EU ACTA Chief Resigns 253
bs0d3 writes "The EU ACTA chief has resigned, saying, 'This agreement might have major consequences on citizens' lives, and still, everything is being done to prevent the European Parliament from having its say in this matter. That is why today, as I release this report for which I was in charge, I want to send a strong signal and alert the public opinion about this unacceptable situation. I will not take part in this masquerade.' 22 EU members signed the controversial ACTA treaty Thursday in Tokyo."
How do we protest this? (Score:5, Interesting)
What we need is a simple webpage with links to complete tutorials of how to protest this for each country, where people can edit the tutorials, like, a wikipedia for protests. I don't know how to create such a website quickly, but I'm sure some guys on Slashdot could whip out something like this in a couple of hours.
Re:Fundamental disconnect: (Score:5, Interesting)
"might"?
There is nothing "might" about it. It will have devastating effect on a lot of law-abiding users, and probably very little on the less law-abiding users, if not outright help the "pirates" in the long run.
But it will criminalize the majority of the internet users.
Re:Why can't more politicians do this? (Score:3, Interesting)
Probably was the best course of action (Score:5, Interesting)
It's probably best for himself and his family that he made a big show of his dissent like this. There's probably some angry, big moneyed cockroaches that are scurrying after the light was shone on their big bureaucratic power grab.
These fat media/government cockroaches are appearing more and more desperate, no?
It's just a matter of time till the lazy-ass 1337 network hackers get their collective acts together and start shunting their god-given right to free traffic off onto a pure P2P, encrypted, usually-connected, fido-net style worldwide wireless network grid a la "media net" from The Diamond Age by Neil Stephenson.
'Monitored' is post-central-government era term that means the same as 'controlled'. In our lifetimes, there will be no centralized corporate/governmental infrastructure worth controlling. And the most delicious part: their goofy special protections for DRM in the 90's will be their undoing.
Computer networks, exchange and value, ideation and realization - these have all become interlinked concepts. The hub is the network.
Guess what, cockroaches? The democracy genie is outta the bottle, and it has been for 15 years. These desperate, piddly attempts of yours to stuff it back in the bottle won't work for long. (And if the people would just WAKE UP, they won't work at all!)
Re:Call me picky but... (Score:4, Interesting)
What is so suspicious about using port 82?
Because its not 80. Why isnt this alleged news site (that is either down or is slashdotted right now) not using the standard http port?
Re:I'm proud of Mr Arif (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Fundamental disconnect: (Score:3, Interesting)
1) "Bread and games" concept and fall of the Roman empire once it (for any good reason) was unwilling or unable to support it anymore. (No way I say it was the only one reason, off course, but still the significant one.)
2) It is generally reproved by historians as well as the humanity to cut the hand for stealing the bread during medieval. It can easily be the same about jailing people because they looked at the film or played the game after several hundred years.
3) Total number of victims in consequence of the Red October Revolution (which was just misuse of general public discontent by selfish political movements) was bigger then the WWII victims count. (And still it failed in long run once it itself turned towards the repressions.)
Such a revolution could hardly occur (or at least be so massive), if capitalism would timely adapted it's hunger for money to some sustainable position, as it was forced to do anyways as the consequence of the revolution. The parallel is in adapting new, sharing based, business models by major content producers (what, I believe, could paradoxically even increase their profit - at least in the middle horizon) instead of provocative and generally ineffective repressions.
4) People suffering large (=unpayable) fees, thus loosing their homes and possession, suffering arresting of their children ("stealers" of the copyrighted content) and lack of access to any relaxation, aggression diminishing, sources (i.e. copyrighted content) will tend to join ANY riots, regardless of how obscure goal they serve behind the curtain.
5) Final prove is the recent Greece history, where EU-enforced saving rules (which in general and especially compared to the ACTA targets are very reasonable) showed to be even more cost consumptive (because of the productivity decrease by strikes and cost increase due to suppressions of public riots plus collateral damage) than would be the status quo. This fact is not too publicly disseminated, but is confirmed by EU officials in some public sources and is behind the very recent statements of the Angela Merkel admitting the ability of the Greece bankrupt.
On the site note: yes, I do agree that any repressive push is just in the favor of the International Pirate Movement (which I foresee to be in the similar position now as Green Movement was in 70 years of last century, large uprise ahead), but still I do not support "the end justifies the means" approach if such a collateral damage is predictable.
Re:Probably was the best course of action (Score:3, Interesting)
Every generation becomes a teenager and picks something the government is doing, thinks it's wrong and protests.
But every generation grows up and eventually realizes they were really dumb when they were younger after they learn every generation before them did the same thing and it made no difference.
Comment removed (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Another politician with half a brain? (Score:4, Interesting)
Exactly.
This "ACTA Chief" sounds like a coward If he is displeased with the process, and he's the one in charge, then he should be using his position to make the ACTA a formal treaty to be passed b y the People's representatives in Parliament. To scurry away shows an supreme lack of fortitude and irresponsibility.
Re:Another politician with half a brain? (Score:5, Interesting)
âI want to denounce in the strongest possible manner the entire process that led to the signature of this agreement: no inclusion of civil society organisations, a lack of transparency from the start of the negotiations, repeated postponing of the signature of the text without an explanation being ever given, exclusion of the EU Parliamentâ(TM)s demands that were expressed on several occasions in our assembly..... This agreement might have major consequences on citizensâ(TM) lives, and still, everything is being done to prevent the European Parliament from having its say in this matter.â
Wow.
Do Europeans still have the right to own guns? If I read that my government was bypassing my elected representatives to pass ACTA, I'd be visiting the local target shooting store to polish my skills. Passage of laws without representation is just 1 step short of tyranny.
"No legislation without representation."