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Fourth European Committee Rejects ACTA

Posted by Soulskill on from the going-for-the-high-score dept.

Dangerous_Minds writes "Last month, ACTA was rejected by three European committees (the industry committee, the civil liberties committee, and the legal affairs committee). Now, a fourth European committee, the Development Committee, has voted to reject ACTA as well, making it zero for four. ZeroPaid is offering a quick timeline of the series of blows to ACTA all last month as well. The next stop for ACTA will be the Trade Committee which is scheduled to hand down a decision later this month on June 21. From there, it'll head to the full House for a vote in July."

25 of 37 comments (clear)

  1. Any chance left? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    If it falls in Europe, does it mean other countries like Canada will also drop it?

    1. Re:Any chance left? by Bob535 · · Score: 1

      We (Canada) are busy building our own Crappy Copyright legislation again anyways. Doesn't matter what it's called.

    2. Re:Any chance left? by Kergan · · Score: 2

      Whether it succeeds or fails in Europe isn't relevant. The real deal is China and whether anything they pass there is actually enforced.

    3. Re:Any chance left? by davester666 · · Score: 2

      What exactly is the point of all these votes? Are they just putting it in front on any committee's they can find, hoping one of them will pass it?

      If all the committee's reject it, why have the full House vote on it? If they'll vote on it anyway, why have these committee's vote on it if it makes no actual difference?

      And yes, I'm pissed that the Canadian gov't bent over and took it from the US over ACTA, as well as following up with legislation for even more repressive copyright crap.

      --
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    4. Re:Any chance left? by jakimfett · · Score: 1

      We can only hope...

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    5. Re:Any chance left? by cbope · · Score: 2

      If it ultimately fails in Europe, ACTA is effectively dead. It doesn't matter what happens with China at that point if Europe doesn't sign on. I don't recall the number immediately, but there is a minimum number of countries that must sign the agreement for it to be valid and with the European countries out of the mix there aren't enough first-world countries left to achieve the minimum required.

      Thanks to the grassroots movement here in the EU, the politicians are finally seeing the light that we do not want ACTA in any shape or form. This is how democracy should work.

    6. Re:Any chance left? by tao · · Score: 2

      Because the committees are just recommending YES/NO based on their specific area of (sometimes "so-called") expertise.

      For instance, a committee specialised on power and industry might be totally for opening another coal mine. A committee specialised on environmental issues is probably gonna be against it.

      Since ACTA is a trade agreement, the Trade committee is the main committee, and their recommendation thus -- normally at least -- carries the most weight.

      In the end though, the representatives in the parliament are the ones deciding whether or not to follow the recommendations of the committees. The EU parliament can be quite unpredictable from time to time...

    7. Re:Any chance left? by dabadab · · Score: 1

      As far as I understand, even its creators did not expect ACTA to be accepted in China.

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      Real life is overrated.
  2. The Europeans have solved Greece by tlhIngan · · Score: 4, Funny

    So that's how Greece and Spain and France are going to be bailed out - just reject ACTA and hope the MPAA throws more money that way to encourage them to reconsider.

    Free money too - no pesky austerity measures or anything.

    1. Re:The Europeans have solved Greece by Spad · · Score: 1

      Spain really wasn't "fine" before last week, it just started getting a lot more media coverage because of Bankia et al.

      France isn't fine either, but it's a long way from being as bad as Portugal or Greece; Ireland & Italy have made solid steps to move their economies back from disaster but they've still got a way to go before they're "safe".

    2. Re:The Europeans have solved Greece by Luckyo · · Score: 2

      Not funny. Sums involved are simply from different worlds. We're looking at about five to seven orders of magnitude of difference.

    3. Re:The Europeans have solved Greece by Prune · · Score: 1

      They don't need the MPAA's money, as they can get free money from the European Central Bank.

      --
      "Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason."
    4. Re:The Europeans have solved Greece by Rakshasa-sensei · · Score: 4, Funny

      Not according to the calculations provided by MPAA and RIAA.

    5. Re:The Europeans have solved Greece by Boscrossos · · Score: 1

      If by "free" you mean "with enough strings attached to knit warm winter sweaters for all the elephants in Africa and Asia combined", then yes.

      Seriously, have you seen what Greece has had to do to keep getting its money?

      --
      Jesus saves... the rest takes full damage.
    6. Re:The Europeans have solved Greece by Rogerborg · · Score: 1

      Seriously, have you seen what Greece has had to do to keep getting its money?

      Yes, it's had to keep promising not to blow it all on coke and hookers. Then it does, and suffers the ignominy of having to promise the same thing all over again, this time with slightly more sniggering.

      Get it clear, the Franco-Prussion Tranzis holding the purse strings would rather beggar Europe and watch it all burn down than admit to any voluntary reduction in the size of the Union.

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  3. To the full House? by cpu6502 · · Score: 1

    What house? :-/

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    1. Re:To the full House? by Kergan · · Score: 1

      But they sure as hell take note when a majority of the relevant committees recommend against.

    2. Re:To the full House? by gmhowell · · Score: 1

      What house? :-/

      Run's House.

      --
      Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon
    3. Re:To the full House? by CodeHxr · · Score: 1

      One would hope, anyway.

  4. Author of ZeroPaid article by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Outtake from the guy's bio:

    A journalist in the field since 2005 [..] With journalism techniques he's been able to pioneer in the business (such as coverage in Canada and in non-English countries), he has the skills to be at the forefront of file-sharing and technology news.

    Pioneering coverage of Canada and "non-English countries" since 2005! There have to be some serious journalism techniques in play here...

  5. Proper terminology by jxander · · Score: 1

    Seeing as how this is all taking place in Euro'ville, shouldn't "making it zero for four," be instead written as "Manchester United 4 - ACTA nil?"

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    1. Re:Proper terminology by jxander · · Score: 1

      pfft. I meet people without brains every day... though I suppose "meeting" isn't the best terminology, as they're usually posting AC.

      P.S. a more proper use of that old adage would be ", until I met a man with no head"

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  6. Let us remember .... by Greymoon · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Although ACTA is more than just copyright infringement enforcement, let us remember that extended copyrights are nothing more than a rights holder stealing your cultural history.

    Fix that first.

  7. Yeah right by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    There is far too much political power (rich and interested people) behind the notion that ideas can and should be owned. They do not consider extended copyrights to be broken, and will not relinquish an ounce of control without being outright forced to do so.

    And forcing them to do anything requires a damn lot of cooperation from a damn lot of people.

    Good luck with that battle, buddy.

  8. Yippee by ThatsNotPudding · · Score: 2

    That'll learn those cockroaches! They will never dare approach the kitchen again!