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European Parliament Takes Step Toward Burying ACTA
An anonymous reader writes "The European Parliament's INTA Committee yesterday soundly
rejected a proposal to refer the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade
Agreement to the European Court of Justice for review. ACTA critics viewed
the proposal
as a delay tactic designed with the hope that public opposition to the
agreement would subside in the year or two it would take for a court
review. The 21-5 vote against the motion means that the INTA committee
will conclude its ACTA review later this spring with a full European
Parliament vote expected in June or July. The lack of support for ACTA
within the European Parliament is now out in the open with multiple
parties indicating
they are ready to bury it."
Hell, if only there was a way of barring the proposal of "similar legislation" within some timeframe, so it isn't repeatedly proposed in slightly different versions until eventually it passes.
This is the problem with lobbying under democracy - or, in the EU's case, appointment. Like Wikipedia, it's not what's best that remains, nor even what people want - it's whatever is proposed by those with the most resources to push it through.
with the hope that public opposition to the agreement would subside in the year or two
After SOPA, PIPA, and now ACTA popping up back to back, I'd like to hope people will be paying more attention for things like this.
What do I know, I'm just an idiot, right?
The lack of support for ACTA within the European Parliament is now out in the open with multiple parties indicating they are ready to bury it.
The members of the media industry have very very good shovels.
One could draw the conclusion that Europe is sick of the attempts by the United States at hegemony and is outrightly rejecting ACTA in a way of forcing the United States to legislate its own backyard only. However, SOPA and PIPA have failed miserably and the sue for profit outfit Righthaven was dealt a swift and severe hand of defeat. In fact, they effectively no longer exist. Think of the companies that lost a lot of money due to that scheme. They probably lost more money paying Righthaven for its legal services than they might have lost through perceived copyright violation.
...but bitter experience teaches me that copyright thugs have deep pockets, they don't *get* *it* and they're willing to play the long game. For every SOPA, PIPA and ACTA, there are a bazillion legislators that are willing to take Big Media's dime.
A proposal to recommend that Parliament should refer the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) to the EU Court of Justice was rejected by the International Trade Committee on Tuesday, with 21 MEPs against, 5 in favour and 2 abstentions.
EPP group coordinator Daniel Caspary (DE, EPP), explained that EPP MEPs had voted against referring ACTA to the EU Court of Justice as "at the moment there is no need to do so, it because the file will anyway go to the court - according to intentions announced by the European Commission".
"We also want to keep the Parliament more flexible in the coming months when it will hold its political discussion and assess whether ACTA is the right tool to solve the problems it was created to solve, without creating new ones. If Parliament refers ACTA to the court, then it can no longer vote on it", added Mr Caspary.
S&D spokesperson on trade, Bernd Lange (DE), said that the S&D wanted Parliament to reject ACTA immediately rather than postponing its decision by referring it to the court. "Today's decision not to ask for legal advice from the Court of Justice is the first sign that this Parliament is ready to reject ACTA. It was a mistake from the beginning to put counterfeit goods and internet content in the same agreement. The European Parliament was not involved in the negotiations and now we are asked to say either yes or no, without the possibility of amending the shortcomings. We cannot support the text as it is. ACTA will probably be buried before the summer", he said.
The European Conservatives and Reformists group also voted against referring ACTA to the court.
For the GUE/NGL group, Helmut Scholz (DE) said after the vote: "Our group is generally very critical of ACTA's contents, but we are in favour of the normal parliamentary procedure to discuss its particularities - international trade aspects, intellectual property rights, freedom of expression and the internet, impact on development etc.". He added that it would have made sense to seek a legal opinion on ACTA at an earlier stage, but now that Parliament has the political responsibility for dealing with it, it should do its exploratory work and not halt the discussion for another 1-2 years, which would be the case if ACTA were referred to the Court.
The committee's decision was also welcomed by the Greens/EFA group, even though the Greens abstained from the vote. They shared the GUE/NGL's view that it would have been better to refer ACTA to the court earlier, and reiterated that the resolutions that they had previously tabled to this end had not been taken up in Parliament's plenary agenda.
"We are politically against referring ACTA to the court, because we think that it should be rejected immediately", said Jan Philipp Albrecht (Greens, DE).
Shadow rapporteur on ACTA for the Greens Amelia Andersdotter (SE) added: "Referring ACTA to the court is no substitute for the political procedure needed to check this agreement and determine democratically whether its entry into force is in the European interest. Only a democratic ratification process via the European and national parliaments is able to provide such a judgement, and we therefore welcome today's decision to continue with this process".
The only political group that voted in favour of referring ACTA to the ECJ was ALDE. Their shadow rapporteur on ACTA Niccolò Rinaldi (IT) said: "I am disappointed at today’s decision. While referral to the court would not have answered all the political questions thrown up by ACTA, it would have given Parliament the opportunity to gain legal clarifications where citizens have concerns, particularly regarding ACTA’s compatibility with the Charter of Fundamental Rights. I fear we have missed the opportunity to raise our own concerns and will now be left only with the questions tabled by the Commission."
