EU Parlamentarian Gallo: ACTA Dissent 'A Soft Form Of Terrorism'

from the she-finally-said-it dept

Tue, Jun 26th 2012 12:08pm — Glyn Moody

Marielle Gallo is probably best known for the Gallo Report, which Techdirt described back in 2010 as a "similarly draconian intellectual property enforcement" to ACTA, with which it has much in common. So it's no surprise that Gallo has been one of the few vocal supporters of ACTA, and it was widely expected that the EU's Legal Affairs (JURI) committee she chairs would support her draft opinion calling for ACTA to be ratified. As we now know, that didn't happen, and JURI formed one of five committees that all recommended that ACTA should be rejected.

Gallo must be a little taken aback by this turnaround: from easily pushing through her Report with its harsh proposals against copyright infringement, she now finds herself increasingly marginalized within the European Parliament on the subject of ACTA precisely because of its disproportionate measures designed to deal with copyright infringement online. A fascinating interview in PC INpact (original in French) gives us an insight into her state of mind at the moment..

As you might expect, she speaks of the "the disinformation campaign we have been enduring for the past months", the standard line taken by the European Commission and its allies. She also makes the interesting claim that "We're supposed to represent citizens, but since they are busy with other things, we are supposed to think for them!" But she reserves her choicest words for the people who have dared to disagree with the pro-ACTA camp:

It's not only a disinformation campaign. It's a soft form of terrorism that frightens people. People are being scared. It's a fantasy. ACTA has become a fantasy. And that, that's propagated by the whole Internet network.

So there we have it. Anyone who dares to disagree with those politicians doing all that thinking are "soft" terrorists, making subversive use of "the whole Internet network" to spread their "fantasy." It was probably inevitable that someone would play the politicians' trump card -- terrorism – against ACTA opponents; and it's no surprise that it was Marielle Gallo that finally did so.

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Filed Under: acta, european union, gallo report, juri, marielle gallo, terrorism

61 Comments

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Glen, 26 Jun 2012 @ 12:14pm

Wow. So now if you disagree with someone, you are a soft terrorist? There goes my flying privilege.
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Ninja (profile), 26 Jun 2012 @ 12:20pm

Glyn, you are opposing ACTA yourself.

/!\ ALERT /!\ terrorist detected at TD! Seize the domain!
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weneedhelp (profile), 26 Jun 2012 @ 12:20pm

us vs. them
"We're supposed to represent citizens, but since they are busy with other things, we are supposed to think for them!"

And the entertainment industry thinks for us.

Free thinkers = terrorists.
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Jun 2012 @ 12:21pm

My name is...
"Terrorism", you keep using that word. I don't think it means what you think it means.
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Yogi, 26 Jun 2012 @ 12:22pm

WTF??
Is this women still walking free, terrorizing the citizens of the European Union? Such delusional people should be hospitalized and treated quickly, before they set back our culture a hundreds years - or more. If we had a time machine we could send her back to the 16th century, she would fit in just fine with the Inquisition.
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Jun 2012 @ 12:32pm

Since I am strongly against ACTA, therefore I must be a terrorist, at least according to the bEUrocrat Gallo.

All I can say is that I am proud to be a ''terrorist'', even a ''soft'' one! :D
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Squig (profile), 26 Jun 2012 @ 12:33pm

So us Pirate Party folks should have waited 6 years, Terrorist party has a much nicer ring to it!
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Applesauce, 26 Jun 2012 @ 12:36pm

Re: My name is...
"...I don't think it means what you think it means."

What are you doing thinking for yourself. That's Gallo's job. You have been warned.
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el_segfaulto (profile), 26 Jun 2012 @ 12:38pm

Re:
I've taken the liberty of scripting this bad boy out, so that future politicians don't have to worry...

var i = 1;
while ( i > 0 )
{
echo ("OMG Teh Terroristz");
passLegislation();
}
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 26 Jun 2012 @ 12:39pm

RAWR
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MrWilson, 26 Jun 2012 @ 12:39pm

And if we showed file-sharing to a 17th century New England colonist, it'd be called witchcraft.

If we showed file-sharing to Joseph McCarthy, it'd be called communism.

If we showed file-sharing to Jerry Falwell, it'd be called satanism (especially if it's was porn!).

