EU Parliament Wants China To Join ACTA, Even As It May Reject It?

from the politics-as-theater dept

Fri, May 25th 2012 3:52pm — Mike Masnick

We've written a few times that the end goal behind ACTA and TPP is to put in place frameworks by the US and Western Europe for certain things, and then pressure the key developing nations to join in based on the framework that has already been established. That is, let the US and Europe set the rules... and then pressure Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) countries to "join" later, when they can no longer influence the rules. It's not hard to see how the plan is really about looking for ways to stifle those up-and-coming economies. Of course, the end result will actually be the opposite. Since those countries won't be saddled with overly restrictive laws (hopefully), there will be interesting opportunities for businesses.

And, of course, among the BRIC countries, none is seen as important as China. Thus, the real goal behind TPP and ACTA isn't just to set up this framework around things like IP (TPP covers much more), but then to get China to sign on to support that framework. Of course, China, whose leaders are much more savvy than the west likes to give them credit for, have made it pretty clear that they have no interest in signing up for ACTA or TPP.

And yet... the EU Parliament is already trying to put pressure on China to sign on to ACTA. Yes, the same EU Parliament that has been moving closer and closer to rejecting ACTA itself has just passed a resolution to scold China for not signing up :

"regrets that China has not taken part in the negotiations on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA)"

While the overall resolution covered a number of other trade issues concerning the EU and China -- meaning that those who voted for it may have been focused on other issues, rather than just this one -- there apparently was a vote specific to this line and it passed. MEP Christian Engstrom, who brought this to attention, notes that this should be a warning sign that, despite strong momentum against ACTA in the EU Parliament, it could still pass.

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

Filed Under: acta, bric, china, eu parliament, tpp

22 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

DUMBASS POLITICIANS, 25 May 2012 @ 4:01pm

then you have the usa doing ....
then you have the usa doing stuff like talking about screwing the world for copyright then adding tons of exceptions and freebies for its own people

yup the truth is out its all a scam for lazy americans and lazy labels and rich people to stay rich.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- gorehound (profile), 25 May 2012 @ 5:19pm
  
  Re: then you have the usa doing ....
  Yup ! My Government is a totally corrupted pile of poop.The only thing they will get out of ACTA& TPP & Any other Future Lame-Ass Treaty is more people Worldwide who will hate us Americans.I do not want the World to Hate me.I have no part in these schemes.I do not and never will support their scams.I will never allow the MAFIAA a way into my wallet for the rest of my life.
  These Rich Fraks and the Scum Politicians are going to make it harder for us.People will hold up Protest Signs and Stuff that is Anti-American.I am not Paranoid or a wacko.I feel this inside.Am I Wrong ?
  These Treaties are not Representing the people of the USA.We are the People and many of us are getting pissed.TPP did not go thru the Senate and on Techdirt I am sure you read the News and see that some flak is about to happen in the Senate over the Treaty.Even so, All those Rich Guys are taking money.They are playing Rich Man Games and it will bite them hard one day.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Peter, 25 May 2012 @ 5:44pm
    
    Re: Re: then you have the usa doing ....
    Don't take this the wrong way, but i feel i need to say this 'as it is' with no harm intended, ok?
    
    And many of your people still wonder why a huge number of the rest world hates your guts.
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - Pro Se (profile), 25 May 2012 @ 6:17pm
      
      Re: Re: Re: then you have the usa doing ....
      Merely out of curiosity, what specific parts of ACTA are troubling to you and why (with some degree of specificity, please)?
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
      - The eejit (profile), 26 May 2012 @ 3:16am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: then you have the usa doing ....
        All of it? I mean, it's not that fucking hard. Especially Section III: Penalties. Which, y'know, imposes liability on Network administrators for stuyff done on that network related to copyright.
        
        You don't even get that fir child pornography.
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 25 May 2012 @ 4:02pm

Fucking brilliant

World wide wiretap on anyone who wants access to the internet

Fucking brilliant guys......fucking brilliant
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- gorehound (profile), 25 May 2012 @ 5:12pm
  
  Re:
  +1
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Nick Dynice (profile), 25 May 2012 @ 4:04pm

SOPA/PIPA/ACTA/TPP had all been an intellectual property cold war on China, and the citizens of Western nations are collateral damage.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- gorehound (profile), 25 May 2012 @ 5:22pm
  
