Central Europe Countries Continue to Oppose ACTA

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Central Europe Countries Continue to Oppose ACTA

Posted by samzenpus on Monday February 6, 2012 @05:15AM from the agree-to-disagree dept.

tykev writes "The Czech government suspended the ratification process of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, ACTA, said Prime Minister Petr Necas today. The government wants to further analyze the issue. There were a number of public demonstrations against ACTA in several Czech towns, and some Czech Euro MP's oppose ACTA as being 'completely wide of the mark'. Earlier, Poland announced its intention to suspend the ratification process as well. In the meantime, the website of the ruling Czech Civic Democratic Party was attacked and defaced by Anonymous who also publicly released personal data of the party's members."

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Futile by busyqth · 2012-02-06 05:24 · Score: 3, Interesting

"Further analyzing the issue" is irrelevant. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.
1. Re:Futile by TallDarkMan · 2012-02-06 05:28 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  That's political speak for "re-evaluating the impact on future popularity/votes" and "assessing lobbyist monetary income levels"
  
  --
  Will draft for food...
2. Re:Futile by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-06 05:30 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  One nice thing about Europe is that representatives of independent countries often vote independently. Unlike in the U.S.A., where members of congress are supposed to vote for their district or state's interests, but instead just go with whatever corporation or national lobby promises the most money. (This reminds me that I need to order fresh flowers for the 10th amendment's grave.)
3. Re:Futile by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-06 05:33 · Score: 0
  
  The alias of Templeton Beckmarsh is rumoured to be Flampton Hoppings
4. Re:Futile by K.+S.+Kyosuke · 2012-02-06 05:38 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  One nice thing about Europe is that representatives of independent countries often vote independently. Unlike in the U.S.A., where members of congress are supposed to vote for their district or state's interests, but instead just go with whatever corporation or national lobby promises the most money. (This reminds me that I need to order fresh flowers for the 10th amendment's grave.)
  Actually, I'm deeply suspicious that it is yet another "more bribes, please" situation for our politicians. :/
  
  --
  Ezekiel 23:20
5. Re:Futile by stanlyb · 2012-02-06 05:39 · Score: 2
  
  You really think this is good? You know, when someone is independent, he is actually independent of you, and free to take money from anyone.........
6. Re:Futile by Leolo · 2012-02-06 05:54 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  They say that the best defence is an offence. Why not go on the a counter-attack. Let's make Internet access, or simply access to adequate telecommunication, a fundamental human right. This would protect net-neutrality and work against arbitrary disconnection laws.
7. Re:Futile by Darkness404 · 2012-02-06 06:01 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  That is a really, really stupid idea. When it comes to real rights such as freedom of expression or freedom of religion there is nothing that I am not forced to promote that, only not to trample the rights of others. In no way am I forced to agree with them, to pay money to help them put up billboards or go with them on protest marches. With a "right" to internet I'm forced to pay for the lifestyle of someone else. If someone wants to choose to live far away from others in a remote location, why should I be forced to help lay fiber or cable for them to have the "right" to internet?
  
  A better solution would be net neutrality is required if you use public land or public owned cables to run your ISP. Because it allows for the most amount of net neutrality (nearly all ISPs use public owned cables to do business with customers) but allows the greatest amount of freedom (if the ISP doesn't want to implement net neutrality don't use public land or cables).
  
  --
  Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
8. Re:Futile by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-06 06:20 · Score: 0
  
  The alias of Templeton Beckmarsh is rumoured to be Flampton Hoppings
  Rumoured, of course, but who really knows for sure? Also: what?
9. Re:Futile by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-06 06:26 · Score: 1
  
  I would rather have the chance for someone to be bribed than have institutionalized bribery dominating the system like we do with congress. That cultural borders make it more difficult for one lobbyist or company to know how to properly lube up all the representatives in the E.U. is a very good thing; I'd say it's also a very good thing that those same borders eliminate the pressure for representatives to fall in line with a political party that has half of the votes.
10. Re:Futile by g0bshiTe · 2012-02-06 06:29 · Score: 1, Insightful
  
  If they chose to live in a remote location, no one is forcing them. If internet connectivity became a right, then they are covered as long as they have existing phone lines. Let them enjoy dial up. It's connectivity. No one says it's got to be high speed.
  
  I do agree with you though, it should not be a right. It should however be free from any one governments influence. That's not what it was created for.
  
  --
  I am Bennett Haselton! I am Bennett Haselton!
11. Re:Futile by tobiah · 2012-02-06 06:49 · Score: 2
  
  If you remove the politicians who are selling out, they'll just be replaced by other sellouts. It's not enough to defeat bad laws as they come up, new laws affirming the freedom of data need to be fought for and won. The best defense is a good offense, and that is something sorely lacking in the IP wars. And the great difficulty with mounting that offense, is deciding what the objectives should be.
  
  --
  "The ability to delude yourself may be an important survival tool" - Jane Wagner -
12. Re:Futile by msobkow · 2012-02-06 07:26 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  Remember the telephone? Electricity?
  Government mandates and sponsorship are what got the province of Saskatchewan serviced with those facilities, and in the '70s, my grandparents finally got electricity and a phone while I was a kid. It's well within MOST people's lifetimes to remember that infrastructure has to be supported, not boondoggled with cries of "why should I pay" by selfish yokels in the cities.
  