Any other moral panics?
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Dark Helmet (profile), 26 Jun 2012 @ 12:40pm

Here's the fun part....
Terrorism, by definition, is the use of fear in order to achieve subversive political goals. Interestingly, this definition fits perfectly with the obvious scare tactic in using the "terrorism" boogie-monster in politics. We've reached the point where those decrying terrorism are often committing the act themselves, particularly this new "soft terrorism" of which Miss Whatever-Her-Name-Is speaks....
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okay...., 26 Jun 2012 @ 12:41pm

so not only is she currupt as hell she is also crazy as hell and a control freak...

what the hell europe? is everyone in the west trying to see who can out bat#### each other?
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Jun 2012 @ 12:42pm

Re:
Yes....or did you not live through the Dubya years, where if you didn't agree with that administration's heavy-handed bullshit or wars started on obvious lies, you were anti-american?
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Jun 2012 @ 12:42pm

she needn't worry about ACTA being adopted in the UK. it isn't needed now with the UK government implementing it's own version of it in the DEA. after the announcement today of the changes ordered into the bill for Ofcom by the UK government and in particular Ed Vaisey, a man that seems to be as on par with the internet as Lamar Smith, the recommendations by Professor Hargreaves have been ignored, as have the interests and rights of UK citizens. they have been branded guilty unless able to afford to go to court and prove innocence. if a wifi connection is unsecured, information on securing it will be supplied, even though it isn't illegal to be unsecured or to not secure it. what do these conditions remind you of?
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Jun 2012 @ 12:45pm

I think she may have meant cyber-soft cyber- terrorist.
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Jun 2012 @ 12:46pm

Re: us vs. them
This kind of ill logic hurts my brain.
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Jun 2012 @ 12:47pm

Re: us vs. them
This kind of ill logic hurts my brain.
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Jun 2012 @ 12:47pm

I think she may have meant cyber-soft cyber- terrorist.
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Jun 2012 @ 12:49pm

IP laws are a hard form of terrorism, they cause economic terror and income inequality to everyone except govt. established monopolists.
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boogie-monster, 26 Jun 2012 @ 12:50pm

Re: Here's the fun part....
Bin-Laden didnt blow up the projects!
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Richard (profile), 26 Jun 2012 @ 12:59pm

Re: Here's the fun part....
Yes I often thought along those lines. The irony I liked best was Tony Blair's law that outlawed "Glorifying Terrorism". The trouble is that he never bothered to look in the dictionary to se what the word "glorifying" actually means. It means making something seem more important than it actually is - but not necessarily with connotations of approval.

Since this law actually gives terrorism more importance than it has in reality, the law is in violation of itself!
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Jun 2012 @ 12:59pm

I think we can safely establish a corollary to Godwin's Law concerning the use of the word "terrorist". She's proved that she has nothing constructive left to contribute to the ACTA discussion.
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The eejit (profile), 26 Jun 2012 @ 1:03pm

Re: Re: My name is...
Inconceivable!

...This Gallo is completely INCONCEIVABLE!
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Jun 2012 @ 1:03pm

Thanks, but I think I prefer soft terrorists over hard politicians.
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Jun 2012 @ 1:04pm

Not a surprise. She started out pointing at the and asking them: "How can you sleep at night when you are about to break your promise to the european industrues?"
This is just a paranoid dilution. She probably also supports Hadopi!
Give the woman 10 mg of risperidone and give her a nice new jacket on.
If you want to, you can send her to Denmark where she will end up on a waitinglist for a year (http://www.kl.dk/Momentum/momentum2011-1-1-id78837/), get far overdosed when she gets into treatment (http://www.180grader.dk/Videnskab/forsker-rystet-dobbelt-op-p-psykose-medicin) and will get released again far too fast for her to have recovered (http://www.bedrepsykiatri.dk/nyheder/psykisk-syge-udskrives-for-tidligt.aspx).
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Jun 2012 @ 1:12pm

Re: Re:
The fact that you are constantly checking if i is greater than 0 instead of writing while(true) is an example of what we call "checks and balances" and ensures that the government can't grant itself too much power.

The system works!
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Jun 2012 @ 1:14pm

Dear Gallo

I most certainly don't need you to do my thinking for me. In fact with "logic" like you have expressed, I wouldn't trust you to do the thinking for my four year old, much less myself.

Given your clear contempt for "the masses" and the fact you deem us as "soft terrorists", I will in turn express my contempt for you. I consider your opinion of me/us irrelevant as in my opinion you are, at best, in need of serious psychological help and at worst guilty of crimes against humanity (and should be afford the proper punishments).
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Jun 2012 @ 1:15pm

Re: My name is...
"Terrorism"

n. The battle cry of a politician in the process of trying to pass an law that the citizens do not support.