  Re:
  It is about China but it is also about CONTROL.Do not forget that.CONTROL is what these guys want.
  We all might live to see this:
  CONTROL ALT DELETE !
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
honestly, 25 May 2012 @ 4:13pm

im not bashing the american and european people.

but really your governments need to hang themselves.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 25 May 2012 @ 4:21pm

The EU was a failure from the beginning, and this will be the final nail in its coffin.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Hephaestus (profile), 25 May 2012 @ 8:41pm
  
  Re:
  The financial failure of Greece, Spain, Italy are the nails in the EU's coffin. It means the end of a single currency across the EU and them falling back to a set of business and regulatory standards.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- The eejit (profile), 26 May 2012 @ 3:17am
  
  Re:
  No,t he EU itself isn't a failure: the people within it ARE.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
DUMBASS POLITICIANS, 25 May 2012 @ 4:27pm

lol
ya and when your broke and have no job guess what ...you get to come to canada and work at mac donalds for 15% then min wage UNLESS that university grad who don't have a job is forced to take it first....
thanks to economic terrorism by lawyers, and there guards the musicians and actors guilds the worst piece a dirt unionists on earth that just had obama to dinner and bought him totally off, then you get mitt the racist piece a extremist religious nut fanatic ...im like everyone should just really stop voting i mean it and DEMAND by PROTEST no more lobbying.

its the bribes that make it all work , do you think a politician would do any of this crap if he could not get a bribe/lobby cash? OR worse faced a criminal charge for it?

then you have them want in canada to buy useless f35 jets that after a 30 hour talk with a fighter pilot are really not what canada needs ...and to do it make me and everyone under 55 now retire 2 years later so they can stuff there buddies pockets with more cash....
OH am i done no but omg its getting bad in canada folks its really heating up now.....
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 25 May 2012 @ 4:38pm

if anyone interested...day of Action, June 9, done by Accessnow.
Just to remind everyone, we didn't won yet, is not over until is over.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Duke (profile), 25 May 2012 @ 4:45pm

See, I wonder if the wording of this resolution is actually a good thing, or at least a neutral one. Rather than saying they think China should sign it (which we all know won't happen for a long time), they only reference China not being present in the negotiations.

From a practical point of view, China not being present more or less guarantees that China won't sign it, making it a fairly worthless treaty. Had China been present the treaty might have been more reasonable/acceptable (although that's not certain) and more people might be willing to sign it.

Of course, if China's absence means it is less likely to be ratified by the EU, I'm not going to complain about their absence...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Mega1987 (profile), 25 May 2012 @ 4:57pm

This is going to backfire on them....

Like mixing water and acid... In the wrong way.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 25 May 2012 @ 5:13pm

I've read somewhere china wants to implement harsher ip laws (even worse than that of the EU).

maybe they're counting on that?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- william (profile), 28 May 2012 @ 12:48pm
  
  Re:
  Yeah, China wants to implement harsher IP laws. You didn't get that part wrong, but what everyone ignored is that it might not be the result you were thinking.
  
  Company A suing Company B on IP in China.
  
  Judge: So company A, you claim that company B violated your IP?
  Company A: your honor, yes.
  
  Judge flips through documents, found out company A is foreign company operating in China and company B is Chinese owned/State owned.
  
  Judge: Company A has no ground in this case, summarily dismissed.
  Company A: but! but!
  Judge: DIMISSED.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Peter, 25 May 2012 @ 5:41pm

This was the link i left on a comment in an another unrelated article about Christian Engstrom telling his opinion on what happened. Like he said: "Although this is not quite the same as voting yes to the ACTA agreement as such, it is a very alarming signal that there may in fact be a majority to say yes to ACTA in the European Parliament, despite all statements about �ACTA being dead� that have been circulating in the press and elsewhere." - His own words. Imagine the 'anger' that i felt and the thoughts that went (and still are) through my head/mind/heart.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 26 May 2012 @ 1:08am

why the hell would China want anything to do with a law that would only inhibit itself whilst benefiting only the USA? even the EU isn't going to benefit from it, so why they keep considering it, God only knows. and from what i understand, without ratification, USA wont have to stick to the rules etc but everyone else will. if the main instigator wants something that it wont be tied to itself, i would be extremely suspicious as to what is going on!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Rekrul, 26 May 2012 @ 3:24pm

MEP Christian Engstrom, who brought this to attention, notes that this should be a warning sign that, despite strong momentum against ACTA in the EU Parliament, it could still pass.

I've said it before; The entertainment industry has spent too much time and money on ACTA to let it die.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]