European Parliament Declares Its Independence From The European Commission With A Massive Rejection Of ACTA. Now What?

from the power-to-the-people dept

Wed, Jul 4th 2012 8:51am — Glyn Moody

In a plenary vote today, the European Parliament has rejected ACTA by 478 votes to 39, with 165 abstentions. That followed a failed attempt by the right-of-center EPP Group to call for a postponement. Although the final result was not totally unexpected, since the signs had been pointing this way for a time, it nonetheless represents a huge victory for campaigners who had more or less given up hope of stopping ACTA in Europe even a few months ago. So the question now becomes: what are the ramifications?

In its closing speech, the European Commission repeated its statement that it would wait for the European Court of Justice's opinion on the compatibility of ACTA with the EU's laws, even if the vote went against it. It also hinted that it might then call for another vote on ACTA in the European Parliament. Whether that was simply a bluff, or whether it will go ahead with this seemingly pointless exercise, is unclear.

David Martin, the EU parliamentarian charged with handling the ACTA vote, said afterwards in a press conference that he did not believe the Commission could simply re-submit ACTA in its present form. Changing ACTA would require agreement from the other ACTA signatories, which is likely to be hard to obtain, but even then Martin was skeptical that ACTA was the right way to address the problem of counterfeit goods. Moreover, the sheer size of the majority against ACTA today means that the Commission can't realistically hope that next time things will go much better. Instead, Martin suggested splitting ACTA into two new and quite distinct treaties -- one dealing with physical counterfeits, the other with online infringement.

Martin also said that he believed that ACTA is dead, and not only in the European Union. For example, he noted that Australia's politicians were having second thoughts even before the EU vote. If, in the wake of today's resounding rejection, Australia also refuses to ratify the treaty, it will leave ACTA looking tattered and hardly the exemplary globe-spanning agreement its supporters have been pushing for. And that's assuming that the US administration can resolve the issues surrounding its own approval of the treaty, and can muster enough ratifications among other signatories so that ACTA comes into force. And as people are already pointing out, if ACTA does collapse, TPP might be next.

The true measure of the effect of the European Parliament's rejection of ACTA remains to be seen; but two things are already clear. The first is a new recognition that European citizens not only care deeply about key issues like freedom and privacy, but that they are keen to engage with politicians on these and related subjects, as the President of the European Parliament acknowledged in a statement after the ACTA vote:

The debate on ACTA demonstrated the existence of European public opinion that transcends national borders. All over Europe, people were engaged in protests and debates. The mobilisation of public opinion was unprecedented. As the President of the European Parliament, I am committed to dialogue with citizens and to make Europe more democratic and understandable.

The second point was noted by David Martin in a blog post published shortly after ACTA's defeat: This is a historic day in terms of European politics. For the first time the European Parliament has used the powers granted by the Lisbon Treaty to reject an International Trade Agreement. The Commission and the Council will now be aware that they cannot overrun the Parliament, which represents and defends citizens' rights. This vote represents true democracy in action and the coming of age of the European Parliament.
In other words, the rejection of ACTA by the EU is not just a victory for the activists who took to the streets of Europe earlier this year, and the huge numbers of people who contacted their politicians to express their concern: this is also a victory for the European Parliament, which hitherto has been little more than a rubber stamp for the European Commission's proposals.

That has important consequences for the future, since it means that the Commission will need to be more circumspect when dealing with the Parliament. That, in its turn, is likely to lead to more transparency and participation by European citizens in the process of crafting new laws and treaties. In particular, it means that whatever the European Commission comes up with as a response to this major defeat over ACTA, it will not be able to assume that it can always get what it wants. Today's subtle but important shift in power within European politics will also be felt at the international level, since the Commission's negotiators will no longer be able to conduct meetings behind closed doors that fail to take into account what the European Parliament -- and ultimately the people of Europe -- are willing to accept.

Follow me @glynmoody on Twitter or identi.ca, and on Google+

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, australia, david martin, european commission, european court of justice, european parliament, tpp

81 Comments

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

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

Niall (profile), 4 Jul 2012 @ 9:13am

YAY!
We're off to see the Wisard, the Wonderful Wizard of Oz...!!

Well done EU Parliament! Maybe now you can grow a backbone and be the organisation that you are meant to be, instead of another League of Nations...