Synonyms; Cyber-war, Cyber-threat, cyber-bullying, "Think of the children!"

=P
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Josef Anvil (profile), 26 Jun 2012 @ 1:15pm

Wait for it....
Politicians are just one step from creating the ultimate reason to pass any legislation with no resistance.

Wait for it...

The cyberpedophilepornterrorist.
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Jun 2012 @ 1:15pm

What, did Osama Bin Laden destroy the Twin Towers by downloading Mariah Carey songs?
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RonKaminsky (profile), 26 Jun 2012 @ 1:17pm

I guess there should be soft conspirators, also, then?
It's OK. Secret negotiations hidden from the public are a "soft form of conspiracy".

(Conspiracy to undermine democracy, for those who haven't figured it out already.)
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Jun 2012 @ 1:17pm

Re: Re: My name is...
Actually, come to think of it... Maybe we can charge the politicians with "terrorism" For terrorizing us with all these bad laws/treaties/agreements they keep trying to pass.
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Jun 2012 @ 1:18pm

Re: Here's the fun part....
Terrorism is also the use of force to achieve political agendas. The government uses force to enforce IP laws for political purposes (revolving door favors and campaign contributions). The government is a terrorist.
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Jun 2012 @ 1:19pm

Re:
I think they have a little blue pill to help you with that. =P
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Quawonk, 26 Jun 2012 @ 1:20pm

"We're supposed to represent citizens, but since the corporations are busy bribing us, we are supposed to ignore them! The MAFIAA's anti-piracy statements are not only a disinformation campaign. It's a soft form of terrorism that frightens people. People are being scared. It's a fantasy. And that, that's propagated by the whole mainstream media."

Fixed it.
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Jun 2012 @ 1:23pm

Re:
I don't think so... though if he downloaded and played a Bieber song in the courtyard, it may of had similar results.
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RonKaminsky (profile), 26 Jun 2012 @ 1:33pm

Isn't Gallo an Italian name?
We better be careful not to go against Gallo when death is on the line!

(Maybe we're lucky she's a member of a different MafiAA than various other Gallos?)
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DannyB (profile), 26 Jun 2012 @ 1:47pm

Re: Re:
Just for that, you can't have any more Freedom Fries.
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DannyB (profile), 26 Jun 2012 @ 1:49pm

Re: I guess there should be soft conspirators, also, then?
Secret negotiations hidden from the public are a "soft form of tyranny".

Tyranny is the right word. Unrestrained abuse of power. Even if ACTA is voted down, we're going to get it rammed down our throats anyway -- for our own good. Our dear leaders know best.
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DannyB (profile), 26 Jun 2012 @ 1:52pm

Re: us vs. them
We are supposed to represent citizens, but since they are busy watching TV* and consuming, we are supposed to think for them.

* but only what is on cable, no internet or youtube allowed
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Almost Anonymous (profile), 26 Jun 2012 @ 1:58pm

She's a witch!
All joking aside, this lady's comments *should* scare you. She is in a position of some power, she's clearly and deliberately painting a large group of people with a broad brush in a color that is designed to provoke a fearful emotional response, for no other reason than that they disagreed with her point of view. This is vile and is basically the equivalent of a modern day witch hunt.
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Jun 2012 @ 1:58pm

Re: Isn't Gallo an Italian name?
That blunder is only slightly less well known...
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Anti-Fandom Association President, 26 Jun 2012 @ 2:22pm

As President of the Anti-Fandom Association and a Christian. I taking my sides with Gallo, sister in Christ. I would remind everyone that God is watching you, and there's nothing you can do to stop ACTA from going into effect even by not ratifying, because the ambassadors already signed it, Poland, and Switzerland.

I will enjoy hearing the sound of fandom nerds who break God's laws and steal intellectual property working on the chain gang. Soon you and your families will join them. We will place wireless surveillance cameras in your house to make sure you do nothing that infringes copyright that goes with those who sing in the shower. And we will make it mandatory for everyone to have DRM thought police implants in their brains so that they will be uncreative, unproductive, and nothing else except buying our products. You have no free will or any type of freedom once we have that DRM chip implanted inside your little skull.

