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EU Commissioner Reveals He Will Ignore Any Rejection of ACTA

Posted by Soulskill on from the if-at-first-you-don't-succeed dept.

Dupple tips a story at Techdirt about comments from EU commissioner Karel De Gucht, who made some discouraging remarks to the EU International Trade committee about the opposition to ACTA: "If you decide for a negative vote before the European Court rules, let me tell you that the Commission will nonetheless continue to pursue the current procedure before the Court, as we are entitled to do. A negative vote will not stop the proceedings before the Court of Justice. ... If the Court questions the conformity of the agreement with the Treaties we will assess at that stage how this can be addressed." De Gucht also spoke about proposing clarifications to ACTA if Parliament declined to ratify it, which, as Techdirt points out, doesn't make much sense: "Remember that ACTA is now signed, and cannot be altered; so De Gucht is instead trying to fob off European politicians with this vague idea of 'clarifications' — as if more vagueness could somehow rectify the underlying problems of an already dangerously-vague treaty."

14 of 253 comments (clear)

  1. As an American... by Das+Auge · · Score: 5, Insightful

    As an American: at least he's honest about it. My politicians just issue bald-faced lies.

    1. Re:As an American... by Luckyo · · Score: 5, Insightful

      No worries, these people will be labeled something among the lines of "terrorists, pedophiles, liberals, wing nuts" or whatever other term will be deemed valid and hostile enough by spin doctors writing speeches for modern leaders.

      Then most of the sheep will happily nuke the "enemies of the state" into the oblivion.

    2. Re:As an American... by Velex · · Score: 5, Insightful

      What's that got to do with it? Why would gun owners invoke the 2nd Amendment to defend a bunch of long-haired hippies who want to steal American Property?

      Especially after acquiescing to the Patriot Act and airport scanners that administer a dangerous dosage of radiation as a routine measure?

      No, my friend, I'm afraid that I've yet to see the 2nd Amendment get invoked for any other reason than to kill brown people and fags except maybe the Civil War. And after the New Deal, the reasons for the secession of the Confederate States look like gripes that could be solved over an afternoon tea.

      Your internet tough guy argument fails. Even after all the shortwave saber rattling I used to believe in and follow when I was growing up, the American people remain hopelessly cowed.

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    3. Re:As an American... by girlintraining · · Score: 5, Insightful

      As an American: at least he's honest about it. My politicians just issue bald-faced lies.

      He's not being honest because it's virtuous; He's being honest because there's no consequences for him doing it. Our politicians lie their asses off when it suits them just like yours. He just knows there's no fight left in the general population. Don't go getting funny ideas about how our politicians are somehow special... they were bought and paid for same as yours, and probably by the same people.

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    4. Re:As an American... by MrHanky · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Most politicians lie and break many of the promises they make. Few of them get killed. An armed populace isn't a significant deterrent, although chest-thumping morons will claim otherwise.

    5. Re:As an American... by qeveren · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Soldiers are trained to obey orders. I wouldn't bet your life on "US soldiers won't fire upon US civilians", since they've happily done so before.

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  2. And there's the out... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    EU nations to citizens: "We voted against it, what more coupld we do?"
    EU nations to RIAA: "Ok, it's passed, pay up."

  3. It will pass in some form by kwark · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ACTA will be ratified in some form because it will be resubmitted again and again till the lobbyiest succeed. This happened before with the EU constitution, it will happen with ACTA and it will happen in the future for many more treaties/laws.

    1. Re:It will pass in some form by mhajicek · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Then the courts will have no choice but to ignore it completely.

      No, it will just be enforced selectively ("with discretion") as most current laws are.

    2. Re:It will pass in some form by SecurityTheatre · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The other option is to have it so overreaching that it becomes impossible to do anything without infringing.

      Then the courts will have no choice but to ignore it completely.

      The problem with laws like this isn't that they get ignored, but that they get selectively used.

      There are other similar laws and the result is that anyone (police, lawyer, judge, politician, busybody neighbour) gets to decide whether or not you are guilty.

      I mean, since you are always guilty, it's just a matter of turning you in for prosecution. It's great for police who want to harass you, or a landlord or tenant who wants to screw you for asserting your rights, or a business competitor who would like you out of the way.

      It basically brings a country slowly into a police state. I do not favour it in the way you seem to...

  4. ruling class gonna rule by TheGratefulNet · · Score: 5, Insightful

    is anyone surprised?

    the amount of power held by those that ACTA favors outweighs the amount of power held by those against.

    rulers gonna rule. who'd have thunk it?

    (I'm not in favor of ACTA, not even close; but I don't really hold up much hope when this much greed is involved, mixed with this much 'can-do' power to pull it off.)

    this is a people problem. a scalability one. do our governments 'work' for us anymore? in the modern times, with mass communication now possible, are any of our systems really working? it does not seem so!

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  5. A country that is not a country. by metrix007 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This is the type of thing when you have something resembling a country, but that is not in essence a country, which has non of the protections or checks and balances that a state should actually have.

    Democracy at the EU level, kind of a joke.

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  6. Re:You mean he actually bought the European Court? by 0123456 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Democracy has never counted in the EU because the majority of the people of Europe have never wanted a bloated, centralised state where bureaucrats in Brussels tell them what to do.

    When EU citizens vote wrong, they're forced to vote again and again until they give the right answer.

  7. Re:Do we miss stories where they fight for people? by lennier · · Score: 5, Insightful

    do they ever really stand up for The People and say, "no matter what we're going to do X even if you say no"?

    Sometimes a popularly elected government comes into power and both promises and honestly intends to act against business interests, sure.

    That's called a "rogue state" and we have CIA drone strikes to deal with them.

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