Let me just say, this makes me proud to be European. Now, to find out who voted for this proposal... I think we have elections coming up!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 4 Jul 2012 @ 9:13am

Today is a good day :_)
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Pixelation, 4 Jul 2012 @ 9:13am

A resounding NO! Awesome. Happy 4th.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Niall (profile), 4 Jul 2012 @ 9:14am

Re:
Today is a good day for ACTA to die... :)
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Niall (profile), 4 Jul 2012 @ 9:17am

Re:
For once, we Brits will forgive you that. ;)

(Normally I celebrate 4th July as "Happy We-got-rid-of-a-bunch-of-useless-colonies Day :)

Happy 4th July to you all! Enjoy the fireworks, and send a few at the European Commission!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
:Lobo Santo (profile), 4 Jul 2012 @ 9:23am

Re: Re: It gets better. :-)
More like "happy missing fingers day..."
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Aklyon, 4 Jul 2012 @ 9:23am

This deserves a Huzzah!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 4 Jul 2012 @ 9:27am

the annoying thing is that, in my opinion, it should never have come or been allowed to come to this. politicians and governments need to remember and realise that they are only in their respective positions because of the people. if they do not do what is best for or at least take into account the needs and the views of the people they will lose their jobs! simples! business is important, of course, but it should never, under any circumstances be more important, particularly when those businesses are benefiting but people aren't or when specific countries are benefiting but all countries aren't. to bill ACTA and similar bills as being 'negotiated' was one of the most insulting and piss taking comments i have ever come across. no public representation was included but all US entertainment industries were. i doubt if it will happen like that again, at least, not in the EU and i foresee TPP going down the same road unless there are some serious changes made, bloody quick! and they will have to be greater than the BULL SHIT put out yesterday by the USTR!!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 4 Jul 2012 @ 9:31am

Re:
A good day indeed.

ACTA was dealt yet another killing blow and CERN has come closer to finding the Higgs Boson.

Both my geek side and my "normal" side are happy today :)
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Machin Shin (profile), 4 Jul 2012 @ 9:33am

Re: Re:
Well, We may have been "a-bunch-of-useless-colonies" for a while. We then became the most powerful nation in the world.

Of course sadly we have now slipped back into the "useless" category. I must say, it is very conflicting being an American, I am extremely proud of what this nation once was and the principles it was built upon, but I am now disgusted when I look at what it has become and how far we have strayed from those principles.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
:Lobo Santo (profile), 4 Jul 2012 @ 9:35am

Re: Re: Re: Past, Future, repeat!
Don't look too hard into the propaganda you were fed as a child, you might become disappointed about the whole affair...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
TtfnJohn (profile), 4 Jul 2012 @ 9:40am

Nothing at all subtle about that vote
Even if the EPP got a case of the parliamentary stupids and abstained en masse or just walked out the vote is overwhelming.

I can't see the Commission trying to bring it back now, though their arrogance in this process is enough to convince me that they can't recognize road kill when they see it. Road kill as in run over by a dozen D-9 Caterpillars. About as subtle too.

Good on 'em. The trip from rubber stamp to actual parliament is hard but it seems the MEPs have taken up the cudgel in a big, big way.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 4 Jul 2012 @ 9:57am

Don't we get to the phase now where they try to bypass the EU and invite the EU countries to join individually?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 4 Jul 2012 @ 10:09am

ACTA, fuck you!

/torvalds
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Cerberus (profile), 4 Jul 2012 @ 10:09am

Re:
Which European country would ever join now? Political suicide...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 4 Jul 2012 @ 10:18am

Re: Re: Re:
I don't really see a conflict as much as a misunderstanding.

Being "American" isn't really about loyalty to a country, as much as loyalty to a set of principles. If it were all about loyalty to a nation those in most of the US would still likely be British citizens.

The "confusion" comes when a nation (or more accurately the government administering that nation) slowly fails to live up to the principles that nation was founded upon (as the US has slowly started to do).

I will still be a loyal American, even if the US, as a country, ceases to be such.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Jim McGinn, 4 Jul 2012 @ 10:18am

Re: Re: Re:
Sums up how I feel.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 4 Jul 2012 @ 10:21am

a good rebuttal of de Gucht by Paul Murphy here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32T_9vVf8Bw

bloody well done to him!!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 4 Jul 2012 @ 10:41am

Re:
Thirty fap salute
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 4 Jul 2012 @ 10:42am

Re:
FREEEEEEEDOOOOMMMMM!

