Czech Government Suspends ACTA Ratification
from the check-off-another-one dept
Following Poland's lead, the Czech Prime Minister, Petr Necas has announced that the government there will suspend the ACTA ratification process until the country has had more time to analyze the agreement. This follows a "wave of protests" across Europe, in which this agreement, that everyone assumed was going through with no questions asked, has suddenly generated significant public interest:"By no means would the government admit a situation where civic freedoms and free access to information would be threatened," Necas said.Unfortunately, it sounds like some of the protesters are still claiming things about ACTA that were removed ages ago, as Necas is also telling people that it won't require checking laptops at borders or monitoring internet usage. While some of those things were floated in very early drafts of ACTA, all of those have been gone for years at this point. Once again, we have to urge people to keep the ACTA debate fact-based, because misinformation like this makes it easier for countries like the Czech Republic to come back later and say that they're still ratifying the document, because the complaints turned out not to be true. There are plenty of real problems with ACTA, and hopefully people can focus on those. Otherwise these milestone moments in the Czech Republic and Poland will be for nothing....
That is why the government will analyse the issue and have it assessed by experts. "We really must look into the impact it would have in real life," Necas said.
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Filed Under: acta, copyright, czech republic, protests
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He who controls the informations, controls the universe!
Seriously, it's a sound strategy with a good chance of success. A present day example of the ol' "if you can't blind them with brilliance then baffle them with bullsh*t."
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shocking
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Though, as Lobo Santo says we need to be prepared for a kind of "reverse astroturfing" by supporters of the proposed treaty. It won't be the first time that's happened, now will be the last. Sticking to the facts is by far the best way to kill this abomination off. Just as they killed off SOPA/PIPA (at least for now).
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Ratification process
If so, how's it possible that a government can ratify a text without even knowing its content and its potential impacts, that it has to be the people who must alert its own government about the potential dangers of a text rather than the opposite ?
'Bit scary.
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Staying secret to their own peril
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If only a third party could stand a chance in the US.
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Re: shocking
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Re: Unicycle
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Re:#7
While it's scary that they seem to have not paid attention like so many, it makes me REALLY HAPPY to see things like "Country X decides to pause and put this on hold". And wow, two in rapid succession! It's like watching a Jenga tower wobble and shake with each piece taken out! Crumble! Crumble and fall to pieces!
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Seems redundant
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Re: Re: Unicycle
What made the structure work and keep things relatively stable was the strong middle where actual deals got made with real governance that kept the extremes in check by throwing them a bone now and again. What we have currently is an evolution of the fracturing that will most likely continue, but more so on the left which has some catching up to do.
I expect this process to continue even if Obama wins this year, but see it accelerating should he loose in November.
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Re: Seems redundant
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Border Checks
If you are traveling on business, I assume that everything on your laptop is commercial. Or, if personal travel, if you plan to sell the music stored on your iPod, then that is commercial. In other words, this still requires checking of all passengers for copyrighted goods, but only after there is a determination of commercial or non-commercial.
Or suppose you have a lot of music on your iPod? That does not qualify as a "small" quantity of goods. Perhaps a terabyte of music? When is it no longer "small"?
This is still problematic.
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Re: Seems redundant
The EU considers this a kind of mixed treaty, such that every country in the EU and the centralized governing bodies must sign and ratify it or it won't pass for anyone in the EU. If we can stop it in any of these places, we can prevent it from taking effect in the EU. This will remove the US excuse and allow US citizens to stop it here.
Without the US or the EU, the other countries in the negotiation will not have substantial pressure arguments to force it onto any outside nation, if they can even get the necessary six ratifications to put ACTA into force.
In other words, we have two big fights ahead of us and if we win both ACTA dies. If we lose the first, we lose. If we win the first, the second is simply a matter of keeping momentum going. If we win the first and lose the second, things could get really tense (US adopts ACTA, EU does not, global alliances start to shift).
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Re:
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Re:
We just need to make the content industry so toxic that they are not listened to.
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Re: Re: Seems redundant
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Re: He who controls the informations, controls the universe!
-Friedrich Nietzsche
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no trust
Not all of them were under the direct influence of Big Content , some were just supporting it on the basis of ' Gee, well, stopping online piracy is fine with me, I,m in'.
There is also this ghastly sledgehammer at the core of all these bills . Domain seizures, arrests,guilty until proven innocent, criminal charges,prison time,etc,etc all in the name of copyright infringement/protection and sooner or later these will be extended to ordinary users as the lunatics take control of the asylum.
Standing at the back pulling the strings is Big Content and its this that is alarming everyone. Under these circumstances fair ,balanced and sane regulatory progress is impossible.
I also believe that the sleeping giant of ordinary internet users will be woken by something that effects them directly.
When that happens , it will blow up in the faces of those drafting and promoting these things.
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Re:
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Problem?
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Re: no trust
You mean like they start taking down the dancing cat videos or they nuke Farmville? Sadly, I think that's what it would take for some people... and unfortunately I know a few of them. I would send them articles about SOPA/PIPA, and they would send me invites to help them pick apples or radishes, or milk cows or something. Very apathetic. Unless it hits them, they're uninvolved.
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Re: Re: shocking
There's a lot that's getting "played out" but it isn't the criticism of this farce.
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Do we REALLY Understand ACTA?
He doesn't elaborate much beyond this - the intent of his post was to skirt these difficult, confusing and obfuscated rules, but it seemed an important point to me, however briefly stated (there's a bit more from him in the comments).
The post is here: http://falkvinge.net/2012/01/28/the-only-thing-you-need-to-know-about-acta/
It's a quick read, and guaranteed to give any anti-Big-Content person a smile and a warming sensation in the center of his chest.
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Problems?
Such as what, exactly?
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Re: Problems?
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Re: Re: Seems redundant
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