Mexican Legislature Scolds Executive Branch For Signing ACTA

from the not-easily-convinced dept

Tue, Jul 24th 2012 11:55pm — Mike Masnick

As we noted recently, Mexico's executive branch surprised a lot of people recently by having its ambassador to Japan sign ACTA (just as people were claiming that ACTA was dead in the country). Of course, this came after the Congress had very specifically called for the Mexican President to reject ACTA (long before other countries and the EU Parliament began realizing ACTA was a problem). As we noted, Mexico's IP Office has been telling people that it's sure that it can convince the Mexican Congress to come around to supporting ACTA.

That may be a tougher battle than they originally expected, however. Both houses of the legislature have now passed resolutions condemning the decision to sign ACTA, sometimes with rather pointed language. From the InfoJustice writeup linked here:

The Senate resolution, sponsored by Sens. Francisco Javier Castellon Fonseca, Carlos Sotelo Garcia, Maria Beatriz Zavala Peniche, and Dip. Rodrigo Perez-Alonso Gonzale rejects the signing because it didn’t respect Mexican law on the approval of international economic treaties; it ignored the official Senate recommendation of September 6, 2011; and it violated domestic law and human rights. This resolution asks the President to take the steps necessary to revoke Mexico's signature from the agreement, and it asks the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to prepare a report on the reasoning behind the signing of the agreement.

The Chamber of Deputies resolution, sponsored by Dep. Jaime Aguilar Alvarez rejects ACTA and calls the executive's disregard of the legislature on this matter an “authoritarian and unilateral stance.”

It does not look like the Congress is going to be convinced to support the ratification of ACTA any time soon.

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, copyright, mexico, senate, signatures

31 Comments

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

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

Anonymous Coward, 25 Jul 2012 @ 12:20am

"It asks the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to prepare a report on the reasoning behind the signing of the agreement."

False promises from the USTR. That's the reason, I would suggest.

Mexico was allowed to attend TPP meetings after they signed, Now they will be left Not.

This seems like a problem for the poor guy that signed the paperwork, to enact ACTA.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 25 Jul 2012 @ 3:33am
  
  Re:
  @ #1
  
  i dont think Mexico has been allowed to attend any TPP meetings at all,neither before it signed or since.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Berenerd (profile), 25 Jul 2012 @ 9:37am
  
  Re:
  To be fair to the guy...it was a really big check....
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 25 Jul 2012 @ 1:08am

It would appear that the executive branch has quite a bit more power than the congress would like, and that's probably not such a bad thing. Sometimes decisions have to be made that aren't as popular (or populist) as some would like.

Considering the President has been from the same party for a very long time, it's doubtful that will change any time soon.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 25 Jul 2012 @ 1:29am
  
  Re:
  It would appear that the legislative branch has quite a bit more power than the President would like, and that's probably not such a bad thing. Sometimes decisions have to be made that are more popular (or populist) than some would like.
  
  ftfy
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 25 Jul 2012 @ 1:52am
  
  Re:
  It absolutely is a bad thing that a bunch of unelected public servants would usurp the peoples elected representatives for the purposes of signing away any degree of national sovereignty.
  
  Treasonously bad in my view.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Anonymous Coward, 25 Jul 2012 @ 2:39am
    
    Re: Re:
    It's not bad, because there is a balance of power play here. The "unelected" public servants are in fact selected and approved of by the elected people, they aren't random.
    
    It's incredibly bad to bog down every piece of a countries work in legislation, it would take forever for anything to happen.
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - Anonymous Coward, 25 Jul 2012 @ 3:18am
      
      Re: Re: Re:
      You certainly have a twisted view of democracy.
      
      "It's not bad, because there is a balance of power play here. The "unelected" public servants are in fact selected and approved of by the elected people, they aren't random."
      
      The ONLY people I want making decisions that are going to effect my daily life are people that can be held accountable... meaning voted out. I'm not OK with what our own "selected" public servants are doing, like people in the DOJ, ICE, & the NSA to start with. Then you have corrupt politicians and those who say one thing to get elected and change their tune shortly after, like Obama in so many ways.
      