  --
  I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
13. Re:Futile by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-06 07:41 · Score: 0
  
  Sure, sure. And then the politicians will eventually "remind" us that they're the ones in charge, they're just as evil as we all say they are, they have the superior firepower (read: entire fucking literal armies ), and that further attempts at "reminders" from us will result in the further transformation of the little people doing the "reminding" from human beings into parts of a single body count.
  Seriously, it amuses me how you people honestly, seriously believe that politicians are really that super-duper evil, arrogant, amoral, and inhuman, yet they somehow won't retaliate with force (using, if needed, military forces which don't appear to share our beliefs on copyrights, or much care about copyrights in general*) when the little people pin their backs are against the wall.
  *: You know those armies out in the Middle East and Egypt that defected against their leaders, aiding in revolution? Yeah, they sure as hell didn't do that because someone got arrested for downloading a fucking movie.
14. Re:Futile by next_ghost · 2012-02-06 08:28 · Score: 1
  
  We know it's irrelevant, that's why the protests scheduled for this saturday will proceed as planned.
15. Re:Futile by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-06 08:51 · Score: 0
  
  Templeton Beckmarsh (aka Flampton Hoppings) approved this message.
16. Re:Futile by shaitand · 2012-02-06 09:31 · Score: 1
  
  You are creating a strawman here. The government doesn't provide the means to utilize rights so they wouldn't be required to provide internet access. If you are born without a tongue the government doesn't pay for the surgery to make one. If your tongue gets cut off the government doesn't foot the bill to sew it back on. Making internet access a right prevents the government from turning it off when people have it. It doesn't require the government to provide the access in the first place.
  I would go farther than this and make UNREGULATED anonymous internet access a fundamental right. This is really just a basic extension of freedom of speech and expression. This should be an international treaty implemented globally. Governments have no business or legitimate jurisdiction on the internet.
17. Re:Futile by zocky · 2012-02-06 09:54 · Score: 0
  
  If you are born without a tongue the government doesn't pay for the surgery to make one. If your tongue gets cut off the government doesn't foot the bill to sew it back on.
  That depends on where you live.
  
  --
  disclaimer: I might be right.
18. Re:Futile by Darkness404 · 2012-02-06 10:41 · Score: 0
  
  Still, explain to me why I should have to pay for you to have phone/central grid electricity in Saskatchewan when I choose not to live there? You have the freedom to live where you want to and some of those areas it makes little sense to have central power grids or landline phones. Its one of the trade offs with living out in the middle of nowhere.
  
  As for electricity, government sponsorships is the entire reason why we have this sudden push for immature "green" energy. In the US before dear dictator FDR's push to "electrify" the nation there were multitudes of small start up companies pushing wind along with hydroelectric power for rural areas. You know, those things that we are now spending billions of dollars or more a year trying to get them to work better in a mad rush before coal/oil run electric plants are impractical. Had we not had the stealing of wealth to move towards a central, fossil fuel grid, the free market would have made wind energy cheap, affordable and efficient and we might have not had this huge problem we have today.
  
  As for phones, cellular and other wireless technology may have taken over, or we might have had a thriving competitive landline market. Who knows.
  
  Government solutions are rarely the best, are rarely the cheapest and rarely work.
  
  --
  Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
19. Re:Futile by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-06 11:13 · Score: 0
  
  For the same reason you helped to pay for their roads, electricity, telephone, and public schools, cause even if you don't like it, it is better for everyone INCLUDING YOU that way. Sorry, but internet has gotten to the point where it should be considered a right. It isn't needed by everyone, but it is needed by many just to make a living and it's need is growing to the point it will soon be required for about anything. It has already became the best news media outlet we have by far which we need if we wish to have an informed populace (or don't we).
20. Re:Futile by msobkow · 2012-02-06 12:02 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  You DON'T pay for it. The people of Saskatchewan did.
  But why should the Saskatchewan city dwellers pay?
  So the farmers can produce food.
  So the farmers can live like human beings.
  So the small towns can be home to small businesses instead of congesting everything in the cities.
  So the farmers can run the equipment they need to do the job.
  But you don't really care about that, do you? Well, good luck surviving in the cities without food if the farmers all go belly up because they can't use the internet to sell their crops, find parts, locate equipment, review new equipment, etc.
  THAT's why you shouldn't be a selfish, navel-gazing jerk about subsidizing rural development.
  
  --
  I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
21. Re:Futile by slick7 · 2012-02-06 12:33 · Score: 0
  
  That's political speak for "re-evaluating the impact on future popularity/votes" and "assessing lobbyist monetary income levels"
  Finally someone to stand up to the Corporate states of America. Wait til we do the same.
  End The Fed.
  End The IRS.
  End the Corruption.
  
  --
  The mind conceives, the body achieves, the spirit manifests.
22. Re:Futile by Formalin · 2012-02-06 13:25 · Score: 1
  
  Government solutions are absolutely the best for natural monopolies.
  Saskatchewan's state-run electric, gas, and telephone companies are the reason it has some of the lowest rates in the country. All this despite having very low population density, which make the servicing costs much higher.
  When the horrible evil socialists came to power there, shortly after WWII, there was basically no asphalt, electricity, or telephone outside of city limits. No private companies would step up, as it was far too long term for return on investment. They'd only service the cities. We're talking a mile of transmission line per farm, very expensive to service.
  By 1960 it was pretty much as it is today, due to intense programs by the govn't.
  Then they implemented universal healthcare, which spread throughout the country.
  Just because you have an incompetent and corrupt government doesn't mean government solutions can not be ideal. Fix that, instead.
23. Re:Futile by Grishnakh · 2012-02-06 14:12 · Score: 1
  
  Forget those, how about the US Postal Service? It was mandated in the US Constitution (much to the chagrin of today's Teabaggers), with the requirement that it provide service equally to everyone in the nation, no matter where they lived. The Founders knew that good communications were essential to a healthy democracy, and with mail being the most advanced communications form at the time, they enshrined it in the Constitution and prevented one's location from being a barrier to communicating, by "socialistically" requiring postage prices to be the same everywhere.
24. Re:Futile by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-06 14:30 · Score: 0
  
  That's stupid. Just because you have the right to marry doesn't mean society is forced to provide you with a spouse. Just because property is considered a fundamental right, that doesn't mean someone else is supposed to provide it for you. Fundamental right doesn't mean something which must be given to you, but something that can't be taken from you.
25. Re:Futile by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-06 17:32 · Score: 0
  
  As for electricity, government sponsorships is the entire reason why we have this sudden push for immature "green" energy. In the US before dear dictator FDR's push to "electrify" the nation there were multitudes of small start up companies pushing wind along with hydroelectric power for rural areas. You know, those things that we are now spending billions of dollars or more a year trying to get them to work better in a mad rush before coal/oil run electric plants are impractical. Had we not had the stealing of wealth to move towards a central, fossil fuel grid, the free market would have made wind energy cheap, affordable and efficient and we might have not had this huge problem we have today.
  
