculture, transport or public health...
1. Re:European Citizens' Initiative by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-26 22:49 · Score: 0
  
  I am here not to criticize you, but I would like to make statement about the wording "at least 7 out of the 27 member states."
  I think it would be better to write: at least 26% of all the member states. Or at least: at least 7 out of all the member states.
Please explain ACTA by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-26 22:09 · Score: 0

I have never heard of ACTA. It is clearly another SOPA/PIPA fight but what is going on and what should i do?
1. Re:Please explain ACTA by Khyber · 2012-01-26 23:04 · Score: 0
  
  Get a gun, shoot all people responsible for the drafting of ACTA.
  It's the only way to be sure.
  
  --
  Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
2. Re:Please explain ACTA by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-26 23:12 · Score: 0
  
  ACTA is the base treaty. It is the reason why SOPA and PIPA exist.
Re:I can understand why by evilviper · 2012-01-26 22:16 · Score: 5, Funny

Evil will always triumph, because good Is dumb - Dark Helmet

--
Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
Re:I can understand why by kinarduk · 2012-01-26 22:22 · Score: 5, Informative

I also did something, I wrote to the MEP's in my area, outlining my position and asking their opinion. They need to know this is important. My local government web site had a link to my MEP's. http://www.thurrock.gov.uk/democracy/content.php?page=mps#c03
Re:I can understand why by SuricouRaven · 2012-01-26 22:25 · Score: 4, Insightful

Depends which side has more money. Evil is profitable.
Re:I can understand why by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-26 22:36 · Score: 0

All that is required for good to triumph is for evil men to do nothing.
Re:I can understand why by xaxa · 2012-01-26 22:44 · Score: 4, Informative

Excellent :)
Write to Them has a convenient link to MEPs (and MPs, etc).
Alternative link. by Sinn3d · 2012-01-26 22:44 · Score: 1

Some slashdotting going on I think... Still here is a translated piece of his own website,
http://njuice.com/4QR9
Re:I can understand why by kinarduk · 2012-01-26 22:46 · Score: 1

Thanks, so much easier than my way :) Still it's done now... Let's hope they respond.
why by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-26 22:53 · Score: 0

Isn't there a single article on this subject on main newspapers?
Lost in translation by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-26 23:02 · Score: 0

I suspect: masquerade -> deception
spanking needed ... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-26 23:43 · Score: 0

"22 EU members signed the controversial ACTA treaty Thursday in Tokyo."
these 22 EU members need some serious spanking ... or at least house arrest for 33 days without TV and internet..
EU "democratic deficit" by benjfowler · 2012-01-27 00:06 · Score: 2, Interesting

I think this is quite interesting.
The EU has always been a neoliberal political project designed to benefit big business. Single huge parket, mobililty of labour, single currency, decisions taken by unelected bureaucrats... it's all designed to enrich well-connected big businessmen.
But the problem with all this, is that they have to make a show of democratic legitimacy through what has been an utterly irrelevant European Parliament. But it seems that real people have other ideas... the youth these days are pan-European, with Erasmus scholarships and whatnot, people study, travel, holiday, fall in love and start families across a borderless Europe. So political legitimacy of a united Europe has become more important, and we're seeing a gradual strengthening of pan-European civil society, helped in part by the internet, and cheap flights. The demand of ordinary people for a fair say in how their continent is run is irresistable.
Naturally, the crooks, rent-seekers and kleptocrats want "their" Europe back, and are trying to hide their scheming and plotting away from public scrutiny. Look at how the criminals overthrew the democratically-elected governments in Greece and Italy, and replaced them with "their" people as unelected dictators (bankers from Goldman Sachs, the same criminals who engineered the global financial crisis, no less).
The business class are the worst hypocrites imaginable -- they LOVE democracy, when it opens up free markets for their goods and services and drives down the cost of labour, but turn on open society like rabid pigs when it doesn't serve their interests.
It's not surprising in the least that they would seek to bypass democratic oversight of their latest blatent power grab.
Re:I can understand why by TrueSatan · 2012-01-27 00:41 · Score: 3, Informative

I also did something, I wrote to the MEP's in my area, outlining my position and asking their opinion. They need to know this is important. My local government web site had a link to my MEP's.
The Free Software Foundation provides the following page of contact details for all the relevant EU politicians: http://www.openrightsgroup.org/blog/2011/acta:-signed,-not-yet-sealed-now-its-up-to-us Those on the Development Committee are the most important and are listed on the following link: https://memopol.lqdn.fr/europe/parliament/committee/DEVE/ For the FSF views on ACTA see: http://www.fsf.org/campaigns/acta
What a Badass by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-27 00:51 · Score: 0