/Stallman
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 4 Jul 2012 @ 10:44am

Thank you European Parliament.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 4 Jul 2012 @ 10:49am

Re: Re:
Also enjoying the Higgs Boson press release as well here.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Cory of PC (profile), 4 Jul 2012 @ 10:50am

Well this gives me an excuse to play "Jumpin' Jack Flash" multiple times over now. If and when TPP falls, I'll try to find some powerful speakers and play the song while chanting "Internet" before the song starts.

... Hey, I got a weird way of celebrating. I'm sure you got your own way of celebrating, right?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Hephaestus (profile), 4 Jul 2012 @ 10:56am

Hello, I need my troll hazing fix ...
Interesting I haven't seen a roll on Techdirt all day. I wonder what they are all doing ...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[citation needed or GTFO], 4 Jul 2012 @ 10:59am

One-Hit Wonder
And to think that the critics out there believed the deaths of SOPA and PIPA were flukes. Now there's just the TPP to worry about...

However, why do I get the feeling that history will repeat itself and there will be a retaliating strike the day after like they did with Megaupload?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Donnicton, 4 Jul 2012 @ 11:08am

Re: Re: Re: Re:
Unfortunately it began to stop being about a loyalty to a set of principles beginning with the advent of the Cold War. McCarthyism helped see to that.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Jacob Blaustein, 4 Jul 2012 @ 11:08am

Re: Re: Re: Re:
Yeah, I love my country and it's ideals, but I am really starting to hate my government when it comes to copyright and patents.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 4 Jul 2012 @ 11:09am

Re: Hello, I need my troll hazing fix ...
The trolls are all rolling in dirt.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Minimum Wage Shill, 4 Jul 2012 @ 11:13am

Re: Hello, I need my troll hazing fix ...
"I haven't seen a roll on Techdirt all day. "

Fine, I guess I'll have to do, since none of the other shills seem to be doing their jobs!!!

the only reason this bill failed is because everyone wants stricter IP laws with longer extensions. everyone kept on complaining to the parliament that these laws didn't go far enough. ip lengths need to be further extended and piracy must be stopped!!! that's what all the ACTA protesting was all about, but you techdirt freetards kept on misinterpreting them to say that they were about stopping copyrights and not expanding it.

so next time parliament will address the public outrage by introducing an even stricter bill that will stop piracy at all costs!!!! and then the population will be happy and stop protesting.

now where is my raise??
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 4 Jul 2012 @ 11:13am

Re: One-Hit Wonder
There's also that nonsense UN ITU proposal to take over the Internet. With the entire US Congress unanimously opposed to it, I don't see it going forward. One thing you can always count on is that when the US government views something as a threat to its money or power, there will be action. Still a good thing to protest though, just to make sure.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 4 Jul 2012 @ 11:20am

who gives a shit about the Eu they are as spineless as the UN
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 4 Jul 2012 @ 11:23am

Re: Re: Re:
Oh! my goddess particle
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Digitalistically Speaking (profile), 4 Jul 2012 @ 11:47am

Re: Hello, I need my troll hazing fix ...
Today is the 4th of July and they're all under the bridges getting ready for the barbecues and three legged races.(well, at least for those that have all three legs fully developed).
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 4 Jul 2012 @ 11:50am

Now if only Canada had the balls to do the same...
Canada refused to listen to it's own citizens and considers their rights in favour of the US Entertainment industry and Celine Dion...

Remember all who in Canada signed ACTA, added Digital locks and signed on to TPP...

Harper, Maxime Bernier, Tony Clements, Bev Oda, Prentice and Verner
[ link to this | view in thread ]
ethorad (profile), 4 Jul 2012 @ 12:05pm

Re: YAY!
I hate to say it, but I agree with you.

I've always been a committed Euro-Sceptic and have vehemently argued against any transition of powers from the UK to Europe.

However, seeing the shameful way my government signed off on ACTA (and numerous other recent opressive acts) and the way the EU parliament has listened to the people I'm less sure.

Today, I'm proud to be European.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Richard (profile), 4 Jul 2012 @ 12:05pm

Remember Sam I am
With his "[ACTA] will be warmly embraced" comment?

Let schadenfreude rule!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
ethorad (profile), 4 Jul 2012 @ 12:08pm

Re: Re: Re:
It's true how children grow to be like their parents.