  Wow. The fact that you actually believe that indicates a massive failure of physics, never mind economics. Centralised is always more efficient than distributed, the problem with centralisation is not efficiency (which is great), it's reliability when there is a problem.
  
  As for phones, cellular and other wireless technology may have taken over, or we might have had a thriving competitive landline market. Who knows.
  
  What makes you think those technologies would have been compatible? Standard telephone grids would be stupid, instead every company has their own incompatible grid so that you need to have 10 different telephone lines and can only call some people on each (depending on which provider the person you are trying to call uses).
  Seriously, just look at areas that are only served by one or two companies in the US, I've read quite a few horror stories about getting the bastards to lay last-mile cable; even if you are qualified to lay cable up to the node yourself so they just have to come wire it up, they won't let you.
  
  Government solutions are rarely the best, are rarely the cheapest and rarely work.
  In the US, perhaps, other people have more success. The more accurate phrase would be "solutions proposed by selfish douchebags rarely benefit anyone but them", whether the douchebag works in government or in a monopoly company doesn't matter, you're fucked either way.
Futile by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-06 05:25 · Score: 5, Insightful

If all we do is oppose, then some battles we'll win, others we'll lose, but the front line is only going to tighten around us until we are nothing but obedient corporate servants. What we need to do is strike back at the politicians and remind them that they are serving the interests of all the population, and not the interest of special groups who would like the free market to bend down for them and give them money just because they feel they're entitled to it.
There's still some hope. by sadness203 · 2012-02-06 05:26 · Score: 3, Interesting

Maybe one day, we'll look back and laugh at all these garbage laws that some odd fellow were trying to pass to "protect" some intellectual property. Maybe one day a good law will be passed, one made not for corporation, but for the people and innovation.

I doubt I'll see that. Yet, I can still hope.
1. Re:There's still some hope. by kheldan · 2012-02-06 05:29 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  I have it on the authority of someone older and much more experienced than I, that all this sort of bullshit is cyclic: it's happened before, it's happening again now, and it's likely to happen again in the future. We who live in these turbulent times must just endure it, and continue to raise our voices against that which is unjust, and eventually the bastards of the world will be shouted down and things will be quiet again. We might even come out ahead of the game. ;-)
  
  --
  Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
2. Re:There's still some hope. by V!NCENT · 2012-02-06 05:37 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  It's neither. A population can take a lot, but only so much. It's when the last straw snaps that people are willing to die to overthrow their government in protest.
  It's only a matter of time before terrorism will be practised by western people against the west and not just by some random extremist nutcase-organisations.
  There maybe enough laws, technology, police and military personel, but they are all outnumbered once an entire population sais "Fsck it! I'm not taking this shit any longer!" and then the shit hits the fan, at 100.000 miles/hour.
  
  --
  Here be signatures
3. Re:There's still some hope. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-06 05:42 · Score: 1
  
  I favor a 'continued use' inheritable copyright for fiction, and a 20 year or so copyright for printed non-fiction. With the condition that once something is broadcast, that quality of media (or lower) is public domain.
  Patents for actual technological advances, only. None of this drek about patenting the 'look' of an iToy.
4. Re:There's still some hope. by SuricouRaven · 2012-02-06 06:07 · Score: 2
  
  The past is no guide - the modern world is like nothing that has been seen before.
5. Re:There's still some hope. by flirno · 2012-02-06 06:20 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  People haven't changed. When soldiers have to make the decision to shoot relatives (brothers, sisters, grandma, mom) many will reside with the population. That is when governments fall.
6. Re:There's still some hope. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-06 07:09 · Score: 0
  
  I'd love to see that in a country like England where guns are already outlawed. How do you overthrow the government then? No, the London riots were NOT a revolution/uprising of any description.
7. Re:There's still some hope. by lucidlyTwisted · 2012-02-06 07:19 · Score: 1
  
  The last time it happened? Oh, round about the time some dangerous up-start invented the printing press. And look at all the trouble they caused!
  It ruined economies and nation were aflame!
  Err...or not.
8. Re:There's still some hope. by Jedi+Alec · 2012-02-06 09:14 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  One of the reasons the US grew so powerful was its blatant disregard for intellectual property in the old world. And now, many years later, as the US is in decline, guess which other growing nation doesn't give a flying fuck about what the US thinks about intellectual property.
  I guess 50 years from now the US and Europe will be on the same side trying to fight off Intellectual Property laws being crammed down our throats by the Chinese. Assuming, of course, they need to resort to such silly things as laws to make their point and don't just call in their loans.
  
  --
  
  People replying to my sig annoy me. That's why I change it all the time.
9. Re:There's still some hope. by chrispycreeme · 2012-02-06 09:29 · Score: 1
  
  Ask the Irish. They managed to figure out a way.
10. Re:There's still some hope. by shaitand · 2012-02-06 09:38 · Score: 1
  
  It makes no difference. If they have no guns you don't need guns to take over. Actually it makes them more vulnerable. But there are people with guns, the military. Armies are made of people and if there is a popular uprising movement members of those armies will support it and bring the portion of the arms they control with them.
  Here in the US for instance, the military still takes an oath to defend the people and the Constitution. When mass collectives of the people are organizing to fight tyranny and restore the constitution I think you'll find more than a few who will feel that oath obligate them to stand with those collectives rather than against.
11. Re:There's still some hope. by shaitand · 2012-02-06 09:41 · Score: 1
  
  I'd give 5yr terms at most for copyright of anything. Today's world moves too fast. Twenty year old software wouldn't be of any use to the public. Copyright exists to facilitate more material being created and filling the public domain. That's not much of a deal for the public if the material only enters the public domain after it has lost its value.
12. Re:There's still some hope. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-06 11:26 · Score: 0
  
  If people don't have guns they will find a way to get them. Probably same channels the drug cartels get them
13. Re:There's still some hope. by Killall+-9+Bash · 2012-02-06 11:41 · Score: 1
  
  No one knows what it means when they take that oath. I, incorrectly, took the oath to defend and support the constitution of the United States to be an oblique way of swearing loyalty to 'America'.
  