Hats off to this dude. We need more tough-talking sons of btiches like him.
Contacted MP by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-27 00:52 · Score: 0

Just sent an e-mail to all of my countiries MP for the European Parlament.
I hope I will get a response. I told them that puting the intersts of foreign corporations before my civil liberties won't win them my vote, and that I will actively campaign against them amongst all my freinds and aquaintances next elections if they vote for ACTA.
Hope that they will listen.
Re:power is to resign by TaoPhoenix · 2012-01-27 00:53 · Score: 1

Despite it getting modded down above, I'll try one more time.
Why did he wait until *after* the countries signed (provisionally, etc)? Surely he knew his findings last week? So why didn't he resign on opening of business Monday?

--
My first Journal Entry ever, in 8 years! http://slashdot.org/journal/365947/aphelion-scifi-fantasy-horror-poetry-webzine
Wtf? by X.25 · 2012-01-27 01:32 · Score: 1

So, he resigned to 'send a message', and now they'll simply hire someone who will be 'compliant' and keep his mouth shut. :tinfoil:
Re:I can understand why by Luckyo · 2012-01-27 01:50 · Score: 1

How is that funny and not insightful?
Re:I can understand why by MisterMidi · 2012-01-27 01:54 · Score: 1

Thanks, I signed it. Unbelievable, people are signing at a rate of about 500 a minute!
Re:I can understand why by slyrat · 2012-01-27 02:13 · Score: 1

How is that funny and not insightful?
I think it is more a bit of both. It both is a bit insightful and from a funny movie. There may also be a bit of a woosh going on here.
US analogy by KingAlanI · 2012-01-27 02:37 · Score: 2

Seems like the US analogy would be as if the President has signed it, but the Senate hasn't ratified it.

--
I listen to both RIAA and non-RIAA stuff if I like the music, tangential business/politics nonwithstanding.
1. Re:US analogy by mbone · 2012-01-27 04:14 · Score: 1
  
  Yes, but in the US this is being viewed as an "Agreement" which can be done by executive order (i.e., the stroke of the President's pen).
  The Senate has been kept out of this here, which I regard as a near Constitutional Crisis. If ACTA gets away with this, why should we ever put
  a treaty through the Senate again ? Just have the Pres. do an Agreement.
  (Yes, I know that Treaties are the law of the land. If you think that ACTA won't require changes to US law, you are crazy.)
2. Re:US analogy by KingAlanI · 2012-01-27 06:03 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah, but the analogy still works, whatever's actually happening with ACTA in the US
  
  --
  I listen to both RIAA and non-RIAA stuff if I like the music, tangential business/politics nonwithstanding.
Offtopic, but ... by rjmx · 2012-01-27 02:57 · Score: 1

Clever .sig you've got there.
Re:I can understand why by olau · 2012-01-27 02:59 · Score: 1

Me too, it took 15 minutes, and it's actually fun getting in touch with people you only see on television otherwise.
Re:I can understand why by kinarduk · 2012-01-27 03:07 · Score: 5, Informative

I've already had a reply from one of them (Andrew Duff)! ...

Thank you for contacting Andrew about the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement.

I can assure you that I will forward your email to Andrew so that he can read the specific points you make.

Andrew is not on the committee that specialises in these issues, but has been following developments closely along with his group colleagues, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Europe (ALDE).

He recognises that some of ACTA's aims are valid, but also has real concerns that - as with so much legislation in this area - its implications for privacy and freedom may be more serious than is currently understood, and is seeking greater assurance on these points.

Throughout negotiations on ACTA the ALDE group has called for greater transparency and tabled a resolution in September 2010 asking the Commission for all relevant studies and impact assessments before signing the agreement. ALDE colleagues have sponsored many of the Parliamentary questions on this matter.

Negotiations were finalised in November 2010 and the relevant parties are now in the process of ratifying the Agreement through their internal procedures. In the EU this means that both the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers must give their approval. The Council adopted a decision on December 17th authorising the signature of ACTA, and the text now passes to the European Parliament for ratification. The International Trade Committee (INTA) and the Legal Affairs Committee (JURI) have already asked the Parliament’s Legal Services for advice on the agreement, and then the INTA Committee will produce a report with input in the form of opinions from the Development Committee (DEVE), the Industry, Research and Energy Committee (ITRE) and the JURI Committee.