Welcome to the "we were once powerful" club! :)
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Justin (profile), 4 Jul 2012 @ 12:19pm

Congrats
Being an American Citizen I would like to say congratulations to the US for spending so much time and money on an agreement with itself. Nothing like ignoring the real issues in your country to abuse your power and sign an agreement that nobody wants. I am glad that our leaders have their shit in the right order.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
PRMan, 4 Jul 2012 @ 12:22pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
Actually, it started with the second president's Alien and Sedition Acts, which outlawed such horrible things as criticizing the government and being French.

It's constant vigilance such as that shown by European citizens prior to this vote which gains freedom.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 4 Jul 2012 @ 12:57pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
'It's constant vigilance such as that shown by European citizens prior to this vote which gains freedom.'

and not being too bloody laid back to think it cant happen, it wont happen, there's too many of us compared to them. oh shit!! too late!! it's in! now what do we do??
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Machin Shin (profile), 4 Jul 2012 @ 1:08pm

Re: Re: Re: Re:
Well, I guess really what it comes down to is I am very proud to be American. I'm proud of what this nation is supposed to be. Along with that I will gladly fight and die for this country if it comes to that.

Now an important point to make is I will NOT fight and die for the government in its current form. I am loyal to my country not to the corrupt government that now runs it.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Andrew F (profile), 4 Jul 2012 @ 1:11pm

Re: Re: Re:
Some perspective: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAj5oevN93k&t=165

"America has its problems, but I would rather have its problems than most any other country�s in the world."
[ link to this | view in thread ]
TtfnJohn (profile), 4 Jul 2012 @ 1:15pm

Re: Now if only Canada had the balls to do the same...
We're allowed to sit outside the door, far enough away that we can't hear or comment on anything while we exchange poutine and tacos with Mexico.

Oh, and I hope you didn't expect anything better from the former natural governing party -- The Liberals. They did this sort of thing all the time.

Maple flavoured taco anyone?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
If you listen closely..., 4 Jul 2012 @ 1:19pm

... you can hear the sound of thousands of trolls/shills raging...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
the cleptoid, 4 Jul 2012 @ 1:34pm

Re: Re: Re:
"I must say, it is very conflicting being an American, I am extremely proud of what this nation once was and the principles it was built upon, but I am now disgusted when I look at what it has become and how far we have strayed from those principles." i feel the same way and im british. i cant identify myself with the tag english any longer. thanks for commenting.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 4 Jul 2012 @ 2:07pm

Re: One-Hit Wonder
Does this count as a retaliating strike?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 4 Jul 2012 @ 2:16pm

Re: Hello, I need my troll hazing fix ...
I guess they got the 4th of July off for shilling.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Richard (profile), 4 Jul 2012 @ 2:16pm

All this
and the Higgs Boson too!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
fogbugzd (profile), 4 Jul 2012 @ 2:27pm

Re: Hello, I need my troll hazing fix ...
Most of the trolls are not at work in the MPAA offices because of the holiday.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
maclypse (profile), 4 Jul 2012 @ 2:52pm

Re: Re:
Try Sweden. The current conservative government still cream in their pants every time someone mentions ACTA. They have been spoon feeding the population half-truths and fabrications for a long time, and I'm honestly not sure if this massive rejection in the EU will make them see the light.

Hope it doesn't and they get nuked out of the next election as the voters defect to the greens and the pirate party.

Aaanyway..! Happy day! July 4th is actually feeling a little bit like independence day here in the old world.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 4 Jul 2012 @ 3:15pm

Re: Re: Re:
In Denmark we have a brown government (blue + red) all of the governing parties are represented in EP and all of them voting no in EU. However, they are still vehemently defending ACTA and calling it a travesty that it got voted down in EU.

Greens in Denmark has the danish minister of trade and she has been one of the most loud and most incomprehensible protectors of ACTA. The only arguments from the minister of trade was a rejection of the arguments of the protesters and a restatement of some completely unsolicitated growth-numbers that ACTA would have on the danish economy.

Sweden has a pirate party and that will probably drive the debate in a more reasonable direction, but do not believe that it will be much better.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 4 Jul 2012 @ 3:43pm

US citizens killed SOPA/PIPA. Now EU citizens have killed ACTA.