  --
  "Prediction: within 10 years, Windows will be a Linux distribution." Me, 7-6-2016
14. Re:There's still some hope. by Grishnakh · 2012-02-06 14:57 · Score: 1
  
  My knowledge of Irish revolutionary history is mainly from movies, but I thought they did it mainly by attacking English soldiers (and their hired thug mercenaries), killing them, stealing their guns, and then killing even more, until the English assholes decided to leave. So basically, guns were the answer, but they had to take them from the oppressors first, instead of using their own.
15. Re:There's still some hope. by Errol+backfiring · 2012-02-06 22:19 · Score: 1
  
  Good luck with that. Some of these laws were made in the 18th century (which in law terms was a lot like right now), and we are still suffering from them. If food corporations use waste in the food production, get yourself an FDA for example. But the FDA mainly assures that it is legal to use all kinds of junk in the production of food. As like today, the laws were usually fighting symptoms, not problems. So working hours got regulated, but massive theft of land (the Enclosure) was supported. And an Enclosure of the public domain is happening right now.
  
  --
  Nae king! Nae laird! Nae yurrupiean pressedent! We willna be fooled again!
16. Re:There's still some hope. by shaitand · 2012-02-07 04:22 · Score: 1
  
  Yup, keeping guns restricted to a small portion of the population actually makes them (the government) more vulnerable in the end. Nobody is well prepared for organized armed revolt and it takes a smaller number of guns to be effective. A small and clever armed force of 100 could probably take most of the towns and cities in Britain with nothing more than small arms in a direct assault. Delays would just give government time to react and arm.
  Good luck trying that in the US. You won't even warrant calling the national guard with your small force. Swat can handle that sort of small group of buzzing flies... in a direct assault anyway. Guerrilla warfare would be the recipe there.
Hope yet for the human race? by kheldan · 2012-02-06 05:26 · Score: 4, Interesting

This is an encouraging thing to read on a Monday morning. SOPA/PIPA gets shelved here in the U.S., and now the EU is showing some backbone. Should we dare hope?

--
Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
1. Re:Hope yet for the human race? by jdgeorge · 2012-02-06 05:33 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  Should we dare hope?
  No. But vote. And it would be a good idea to plan ahead for what to do after something similar gets passed.
2. Re:Hope yet for the human race? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-06 06:53 · Score: 0
  
  Vote? What, vote for who gets to be bought by the industry?
3. Re:Hope yet for the human race? by kheldan · 2012-02-06 08:00 · Score: 0
  
  You have two choices: You can be a sniveling, whiney little apathetic coward who lets other people decide for him how his life is going to be, or you can grow a pair, stand up, be heard, and have some say in what your world looks like. It's time for you and everyone like you to forget the programming. The corps and the bad politicians don't want you to think for yourself, they want you to shut the fuck up and do what you're told, when you're told and fucking like it. Are you seriously going to just sit back, complain about everything, do nothing about any of it, and accept getting anally raped by corporations and by the political leaders who are supposed to be representing you, but who are instead just representing their own agenda and corporate interests? Time to grow up.
  
  --
  Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
4. Re:Hope yet for the human race? by prefec2 · 2012-02-06 08:29 · Score: 1
  
  The EU is not showing some backbone. Poland and Czech are showing some backbone. Especially for Poland this is new. It must be related to Donald Tusk who looks like someone with a brain and ethics which is very seldom in politicians. Not to forget he is a conservative (by European standards).
  Thanks for that from Germany.
5. Re:Hope yet for the human race? by shaitand · 2012-02-06 09:46 · Score: 1
  
  "You can be a sniveling, whiney little apathetic coward who lets other people decide for him how his life is going to be, or you can grow a pair, stand up, be heard, and have some say in what your world looks like."
  Voting is an example of the former not the later. Growing a pair isn't participating in the existing corrupt system and pretending your vote affects something before being tossed in the digital shredder. Growing a pair is getting your fscking guns together and steeling your will for the inevitable bloody revolution.
  The time for ASKING the government to behave in the form of a vote is past. The time to FORCE the government to behave is just about here.
6. Re:Hope yet for the human race? by rtb61 · 2012-02-06 13:00 · Score: 1
  
  Vote and agitate. Be annoying, be pesky, don't give up and challenge them at every opportunity. Be their boss don't let them be your boss.
  Some lateral thinking, the single biggest target right now should be "TAX HAVENS". The US and Europe could shut them down overnight, ban trade in tax haven currencies and zero their value. Either cough up details and provide full access or choke or you organised criminal banking activities.
  Want a sign of real change, that's exactly where it starts. Substantially reduced opportunity for political bribes. Millionaire and billionaire tax cheats fined triple gains and in jail. The proceeds of crime devalued to zero. Government intelligence agencies forever banned from subsidising organised crime to drive insane schemes to get promoted (when you cause more harm then you stop you are a bloody idiot and a danger to society and you should be in jail with the criminals you sponsored).
  Until tax havens are shut down then you know it is political corruption as usual, end of story.
  
  --
  Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
7. Re:Hope yet for the human race? by kheldan · 2012-02-06 16:24 · Score: 1
  
  I am not an advocate of violence to solve this countries' problems -- not yet at least. Also, your pro-violence attitude just justifies the violations of people's Constitutional rights being committed by police and officials around the country; your attitude will create more problems than it will solve and I will not condone it. Take it somewhere else.
  
