Canada Launches ACTA Bill 91
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by
Soulskill
from the while-everybody's-paying-attention-to-hockey dept.
from the while-everybody's-paying-attention-to-hockey dept.
TrueSatan writes "In an utterly craven move, the Canadian government has launched a bill to bring Canada into full compliance with the discredited, U.S.-led ACTA agreement — an agreement to which most of the world does not agree. To further pressure the acceptance of this awful bill, the U.S., on the same day, released their Trade Policy and Agenda Annual Report (PDF), which calls on Canada to comply with ACTA obligations. For ACTA to take effect, it would require six signatures from the major economic blocks. Tt appears to have no remaining possibility of getting them, yet the U.S., and now Canada, continue to push it forward. The Canadian bill features claims based on spurious health and safety concerns that have been thoroughly debunked by a U.S. report. Despite these claims being so dubious, they remain a cornerstone of the Canadian bill. Similarly, the claimed losses due to counterfeiting ($30 billion USD) stated in the bill have also been debunked. The Canadian bill seeks to give border guards an unprecedented level of control, without the possibility of judicial oversight. Despite a lack of evidence to suggest that Canada is a major source of counterfeit product, the bill puts at risk the fully-legal parallel import of generic items — pharmaceuticals, for instance. The bill would also change copyright infringement from a civil dispute to a breach of criminal law. Pity Canada if this bill is enacted!"
Propose != Launch (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Canada is run by a dictatorship (Score:1, Interesting)
matches the situation in the States where Obama rules by executive order. should expect that Canada would lock step with the States on just about anything.
any suggestions on countries where the governments still represent the citizens rather than laying covert plans to oppress and destroy them?
Re:Propose != Launch (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Propose != Launch (Score:2, Interesting)
That's the problem with having a strong majority government. They can ram through just about anything with no resistance.
This is just another example of what a minority of citizens in Canada and the States worry about; governments running wild with unpublished agendas independent of political party and with no real concern about the majority of the population.
The old are lucky enough that they won't see the worst of it. The young have been indoctrinated into believing that this is exactly the way things should be. It's the generation in between that are going to suffer as their normal, freedom of choice, freedom from unwarranted surveillance, freedom from fear of unwarranted search seizure, of unwarranted indefinite detainment crumbles around them.
confirmation word: watchman
Re:Propose != Launch (Score:3, Interesting)
Why is it that we have to fight shit like this on a seemingly CONSTANT basis? Seriously, they're dredging up oppressive legislation faster than it can be struck down. You can block a thousand of these things, but all it takes is for just one of these pieces of toilet paper to slip past the goalie and it's game over for public, it'll never go away. It seems just short of impossible to get rid of any bad law.