Rapporteur David Martin (S&D, UK), had asked the committee to vote on the referral question due to a perceived lack of support from other political groups
According to the WRA precendent set down by the ELA 5 years ago, though, this won't fly. Rejecting a proposal is only limited to BHA-type laws, and cannot go against ELA-enforced HHO measures. First things first - the EP needs to MT ratify ACTA.
block, rebuff, and ban products from places that support ACTA!
( think that will get their attention?)
Unfortunately it looks like the unelected buerocrats in the European Commission can push this for court review despite the will of the democratic parliament. This is exactly why people hate the EU. Get rid of the European Commission and we'll talk.
== Jez ==
Do you miss Firefox? Try Pale Moon.
This is not a company that wants to make huge profits. Its not Apple or Microsoft or Cisco. Its a foundation that wanted to help students learn. Have they made mistakes? Yes, but I would expect mistakes to be made from this type of venture.
The issue now, is if they will learn from their mistakes.
Or more accurately: merely re-naming for round two?
One thing I've heard very recently, and this may be a slight exaggeration but I think this rejection of ACTA kinda shows it: Do the people fear the government or does the government fear the people?
If you think about it, why would the European politicians actually care about not passing ACTA? They get their bribes from interested parties for their support of course, but the difference must be that they fear the people will vote them out of the office. That's the only thing I can think of that prevents them from passing whatever people are against.
I don't live there, but I get the feeling that isn't true in the US. Maybe it's not fear, but even a kind of passivity from hopelessness will let those in control run roughshod over the people they purport to serve. And when you think about what's been going on lately, I get the feeling those in control have been driving up the fear and hopelessness in Americans.
These things never really go away after they are buried.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
You tell me. As an honest quiz question, do you know the fate of PC-FIPA HR1981?
Remember the run up to busting SOPA? PC-FIPA is *worse* yet I have barely seen any articles on it.
And we also almost missed the boat on ACTA too. I think we finally woke up barely in time to stop that one too, but it got a lot farther.
My first Journal Entry ever, in 8 years! http://slashdot.org/journal/365947/aphelion-scifi-fantasy-horror-poetry-webzine
I don't sadly, I'm just a dude with a pitchfork. You tell me where to throw it, and i throw.
Now if you'll excuse me, now that I do know, I have a pitchfork to throw.
What do I know, I'm just an idiot, right?
Contrary to what he asserts, Maxime Faget, who designed the Mercury capsule, was born in British Honduras and educated in the USA. Given that he was an extraordinarily brilliant and successful engineer, we would all be better off in the EU if there were indeed Fagets all over the place, including our parliaments. We'd probably have a colony on Mars by now (sustaining itself by grants from the Common Agricultural Policy).
From scarped cliff or quarried stone she cries "A thousand types are gone, I care for nothing, no not one."
Here is a typical reaction to criticism of a bill like PCFIPA:
How dare you criticize a bill that protects the children? You must a pedophile.
Palm trees and 8
Indeed... just see Bill C-11 in Canada for as brazen an example of this as you'll find anywhere.
Bury it? Yeah right.
They're just waiting for the new cheques to clear and people to start looking the other way again.
Wow... I hadn't heard of that one before. For those who haven't heard of it either, it's actually called the Protect Children from Internet Pornographers Act. Good luck giving any constructive critisism of that bill without having to move out of your neighbourhood the next day.
I am lost for words.
Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
Yep.
Wow #1: The title. It's not even evil media corps this time, it's got a different and nastier packaging.
Wow #2: That you hadn't heard of it. Not even on here. I submitted a story on it once to the firehose and it was blocked.
My first Journal Entry ever, in 8 years! http://slashdot.org/journal/365947/aphelion-scifi-fantasy-horror-poetry-webzine
And there's two more behind that, back in the "cyber security" packaging again, and those are even more obscure.
Those are even just the "big packaging engines" to sell these bills. Lately they're getting ludicrous, like the recent move to *kill* the amendment that *stops* employers from asking for your Facebook logins.
Or how about the new Troll trick of using Florida law to attempt to get your name from your ISP for troll-suit purposes. Those got barely stopped last week by a couple of awake judges, but it is partially working.
And there's been a couple stories that back to my original theme, "wrap it so ludicrously that it sends a reviewer into a mental coma". Like the one that ..wait for it ... *wants to build a national database of cars, owners, and GPS locations in real time* (yikes!) so they can ... wait for it ... deny gasoline people who haven't registered for insurance.
My first Journal Entry ever, in 8 years! http://slashdot.org/journal/365947/aphelion-scifi-fantasy-horror-poetry-webzine
Since lisbon treaty a few years ago. nothing they do not ratify, can take effect in europe.
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