  --
  Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
8. Re:Hope yet for the human race? by shaitand · 2012-02-07 04:00 · Score: 1
  
  "your attitude will create more problems than it will solve and I will not condone it. Take it somewhere else."
  Excuse me? Last I checked I've been here a hell of a lot longer than you have. YOU take it somewhere else.
  "your pro-violence attitude just justifies the violations of people's Constitutional rights being committed by police and officials around the country"
  That is utterly ridiculous. The Constitution came into being in the first place because people were willing to fight for those rights. Tyranny is hardly the fault of those who would fight against it. I also wouldn't call being ready to fight to what you believe in pro-violence.
  The critical mass needed for revolution isn't there.. yet. But we are on a crash course with it. Manning up and growing a pair is preparing for that fight, be it next week or ten years from now. Casting a vote in another rigged election is an utter waste of time.
9. Re:Hope yet for the human race? by kheldan · 2012-02-07 05:24 · Score: 1
  
  Enjoy your "revolution". Oh, and by the way: They know you're coming. Enjoy being arrested, beaten, held without legal representation or trial, branded a terrorist, stripped of your citizenship, "deported", and likely used for medical experimentation by some shadow organization, all because you jumped the goddamned motherfucking gun and started shooting at people yelling "Revolution!" like some retarded redneck survivalist nutcase.
  
  I'll be over here, with the INTELLIGENT people, working to REPAIR my country's system of government and NOT getting made into a non-person. There'll be plenty of time later on to go and get shot defending my country from itself IF THAT IS WHAT IT COMES TO. That day however is NOT TODAY.
  
  Also, fuck you, asshole.
  
  --
  Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
10. Re:Hope yet for the human race? by kheldan · 2012-02-07 06:13 · Score: 1
  
  Tell you what, fuckhead, here's a challenge for you: You really believe that there needs to be an armed revolution in the United States? Then go load your AK-47, go get your buddies, and start shooting, NOW. Or are YOU too much of a fucking coward?
  
  --
  Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
11. Re:Hope yet for the human race? by shaitand · 2012-02-07 08:42 · Score: 1
  
  "fuckhead.. fucking coward"
  Obviously you aren't at a maturity level that allows you engage in intelligent debate.
  "start shooting, NOW"
  You need to work on your reading comprehension. I've already stated my view with regard to this a few times. Proceeding as you indicate would be stupid and if someone wants to question my conviction they need to demonstrate some of their own to be taken seriously.
  By your own admission you have no conviction to act and consider anyone who does to be 'pro-violent.' Instead it is your intention to toss papers at rigged elections and let others bleed for you if and when it comes to that. Don't bother replying my point is well made. You described yourself quite well as "a sniveling, whiney little apathetic coward" and your only basis for calling others the same is that like knows like.
12. Re:Hope yet for the human race? by kheldan · 2012-02-07 13:15 · Score: 1
  
  As expected, you're now backing down, revealing yourself as nothing but a fucking blowhard -- or perhaps just another retarded troll -- and are now attacking MY character, and continuing to accuse ME of taking it up the ass instead of "fighting back". Of course you have no idea what I've been doing, all you can possibly know is I'm some completely anonymous person posting comments on an internet forum.
  
  I feel no need to justify or defend myself to you or anyone else. Go to hell.
  
  --
  Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
What's the point? by Saintwolf · 2012-02-06 05:27 · Score: 5, Insightful

Even if this gets vetoed to hell... some corrupt douchbag politician will most likely end up slipping it into a "Save the children" bill or similar...
1. Re:What's the point? by SteveFoerster · 2012-02-06 05:43 · Score: 1
  
  This is the EU, where that sort of slight of hand is more difficult. Well, or at least they do things in different clandestine ways. Or something.
  
  --
  Space game using normal deck of cards: http://BattleCards.org
2. Re:What's the point? by am+2k · 2012-02-06 06:07 · Score: 2
  
  Yeah, like the software patent stuff, which was trying to slip by in the Agricultural and Fisheries Commission. Luckily, it didn't work out.
3. Re:What's the point? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-06 07:28 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  Yep, and since this is the EU, they actually take the time to read the bills being proposed, unlike in the US where they just say Yes to the bill with the most financial backing. As a result of this, any unpopular law that somehow finds it's way into a completely unrelated bill, get's vetoed and removed before the bill can continue it's path, again unlike the US.
4. Re:What's the point? by qbast · 2012-02-06 08:28 · Score: 2
  
  Interesting that ACTA also passed on Agriculture and Fisheries meeting. There is something really fishy with those guys...
5. Re:What's the point? by prefec2 · 2012-02-06 08:34 · Score: 1
  
  They already tried the "save the children" thing. They failed. They have been caught. In Germany the government and parliament even submitted an act for web filtering. The commerical TV launched a campain to support the "save the children" topic with a "hunt the child abuser" show. Well the show was fake. And the law was never executed, due to massive public protests. Recently the made a new act which revoked the old one.
  They over used children and terrorists. But maybe they come up with something new. The environment, traffic/cars or taxes could be good topics ;-)
6. Re:What's the point? by L4t3r4lu5 · 2012-02-07 01:12 · Score: 1
  
  [I]n the US where they just say Yes to the bill with the most financial backing.
  That, and the one with the tenuous backronym or name which makes you look like a terrorist child abusing communist sympathiser if you vote against it.
  