Gallo knows "Thou shall not steal".
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Shmerl, 26 Jun 2012 @ 2:30pm

Re: Re:
// Political system at work

bool busy;
do
{
   busy = true;
   if (lobbied_by_mafiaa())
   {
      std::cerr << "Piratez and terroristz!" << std::endl;
      pass_legislation();
   }
   else
   {
      get_lobbyists();
   }
}
while (busy);

while (!busy) do_something_useful();
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Psyga Sanichigo (profile), 26 Jun 2012 @ 2:34pm

Is it okay if we make Terrorism the new Godwin's Law?
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Jun 2012 @ 2:34pm

so, exactly what is the name for what she and those like her, who are in positions for the public good, have done and are still doing that are contrary to the best interests of the public, simply because of the 'encouragement' they have all received from the US entertainment industries? if speaking out against bills like ACTA is soft terrorism, what they want to do seems like corporate dictatorship.
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Jun 2012 @ 3:01pm

What took them so long? Now hurry up and throw those 10 million "terrorists" into private prisons.
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Minimum Wage Shill, 26 Jun 2012 @ 3:05pm

"EU Parlamentarian Gallo: ACTA Dissent 'A Soft Form Of Terrorism'"

WOW, I wish I can shill this good. no wonder he gets the big bucks.
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Jun 2012 @ 3:17pm

Re:
IP extremists really outdid themselves here. Their last argument was that IP laws are important because grocery stores need them or some nonsense like that. Just when I thought their arguments couldn't get any more ridiculous this comes along. I mean, wow, what's next?

It's very hard to fathom a more ridiculous argument than the OP, but here goes.

IP laws contribute to the economy which contributes to more jobs which contributes to more tax revenue which contributes to more space defense funding which can be used to deflect comets from hitting the earth. Without IP laws comets may hit the earth, especially since IP laws contribute to the military and government funded innovation necessary to develop the necessary technologies to deflect these things. Also, aliens can better attack us without the technology that more jobs helps fund. So we need IP laws.

It's like there is a competition over who can come up with the most ridiculous claims. Does anyone think that IP extremists will top this one?
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Hephaestus (profile), 26 Jun 2012 @ 3:57pm

Re: Re: Re:
dude!!! Dot Net, seriously I have lost all respect for you.
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Jun 2012 @ 4:45pm

So does this mean this is soft corruption......or hard corruption.........dammit, im sooo confused :(
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Shmerl, 26 Jun 2012 @ 5:45pm

Re: Re: Re: Re:
Dot Net? It's simple C++.
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AzureSky (profile), 26 Jun 2012 @ 6:10pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
whats wrong with C# or .net anyway.....works on the bulk of computers out there, far better then most c i have seen thats poorly or totally un-remarked/documented, dont get me started trying to help debug some server software...

that said, the code made me laugh....lol(im not a coder, but I have helped track down and fix bugs in alot of software for friends who are, and about 1/2 of them dont like .net simply because its MS, on the other hand they all like .net better then using java.....(lol?)
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AzureSky (profile), 26 Jun 2012 @ 6:15pm

Re: Re:
not really any better now, look how many people are getting prococuted for whistle blowing by obama, look how many people they have sent thugs to threaten...

I hated bush, but....obama sadly isnt any better...

and if romney wins, same shit different day...

the more I look at our political system the more I realise that what we got is a system where we are encouraged to vote for one arsehole or another, based on colour, smell and texture....and no matter who gets voted in, we all should know, we are going to get shat on....
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Rapnel (profile), 26 Jun 2012 @ 7:32pm

the hell?
Wow man, somebody needs to get this chick a cat.
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Jun 2012 @ 9:59pm

Re: Re: Re:
Obama is barely better Bush and Romney will be barely worse than Obama or much worse.

I find it difficult to believe that there are not better willing candidates in a population of over 300 million.

So much for self interested competition forcing the cream to the top.
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Jun 2012 @ 10:10pm

Re:
No, Godwin's Law sucks, especially with so many governments going totalitarian police state on our asses.
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Navid, 27 Jun 2012 @ 1:19am

Could be worse, if this were Nelson Mandella's South Africa, there would have been bombings by now.
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The eejit (profile), 27 Jun 2012 @ 1:55am

Re: Re: I guess there should be soft conspirators, also, then?
Secret negotiations hidden from the public are a "hard tyranny".

FTFY
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Jesse (profile), 27 Jun 2012 @ 11:47am

Isn't internet network a little redundant?
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