CISPA's not dead yet, though. It passed in the House of Representatives, but it still needs to go before the Senate. People of the United States of America, the ball's back in your court. Make us all proud...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 4 Jul 2012 @ 3:56pm

SOPA, PIPA, and ACTA were just used to distract people from the BIG threat TPP. Just the standard slight of hand governments use to get what they really want. It's not over but it may be the end.:(
[ link to this | view in thread ]
TDR, 4 Jul 2012 @ 5:37pm

I can see it now, the maximalist thugs trying to brain us with ACTA, stopped short as Raiden (the EU Parliament) sits calmly, sparks flying, and says, "Ah, ah. I don't think so."

And somewhere, the shills are all doing the Darth Vader emo yell. In the meantime, the rest of us all around the world rejoice at the death of ACTA.

"And if we should win the day, the Fourth of July will no longer be known as an American holiday. But as the day when the internet cried out in one voice, 'We will not go quietly into the night! We're going to live on! We're going to survive! Today we celebrate our Independence Day!' "

The Day That ACTA Died
---------------------------------------------------
Bye, bye, that bill ACTA's died
Took my uploads to the locker
But the locker was down
Them good old boys
Were seeding torrents and files
Sayin' this'll be the day that it dies
This'll be the day that it dies
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 4 Jul 2012 @ 6:07pm

The name of this movie is "Total Recall"
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Justin Olbrantz (Quantam), 4 Jul 2012 @ 6:35pm

Re: Remember Sam I am
Well, you have to give credit where it's due. Contrary to what everyone else thought at the time, the people really did turn out to be in control, and did what's best for them.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 4 Jul 2012 @ 6:42pm

Good job netizens of the world, we are stronger then ever!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Nom du Clavier (profile), 4 Jul 2012 @ 7:31pm

Re: Nothing at all subtle about that vote
True that.
For those who want to study the votes in more detail, you can see of the 39 who voted in favor of ACTA, most came from the EPP; abstentions likewise.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 4 Jul 2012 @ 8:20pm

Time to fork the entertainment industry ;)
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Jay, 4 Jul 2012 @ 10:49pm

Re: YAY!
Falkvinge.net has a nice idea to send flowers to all the MEPs that voted no, personally i'm inclined to send a cactus to some of the people that voted yes with a note saying "insert this into orifice of choice".

All that aside, i'm still having trouble wrapping my head around the consequences of this, like when the US tells India that they have to sign ACTA to trade with them and India just says "Fine, we'll sell our stuff to Europe instead then".
[ link to this | view in thread ]
The eejit (profile), 4 Jul 2012 @ 10:56pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
You added seven words to the end fot he sentence that were superfluous.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 4 Jul 2012 @ 11:37pm

Re: Remember Sam I am
I don't believe people have seen hair or hide of him online too often, ever since Jon Newton outed him.

On the other hand, we do have a good handful of trolls to use TF2 Medic responses on. Did ze Frauloweries have zeir Mittelschmerz? I guess all his sleeping giant artist friends are still sleeping!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
ebilrawkscientist (profile), 5 Jul 2012 @ 12:03am

July 5th!
Welcome to July 5th... ACTA is DEAD .... YOU HOPE!

Ah but what to look forwards to now... Oh right, that dastardly evil machination called Trans-Pacific Partnership Yikes... infinitely WORSE than all the other stupid alphabets they have been trying to pass lately.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 5 Jul 2012 @ 12:12am

Actually, this appears to be another great example of why the European Union doesn't really work out. Too much of it is made out of powerless bodies, with no simple way to bind the member countries to decisions made at this level.

Sort of sucks, but it explains why this is likely to go away at some point.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
PopeyeLePoteaux, 5 Jul 2012 @ 1:46am

Re:
Bravo for the "Independence Day" movie speech reference.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Masa, 5 Jul 2012 @ 1:48am

This is a good day to smile!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
PopeyeLePoteaux, 5 Jul 2012 @ 1:51am

Re:
Oh I forgot this XD.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8lHeAllz2E

Happy 4th of July from a Mexican reader.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Niall (profile), 5 Jul 2012 @ 2:00am

Re: Re: Re:
To be fair to you guys, you did, and you have somewhat. I only take that stance because I got so fed up with clueless "we-are-the-only-people-in-the-world" Americans asking if I were celebrating 4th July and if not why not? Knowing I'm Scottish/British. So... I looked into the history, saw that really, you were pretty useless at the time, what with more pressing things like France attacking us everywhere (you really owe them!) and our mad King getting involved again.