  --
  Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
Hey editors, thank you... by SlovakWakko · 2012-02-06 05:32 · Score: 5, Informative

...for at least keeping the original title of my submission, when you removed the part where it says that Slovakia also suspended ACTA ratification today. I think that this situation, where former soviet satellite states oppose ACTA nicely reflects the fact that we still remember how it is NOT to be free...
1. Re:Hey editors, thank you... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-06 05:39 · Score: 1
  
  Welcome to Slashdot, where submissions are dumbed down to the lowest common denominator. Thanks Geek.Net!
2. Re:Hey editors, thank you... by rastos1 · 2012-02-06 08:59 · Score: 1
  
  Election is due in Slovakia in one month. Political parties are ready to promise anything. An apt comment, I read today, says:
  
  This would be a great country if the election was held every 3 months.
Be there a "hacker" amongst ya'll? by GillyGuthrie · 2012-02-06 05:36 · Score: 1

If a "hacker" reads this, please explain what it is that "Anonymous" intends to accomplish by releasing the private info of Czech gov't officials publicly. It seems stupid.
These acts will most likely provoke paranoia and promote web censorship. How is this furthering the agenda that "Anonymous" supposedly has? Is "Anonymous" just a few script kiddies stupid enough to risk imprisonment over a misguided sense of morality?
Or maybe I'm missing the point. Please enlighten me.
1. Re:Be there a "hacker" amongst ya'll? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-06 06:22 · Score: 0
  
  I'm certainly not a part of Anonymous but based on their behavior abroad I would have to say they are using a technique to make the politicians feel exposed. When someone is stripped naked in public your first response is to find cover. By exposing personal information in the same way politicians back down. This is just my opinion based on how I would feel. It would be cool if someone from Anonymous actually posted an explanation.
Title by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-06 05:41 · Score: 0

It's "Central European Countries Continue to Oppose ACTA" not "Central Europe Countries Continue to Oppose ACTA"
This sort of thing really bugs me.
Prague Spring comes to mind or not. by unity100 · 2012-02-06 05:43 · Score: 2

It certainly does. if you dont know what it is, google it.

--
Read radical news here
what's futile is this : by unity100 · 2012-02-06 05:46 · Score: 5, Interesting

What we need to do is strike back at the politicians and remind them that they are serving the interests of all the population
they know very well who they should be serving. they are NOT choosing to serve who they should be serving. instead, they choose whomever pays them.
the difference of the central european countries is that, there is still a lot of generations currently at the age of running government, corporations etc, who has grown up during the communist era with at least some ideals. you wont find those in anglo-american countries. hence, the opposition from central europe.

--
Read radical news here
1. Re:what's futile is this : by Opportunist · 2012-02-06 06:21 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  the difference of the central european countries is that, there is still a lot of generations currently at the age of running government, corporations etc, who has grown up during the communist era with at least some ideals. you wont find those in anglo-american countries. hence, the opposition from central europe.
  Actually, the main difference is that we bribe our politicians, not some lobbyists.
  Well, actually, considering how deep our conservatives are in the bribery swamp, I guess that's not correct. Let's say it's optional, not mandatory like in the US. Here, you get your campaigning expenses reimbursed from tax money if you happen to get more than x% (with x being somewhere between 0.5 and 3 in most countries that have this system) of the votes. That's doable for most halfway serious political parties.
  The point is that we're not as used to seeing politicians get cozy with business tycoons as the US people are. For us, it's still reeking of some shady deals, of lobbying (don't say that word aloud here, it's often used synonymously with corruption), of, well, corruption. We have a party that's more or less known to be the political arm of the industry, and even THEY don't dare to be seen shaking hands (or worse) with business leaders.
  And, frankly, I prefer it that way. Politicians will be bought. One way or another. Campaigning costs money, and someone has to foot the bill, a bill that no ordinary person (hell, even a well off person) cannot foot. He will be bought.
  So it's better that OUR pockets buy him.
  
  --
  We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
EU Parliament is pretty cool by F69631 · 2012-02-06 05:52 · Score: 5, Informative

I don't know... While it's common (especially in USA) to claim that all politicians are scum, let's look at the European Parliament's stance on ACTA, as supported by something like 98% of the members in 2010. European Parliament resolution of 10 March 2010 on the transparency and state of play of the ACTA negotiations. The relevant parts:

1. Points out that since 1 December 2009 the Commission has had a legal obligation to inform Parliament immediately and fully at all stages of international negotiations;

2. Expresses its concern over the lack of a transparent process in the conduct of the ACTA negotiations, a state of affairs at odds with the letter and spirit of the TFEU; is deeply concerned that no legal base was established before the start of the ACTA negotiations and that parliamentary approval for the negotiating mandate was not sought;

3. Calls on the Commission and the Council to grant public and parliamentary access to ACTA negotiation texts and summaries, in accordance with the Treaty and with Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents;

4. Calls on the Commission and the Council to engage proactively with ACTA negotiation partners to rule out any further negotiations which are confidential as a matter of course and to inform Parliament fully and in a timely manner about its initiatives in this regard; expects the Commission to make proposals prior to the next negotiation round in New Zealand in April 2010, to demand that the issue of transparency is put on the agenda of that meeting and to refer the outcome of the negotiation round to Parliament immediately following its conclusion;

5. Stresses that, unless Parliament is immediately and fully informed at all stages of the negotiations, it reserves its right to take suitable action, including bringing a case before the Court of Justice in order to safeguard its prerogatives;

6. Deplores the calculated choice of the parties not to negotiate through well-established international bodies, such as WIPO and WTO, which have established frameworks for public information and consultation;

7. Calls on the Commission to conduct an impact assessment of the implementation of ACTA with regard to fundamental rights and data protection, ongoing EU efforts to harmonise IPR enforcement measures, and e-commerce, prior to any EU agreement on a consolidated ACTA treaty text, and to consult with Parliament in a timely manner about the results of the assessment;

8. Welcomes affirmations by the Commission that any ACTA agreement will be limited to the enforcement of existing IPRs, with no prejudice for the development of substantive IP law in the European Union;

9. Calls on the Commission to continue the negotiations on ACTA and limit them to the existing European IPR enforcement system against counterfeiting; considers that further ACTA negotiations should include a larger number of developing and emerging countries, with a view to reaching a possible multilateral level of negotiation;

10. Urges the Commission to ensure that the enforcement of ACTA provisions – especially those on copyright enforcement procedures in the digital environment – are fully in line with the acquis communautaire ; demands that no personal searches will be conducted at EU borders and requests full clarification of any clauses that would allow for warrantless searches and confiscation of information storage devices such as laptops, cell phones and MP3 players by border and customs authorities;

11. Considers that in order to respect fundamental rights, such as the right to freedom of expression and the right to privacy, while fully observing the principle of subsidiarity, the proposed agreement should not make it possible for any so-called ‘three-strikes’
1. Re:EU Parliament is pretty cool by Joce640k · 2012-02-06 06:04 · Score: 2
  
  +1 informative, thanks for posting that.
  But...if all that's true then how come we're still voting on it nearly two years later?
  
