EU, Mexico & Switzerland Will Not Sign ACTA This Weekend, Despite The 'Signing Ceremony'
from the a-brief-reprieve dept
With Japan announcing a signing ceremony this Saturday for those who negotiated ACTA, it seemed reasonable to think that most of those listed as planning to attend would be signing. Of course, we wondered about the US, the EU and Mexico -- as there have been legal questions and challenges raised to ACTA in all three cases, with Mexico's Congress specifically telling the President it will not ratify the treaty. The EU had also been investigating whether or not ACTA was in line with EU law, and that process has not been completed, so we thought it was premature for the EU to sign onto ACTA.Thankfully, the EU Commission agrees... and has now said that it will not be signing ACTA this weekend, and also saying that Mexico and Switzerland have also said they won't sign... yet:
"The EU has not yet completed its internal procedures authorising the signature, therefore it will not be signing ACTA at this event," the Commission spokesperson said in a statement. "Neither will Mexico and Switzerland, since they did not conclude their domestic proceedings."Of course, this is not a complete rejection of ACTA, but it is a reprieve. It also sounds as though all the other countries listed will be signing, including the US, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Korea, Morocco and Singapore. That's a pretty bold move by the Obama administration, considering the evidence that signing ACTA in this manner without Senate approval is unconstitutional. I guess actually expecting the president to follow the Constitution is only important when you're not in office. Once you get there, all bets are off...
"For the EU, the domestic process for signature is that the Council [of Ministers] adopts a decision authorising a EU representative to sign ACTA. Since this required the translation of the treaty in all the EU languages, such decision has not yet been adopted. It may still require a couple of months for the EU to be able to sign ACTA. After the signature, the European Parliament will have to vote its consent of ACTA,"
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Sour grapes from the losing side. WTG MIKE!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Me and my friends just an Anti-ACTA treaty, guess who didnt sign it? The same people that aren't signing that one!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
But damn if you're not trying to take everyone else with you.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
if losing side = the side that respects the consitution && logical discourse && mike is on that side .. then
(losing side = losing side + me)
(/script)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re:
That was a laugh thank you.
Want to read a good book?
I know a place where it is free.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re:
Enjoy your victory. I am rooting for you to succeed ... you are about to piss of the entire internet using world. All 2.25 billion of us.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re:
The sooner more laws for pro-IP are passed, the better.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Yes, that means that while you root for the "winning" side, you are actually on the losing side along with everyone else. Congratulations.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
"May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one."
I'd rather be on the right side than the winning side any day. And what do you really win by truncating the rights of citizens? Your legislation will do nothing to stop dedicated file-sharers and will only harm innocent people. All it will achieve in the end is less respect for copyright and less respect for the industry that won't adapt. You think you're making progress, but all you're doing is digging your grave a little deeper. You'd do everyone a favor, yourself included, if you'd just climb into it and get it over with.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Whatever...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Whatever...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Whatever...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Really what this is, is an desperate attempt to hold on to relevance in a world where the incumbent players are loosing relevance rapidly.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Great....
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Looks like there's only two types of politicians in the USA
I've always been an independent, and have voted both party lines and sometimes third-party lines, so I have no ax to grind. What we have here, is a decades-long failure to communicate, and for me, communicating consists of speaking truthfully to others, and nothing else. If you say one thing, and do another, that is not communication, but is hypocrisy and/or lying, possibly both. I would vote for a two-headed baboon with rabies and scabies before I'd vote for the incumbent or any of the current front runners. At least you'd know what the hell you're dealing with if it wins! This pack of losers - liars and prevaricators all, each and every one, without exception!
If this keeps up much longer, the pitchfork, torch and tumbrel club may be meeting at the Washington Monument soon.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
And neither is Canada...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: And neither is Canada...
Harper's tongue not in USA's ass? In our dreams.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Mike bags tea for a living
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Mike bags tea for a living
funny: 5
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Mike bags tea for a living
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Mike bags tea for a living
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Its not right.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Its not right.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
In the same way, the Kyoto Protocol was signed by the U.S. in 1997 but has never been ratified and thus is not law here.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
The President has full control over the executive branch, appoints federal judges (and a lot of other people), is commander in chief, has veto power over legislation, and is the only one who can sign treaties. Is this not enough power? Is it too much to want the Senate to actually have to ratify those treaties, like the Constitution specfies?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
ya know, that's only Slightly more power than the monarchy has in NZ. (in that there are limits on just Who can be appointed for the top executive jobs and i'm not sure exactly how much imput they have into the judiciary since our parliament somehow did an end run around the fact that the privy council (basically stand ins for the monarch as final court of appeal much as the GG is as head of the executive) after they had the nerve to rule Against the government. (somehow passed a law, (and how the Fuck the GG at the time thought signing it was in the best interest of Queen OR country, i don't know. should have been immediately replaced for that one, at best. *ponders* that may or may not have been when we somehow had a republican GG. i don't know how the fuck that happens.) that replaced the Privy council with a high court here in NZ... which was under the thumb of parliament... where do i sign up to become a cavalier again?)
i lost track of my nested parenthesis.... hopefully this is intelligible.
yes, it's angry rant on the state of the NZ government as compared to it's constitution. again. move along.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." - George W Bush
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
fixed
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we - we just implement it better."
Fixed...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
harm aside, isn't that what happened with most US 'Discoveries' etc over the last century or so?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
I'm relieved my country shows no will to sing that idiocy. Our copyright laws are sane, allow fair use and non-commercial use.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]