On 24 November 2010 the European Parliament adopted a Resolution in which we called on the Commission to confirm that ACTA’s implementation will have no impact on fundamental rights and data protection. MEPs welcomed the Commission’s confirmation that the ACTA provisions will be fully in line with EU law and that neither personal searches nor the so-called ‘three strikes and out’ procedure will be introduced. The Parliament also emphasised that any decision taken by the Commission as part of the ACTA Committee must not unilaterally change the agreement’s content, and that therefore any proposed change must be approved by the Parliament and the Council.

ALDE will finalise its decision on whether to support the agreement or not once the legal advice and INTA committee report are available and only if concerns about interference with internet freedoms and other civil liberties can be assuaged. Until then it is not possible to have a fully informed position on this issue.

In the meantime I attach a couple of interim briefing documents I have received on the issue, which are designed to address some of the specific criticisms that have been levelled at these proposals.

Thank you once again for contacting Andrew about this issue. I hope this response has been helpful.
Re:I can understand why by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-27 03:17 · Score: 0

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kader-arif.fr%2Factualites.php%3Factualite_id%3D147

Original link: http://www.kader-arif.fr/actualites.php?actualite_id=147
Partially wrong by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-27 03:24 · Score: 0

I wonder how you actually searched.
I went on the three French newspapers' websites and just entered ACTA in the search box at the top :
* Le Monde (center-left) : http://www.lemonde.fr/technologies/article/2012/01/26/l-union-europeenne-signe-le-traite-acta_1635244_651865.html
* Libération (far left) : http://www.ecrans.fr/parlement-europeen,13962.html
* Figaro (right-wing, same as current French govt) : nothing recent except ACTA is mentioning in an article dealing with the recent Anonymous attack in Polod. Last serious articles about ACTA actually are dated from March and April 2010.
1. Re:Partially wrong by Capitaine · 2012-01-27 04:48 · Score: 1
  
  Went on respective websites, searched in the main page, International, Tech and Economy pages. I guess that searching for ACTA means you already know it was signed, confirming what the original poster wrote. I must however admit I overlooked your first link in my research.
Where are the leaders by alfino · 2012-01-27 03:33 · Score: 1

Bad politics is a self-fulfilling prophecy with people like Arif. I tip my hat to him, but his leaving means that the proportion of corrupt assholes up there increases and there is one less person in charge who could actually defend the people vs. capitalism and greed.
What we need is someone on our side who has the breath and the guts to stay up there.

--
echo mailto: !#^."<*>"|tr "<*> mailto:" net@madduck
ACTA, Achieving the Trifecta of Subversive by hemo_jr · 2012-01-27 03:49 · Score: 1

There are three great principals embodied in -- or at least given lip service by - most modern nations, at least in the Western tradition. They are liberty, justice and democracy. The agreement itself undermines due process and free speech. In their bypassing the EU Parliament with the signing of ACTA, the content cartel has reached the trifecta of subversion in undermining democracy as well.
I don't know by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-27 04:57 · Score: 0

Just guessing here....maybe his disgust with the situation didn't reach a breaking point until he saw just how many people were participating (by actually signing)? Maybe this event was the straw that broke the camel's back? Maybe he had attempted to take some action to prevent this and realized just how bad the situation was only after he saw how ineffective his actions were (as evidenced by all the signing that took place)?
Re:power is to resign by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-27 05:44 · Score: 0

As has been said a dozen times already... because his job was to report on ACTA and he waited until he had completed his report (which slams ACTA as the POS legislation that it is) then resigned....
Resigning before completing his report would allow him to be replaced by a more complacent politician who wouldn't have slammed it.
This guy did the right thing as often as he could - it's a shame he couldn't do more, but it's a fact that he couldn't. He wasn't in charge of getting countries to sign up; he didn't write it; he didn't promote it - he was just meant to report on it - which he has now done and subsequently shown his disgust by quitting.
This report will hopefully be picked up and understood by the Parliament, who will then (again hopefully) dump the treaty, regardless of how many member countries have already signed it - as they are meant to.
MOD PARENT UP!!! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-27 09:38 · Score: 0

We need to get up our collective asses to save the goddamn internet!
Coward by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-27 13:13 · Score: 0

He resigned to cover his own ass.
1. Re:Coward by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-27 18:37 · Score: 0
  
  You can't read, can you?