  --
  No sig today...
2. Re:EU Parliament is pretty cool by Spad · 2012-02-06 07:38 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Because the EU Commission can continue to draft and negotiate ACTA for as long as they like, but ultimately they have to put it to the EU Parliament to vote on before it can become law. There are a couple of things they can try if the Parliament rejects it, but those can still be vetoed by a 2/3rds majority of the Parliament and history has shown that they generally don't like it when the Commission tries to do an end-run around them.
3. Re:EU Parliament is pretty cool by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-06 08:05 · Score: 0
  
  Because Europhobes block everything when we try to give the EP more power compared to the EC (with arguments along the lines of 'OH NOEZ MORE EU, EU BAD').
4. Re:EU Parliament is pretty cool by Hognoxious · 2012-02-06 11:37 · Score: 1
  
  Because Parliament keep giving the "wrong" answer.
  
  --
  Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Protests in many, many European cities by DerCed · 2012-02-06 05:54 · Score: 5, Interesting

What is also quite impressive are the protests planned by Pirate Parties and others in numerous cities all over Europe (+ some other continents). Many events are to be held this Saturday, February 11st. The map looks absolutely breath-taking:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=212120558776447282985.0004b7b33e16f13c710c7&msa=0
1. Re:Protests in many, many European cities by trevelyon · 2012-02-06 10:04 · Score: 1
  
  Wow, just wow. Thanks for posting that link. Great to see Europeans mobilizing like this.
Not a group by Darkness404 · 2012-02-06 06:08 · Score: 2

The difference between Anonymous and most other groups is that Anonymous isn't really a group. Rather, it is more of a banner that individuals rally around for a common cause. There is no real agenda that Anonymous has because Anonymous really has no leader or real members. Anonymous is simply a rallying cry.

Really, who knows what they intend to accomplish with this. But undoubtedly there are some "members" of Anonymous who agree with it and undoubtedly there are some that disagree.

--
Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
They'll change their minds... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-06 06:16 · Score: 1

once we start cutting off aid, military support, impose trade embargos, etc.
1. Re:They'll change their minds... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-06 06:54 · Score: 1
  
  Hint: Hard to embargo EU members. Clearly illegal for other European countries, hence any embargo would need to be addressed at the whole union, have fun trying to enact such a thing, not mentioning that the WTO would probably rule against any such embargo.
2. Re:They'll change their minds... by shaitand · 2012-02-06 09:51 · Score: 1
  
  The US is who does the embargoing and it wouldn't be a direct blatant embargo like that. We control most of the worlds economy and can just start attacking EU interests in various trade lines.
They just don't know how Democracy works! by erroneus · 2012-02-06 06:20 · Score: 2

In a democracy, what is supposed to happen is the government doesn't listen to the people and makes desicions based on the amount of money business contributes to their re-election campaigns. It is dangerous to listen to the people because, as the great and wonderful Steve Jobs said, the people don't know what they want and it's not their job to know what they want. And if the people organize to make themselves heard, they are actually forming a threat against the government which is terrorism and you should never give in to terrorists.
1. Re:They just don't know how Democracy works! by shaitand · 2012-02-06 09:52 · Score: 1
  
  "In a democracy, what is supposed to happen is the government doesn't listen to the people"
  You haven't been paying attention lately. These days the corporations ARE the people.
2. Re:They just don't know how Democracy works! by Grishnakh · 2012-02-06 14:59 · Score: 1
  
  Yes, Mitt Romney even told us so!
Well of course not, they're not IP dependant by poity · 2012-02-06 06:34 · Score: 5, Interesting

Western Europe is the major source of intellectual property. Look at WIPO's top applicant nations - Germany, France, UK, Netherlands. Look at IMDB's top film making countries - France, UK. Look at the fashion world where you're nobody unless your're based in London, Paris, or Milan. In addition, Central and Eastern Europe are the conduits (if not the source) for many counterfeits. With ACTA, those governments would bear a share of the burden in protecting someone else's economy while their own not-quite-so IP-reliant economies see no benefit. So they'd go from not spending money enforcing someone else's IP while getting economic benefit from those citizen who profit from counterfeit, to spending money enforcing someone else's IP while killing off a pretty nice influx of money. Western EU countries are going to have to offer much more trade incentives to get what they want, but then by increasing trade incentives to get IP enforcement, they will just be switching from one hose siphoning money from them to another hose siphoning money from them.

