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Yet Another European Government Drops ACTA

Posted by timothy on from the set-fire-to-the-paper-tiger dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The government of Bulgaria, which had already signed ACTA, yesterday reversed itself, and announced that it would not seek ratification of the treaty. This comes after similar moves by Poland, Germany and the Netherlands, and a weekend of massive protests against ACTA across the European continent."

8 of 117 comments (clear)

  1. Common sense by sadness203 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Everywhere but not in America!

  2. Thank you, Europe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    We in Canada thank you for being smarter than us. Our prime minister still has his nose up American corporate ass.

    1. Re:Thank you, Europe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I'm so sick of that argument.

      The conservatives only got 40% of the popular vote, so 60% of Canadians didn't want them to be in power....

      Ok, but look at the alternatives...

      30% voted for the NDP, that means 70% of Canadians didn't want them to be in power...
      19% voted for the Liberals, that means 81% of Canadians didn't want them to be in power...
      6% voted for the Bloc, that means 94% of Canadians didn't want them to be in power...
      4% voted for the Greens, that means 96% of Canadians didn't want them to be in power...

      Yes, I can understand that the "first past the post" riding system might cause a party that has less then 40% of the popular vote can still grab 54% of the seats, but look at the system in the US, it causes the same issues. 2000 election had Al Gore with 48.4% of the popular vote who lost to George Bush with 47.9%.

      So the party that had the largest percentage of people voting for them ended up forming the government and you are calling this Fascist? I think that might better suit a system where you write off the fact that the majority voted for one party and say they shouldn't be in power and that a less popular party should be in charge.

  3. Re:Need non-EU contries to reject it to die. by mycroft16 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    With SOPA and PIPA, they were all the internet talked about for days leading up to the blackout... the word was effectively gotten out. With ACTA, no one is talking about it or what it means. We need that same level of dialogue. We need front page announcements on reddit, wikipedia, etc. PCIP is also a new one working through the House and Senate that involves creating a database of ip->customer mappings and tracking web history for 18 months to look for illegal activity. Not getting talked about either. We really need to keep up on what's going through Congress and other governmental agencies and kill them long before they are days from a vote. They shouldn't make it out of committees, or even into committees.

  4. They are just bound and determined... by cayenne8 · · Score: 5, Insightful
    ...to take all the fun out of the internet.

    Man...glad I was here to see the wild west days of it back in '92-'93 and just after that.

    Then again, I remember going to the gates at airports to greet people as they got off the plane, and even before metal detectors going to the gates.

    Sigh...the US use to be a much more free place.

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    Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
  5. Re:Wrong target by MysteriousPreacher · · Score: 5, Insightful

    They already tried that by telling me that downloading a couple of tracks from the Internet was equivalent to nicking a car. They then showed that piracy is masterminded by some half-naked medieval torturer with glowing red eyes and a red hot branding iron. Seems so fucking cool to me that I of course had to give it a try.

    It was disappointing, but I at least came away with some free music.

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    -- Using the preview button since 2005
  6. Internet vs Establishment. We are winning by __aawzag621 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It seems governments can't ignore us when we coordinate via the internet and represent the interests of internet users. Big changes are happening despite all of the govs trying to shut down the internet. We are living through serious history, interesting times.

  7. No surprise by StikyPad · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Yeah, I don't think opposition from former Eastern Bloc countries like Bulgaria and Poland surprises anyone really, nor do I expect their dissent to convince any of the proponents to back down, particularly the US. On the contrary, I expect they'll use that to fuel their argument about the necessity of ACTA.

    Good to see Germany and the Netherlands opposing it though. The economic powerhouse of Germany cannot be ignored, and their opposition makes it politically easier for other countries to voice their dissent as well.

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    https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere