Slashdot Mirror
EU ACTA Chief Resigns
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."
"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.
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...
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
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."
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
Excellent :)
Write to Them has a convenient link to MEPs (and MPs, etc).
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
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
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.
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.