--
your thin skin doesn't make me a troll
1. Re:Well of course not, they're not IP dependant by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-06 10:54 · Score: 0
  
  Wow. You know so much about the "Central and Eastern Europe", its economy and about the IP! I bow to your education and deep knowledge!
2. Re:Well of course not, they're not IP dependant by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-06 13:48 · Score: 0
  
  Didn't you know? The global economy wouldn't exist without movies and fashion. All that other economic activity is minor compared to those 2 activities.
Gee I wonder why they are so opposed by Osgeld · 2012-02-06 06:57 · Score: 1, Funny

is it every day the first thing I do is clean all the .cz .ru and .pl spambots off my forum selling everything from counterfeit Viagra to counterfeit purses and shoes? Of course they are opposed, apparently spam and counterfeiting are the only 2 industries in those dumps.
1. Re:Gee I wonder why they are so opposed by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-06 07:09 · Score: 0
  
  Being an Eastern European, may I just say: fuck you, you bigoted son of a bitch.
2. Re:Gee I wonder why they are so opposed by CronoCloud · 2012-02-06 08:43 · Score: 1
  
  He's not being bigoted when Eastern/Central Europe has had a reputation for not respecting IP rights and pirating everything they can get their cheapskate hands on for decades. Many of the big C64/Amiga Pirate groups were Euro-based.
  It's why the cheap "home computer platforms" like the C64/Sinclair machines/and whatever they had in Poland, Russia and Romania survived in Europe long after the US/Canada market became more console centric...the major reason was the "free games" a la "why should I buy a console when I can get as many free games as I want on the Amiga"....and then US developers began avoiding the C64/Amiga/ST markets like the plague...thoug Euro-devs too poor or to partisan to go console kept the Amiga alive for a while, just like their modern successors are helping to sustain the PC gaming market today.
3. Re:Gee I wonder why they are so opposed by shaitand · 2012-02-06 09:57 · Score: 1
  
  "cheapskate"
  Pirating does not make one a cheapskate so I'll ask you to stop tossing slurs around. Pirating is actually a good thing all in all and very important form of protest.
  As for the Amiga, being an extremely powerful video editing platform is what kept it alive for so long and that life was here in the US as much as anywhere. Maybe you saw shows like Babylon 5 using Amigas for Hollywood effects years after there was no Amiga.
4. Re:Gee I wonder why they are so opposed by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-06 10:40 · Score: 0
  
  Interesting. How do you know? I get this kind of spam mostly from .us... And as for "intellectual property": suddenly things people have been using around the world for centuries are today "The Intellectual Property of US" - and everyone should pay for it to the U.S. When will you make breathing your IP? It looks like spam and blackmailing are the only 2 industries in the US dump.
5. Re:Gee I wonder why they are so opposed by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-06 22:21 · Score: 0
  
  Please tell me why so many a-hole stock brokers are calling me from America trying to sell me shares in Dunkin' Donuts China?
6. Re:Gee I wonder why they are so opposed by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-06 22:28 · Score: 0
  
  Saying a country is a dump because some people copy Amiga games is bigoted.
I bet Czech will sign up... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-06 07:06 · Score: 1

The Czech Republic will get told, by Hollywood, that if they don't sign up then Hollywood will stop coming to Prague to make movies.
Which movies are shot in the Czech Republic?
Well, there are numerous scenes from "Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol" that were shot in Prague (youtube can help).
That must bring a nice boost to the local economy when the entire troupe from a big production movie like that comes to town.
1. Re:I bet Czech will sign up... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-06 09:40 · Score: 0
  
  yes lots of really big movies were shot in Prague, it is a very nice city I don't seem them running out of tourists wanting to come see it anytime soon
  And 1968 is not that long ago ...
2. Re:I bet Czech will sign up... by Grishnakh · 2012-02-06 15:02 · Score: 1
  
  I think Europe needs to work on developing its own movie industry more, instead of sucking up to the assholes in Hollywood. I have Netflix, and on it I've seen a bunch of really great European-made movies over the last several years (probably made within the last 10); overall they're much better than the dreck that comes out of Hollywood.
3. Re:I bet Czech will sign up... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-06 22:33 · Score: 0
  
  We would all be glad if hollywood would stay at home - they were only exploiting cheap labor here anyway. And producing mostly crap movies.
  Btw, Czech republic has a very strong movie production bussiness.
Can you Vote in Europe? Take action NOW! by SD+NFN+STM · 2012-02-06 07:35 · Score: 5, Informative

SOPA and PIPA are dead... meet their cousin, ACTA. Please contact your MEP (Members of the European Parliament) using this link and register your protest:

UK:
http://www.writetothem.com/

Rest of Europe:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/members/public/geoSearch.do;jsessionid=EAF5D554A71EBE16A5E8A71092CD2DB9.node2 [europa.eu]

A brief analysis of the issue, but obviously presenting a one-sided view... so weigh the info as you see fit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ihere3PEPg&feature=g-all-u&context=G20f3a72FAAAAAAAABAA
1. Re:Can you Vote in Europe? Take action NOW! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-06 10:11 · Score: 1
  
  My MEP is Christian Engström, you insensitive clod!
  I think he's already on the ball.
Central Europe Knows Tyranny by hemo_jr · 2012-02-06 08:08 · Score: 2

Having been subjugated by tyrannical Communist regimes during the lifetimes of most of their populations, Central European countries are the best equipped to spot the tools of tyranny like ACTA.
im betting by nimbius · 2012-02-06 08:37 · Score: 1

that after wikileaks broke the cables, and after america broke SOPA, many european nations are finding they grow weary of the medium rare American shit sandwiches they find on their desks on a near perpetual basis.

theyre also reminded as the french cable suggested so poigniantly that uncomfortable trade retaliation against your decisions as a soverign nation can only take place so long as youve committed yourself to trading with a nation that embraces economic distress as a means of trade.

--
Good people go to bed earlier.
Let me translate that for you by gearloos · 2012-02-06 11:38 · Score: 1

The government wants to further analyze the issue.Loosely translated means RIAA/MPAA needs to pay us more money.

--
"Computers are a lot like Air Conditioners" "They both work great until you start opening Windows"
Unhappy by WillyWanker · 2012-02-06 14:58 · Score: 1

First SOPA, then PIPA, now ACTA. Our corporate overlords will not be pleased at seeing all their bribe, er, contribution money go down the toilet.
Totally corrupt politicians by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-07 01:16 · Score: 0

Having read the ACTA legislation, I can not see any possible way that politicians can believe that this is in the best interests of their electorate.
One can only conclude that there is endemic corruption at the rotten core of government, that has allowed such vile legislation to progress, thus far.