Other than you guys, we managed to get control (for a while) of everything else we wanted and half the world besides. See how long that lasted? I suspect American Exceptionalism is going to have some exceptional disappointments in the years to come.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Niall (profile), 5 Jul 2012 @ 2:19am

Re: Re: Nothing at all subtle about that vote
Hmm, mostly French and German MEPs voting 'for'. A UK LibDem voted 'for' as well, I'm shocked - this is normally something LibDems vote against - but then, he's from Hampshire, so possibly a closet Tory. Interestingly, the UK Vice-Chair of the International Trade Committee didn't vote.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Niall (profile), 5 Jul 2012 @ 2:52am

Re:
Unlike the UN, we have 330 million citizens who mostly live in 1st World conditions with 1st World buying power. We also kind of have a military (NATO), but even so, we have the French and UK militaries, which are two of the more powerful non-superpowers. And that's without adding EEA + Switzerland (in financial terms).

Anyway, who gives a shit about the US, they are as navel-gazing as the French.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Niall (profile), 5 Jul 2012 @ 2:57am

Re:
Or get stronger, which is it looking to do with increased monetary union. I just fear the UK will chicken out and be left as some weird hinterland with delusions of grandeur!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 5 Jul 2012 @ 3:28am

just as importantly, the EUP has declared it's independence from the US government and equally as important, from the US entertainment and pharma industries. all these entities would have benefited greatly from ACTA being introduced into law, much more so than any other industry or government in any other country. bloody well done to the EU as well for standing up for their citizens rather than dropping trousers so the US could shaft them, again!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Marcel de Jong (profile), 5 Jul 2012 @ 7:20am

Re: YAY!
Here is the list of people who voted for ACTA:

http://www.votewatch.eu/cx_vote_details.php?id_act=3055&euro_vot_valoare=0&euro_vot _rol_euro_grup=&euro_vot_rol_euro_tara=&vers=2&order_by=euro_parlamentar_nume&order= ASC&last_order_by=euro_parlamentar_nume&limit=0&offset=0&nextorder=ASC&euro_tara _id=&euro_grup_id=&euro_vot_valoare=%2B&euro_vot_rol_euro_grup=
[ link to this | view in thread ]
TaCktiX (profile), 5 Jul 2012 @ 8:25am

Re: Re:
For sale: French gun
Never fired, dropped once.

I kid, I kid, his comment wasn't based in anything close to a plane of reality we would recognize.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Gerald Robinson (profile), 5 Jul 2012 @ 10:08am

ACTA Fraud by Obama
The US has NOT adopted ACTA,OHbummer never submitted the treaty to the Senate for approval and so ACTA is in no way binding on the US. Any attempt to enforce any provisions would be a violation of the US Constitution and a reason for impeachment proceedings. The victim could also likely sue for malicious prosecution.

With the EU out of the picture and Oz rethinking now all we need to do is kill TPP.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anon #41, 5 Jul 2012 @ 10:19am

Re: Re: Re:
What I find interesting is that the Swedish MEP's who were for ACTA didn't vote for, they abstained (or didn't vote in one case). So not even standing by their convictions.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Pjerky (profile), 5 Jul 2012 @ 12:52pm

Re: Re: YAY!
I find it interesting how it was mostly the French and the Germans voting for this. The Nazi and surrendering French jokes just seem too obvious here.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Gary, 5 Jul 2012 @ 2:38pm

Re:
Let's stand up to the example set by the E.U. and make all petitions concerning the internet open to all people of the world because if it concerns the internet it concerns us all.
We can keep killing all of this that they keep sending down the tube.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
mycar (profile), 6 Jul 2012 @ 3:48am

tolerate
Great! article i read this and get more valuable information we(visitor) always find problem solution and at-last we go to forum or blog thanks for your kind share
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Raju Raihan, 20 Oct 2012 @ 2:26am

Awesome
Definitely this blog is very informative and neatly designed. Really you�ve motivated me strongly in my new project by this article. As a constant reader of your blog I want to tell you that your writing skills are superb
Thanks
Raju
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Smith david, 13 Nov 2012 @ 5:14am

Nice post
Definitely this blog is very informative and neatly designed. Really you�ve motivated me strongly in my new project by this article. As a constant reader of your blog I want to tell you that your writing skills are superb
[ link to this | view in thread ]