      "It's incredibly bad to bog down every piece of a countries work in legislation, it would take forever for anything to happen."
      
      It's incredibly democratic to wisely think through every piece of a countries work in legislation, nothing done correctly is ever rushed.
      
      ftfy
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
      - Anonymous Coward, 25 Jul 2012 @ 7:37am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re:
        "The ONLY people I want making decisions that are going to effect my daily life are people that can be held accountable"
        
        It doesn't work, unless you want to elect a few hundred thousand people to work for the government. Every day, people who work for the government make decisions that effect your life, from if that guy gets a work visa to if you name comes up on the IRS list for audits. You can't vote them out.
        
        Already in the US you vote for more people than you really should, having judges run for election is the most back-assward way of doing things!
        
        Democracy is simple, but the number of people required to make it happen is huge, and not every decision can be put to a vote or a proposition on your next ballot.
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
        
        John Fenderson (profile), 25 Jul 2012 @ 4:00pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
        Every day, people who work for the government make decisions that effect your life, from if that guy gets a work visa to if you name comes up on the IRS list for audits. You can't vote them out.
        
        True, however you can get your elected representatives to alter the rules that the unelected folks are implementing.
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - saulgoode (profile), 25 Jul 2012 @ 7:18am
      
      Re: Re: Re:
      It's incredibly bad to bog down every piece of a countries work in legislation, it would take forever for anything to happen.
      
      I would largely agree with you, except for two issues. Firstly, international treaties are not trivial policy decisions and can have dramatic ramifications for the economy and sovereignty of the countries (hence the typical requirement that the elected legislatures are delegated the duty of ratifying their adoption).
      
      Secondly, from a societal standpoint, the Internet is the most significant technological advancement since the printing press and the most momentous change in the relationship between the governing and the governed since the separation of church and state. Failure to take this into consideration when crafting new legislation and international treaties is no longer acceptable.
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Justin Olbrantz (Quantam), 25 Jul 2012 @ 8:29am
  
  Re:
  You said it. Now all we need to do is dispose of that pesky legislature and the government will be perfect!
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Beech, 25 Jul 2012 @ 1:59am

On one hand, good for them. Those resolutions are better than the all of nothing the US congress did when Obama signed the treaty with no authority.

On the other hand, the resolutions don't seem to have any teeth at all. It's not like they're saying "Take the signature back or we'll impeach your ass." Maybe it's implied I guess.

Overall, good on them but I wish they went even further.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 25 Jul 2012 @ 2:02am

I believe this is proof that Democracy is a sham. The will of the people is routinely ignored for the benefit of big business. So, why are more people not out on the streets protesting? Have we become so dulled by decades of broken promises and corruption that we just don't see a point any more?

The only way we will get any real change is revolution, peaceful or otherwise.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- The eejit (profile), 25 Jul 2012 @ 4:01am
  
  Re:
  "Democracy is for Ancient Greeks."
  -Herr Starr, Preacher (1992-3)
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Anonymous Coward, 25 Jul 2012 @ 6:53am
    
    Re: Re:
    Who masterbate with feta cheese.
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 25 Jul 2012 @ 4:33am
  
  Re:
  Slow down. Most of the things going on has been going on for quite some time. The only thing that has really changed is how easy it is becoming for the public to look over the shoulder of the government. There are definately some deplorable things going on, but it is mostly because of awareness they make any kind of headlines. Wait a few decades and the system will have adjusted its language and communication so it no longer only target selected industrial interests.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- gorehound (profile), 25 Jul 2012 @ 4:55am
  
  Re:
  I am ready for it.Sick of the Corruption.Sick of SOPA,PIPA,CISPA,ACTA,TPP, and whatever they are trying to ram down our throats.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 25 Jul 2012 @ 2:03am

didn't see anything about the person/people who signed getting the sack or even worse. we all know the severe steps taken against ordinary people when they do the slightest thing that is classed as wrong, prison being the first choice of punishment. why should these get away free after the gross misconduct they have performed?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Androgynous Cowherd, 25 Jul 2012 @ 2:40am

Something in the water in Japan?
First the Slovenian ambassador to Japan, Helena Drnovsek Zorko*; then the Mexican ambassador to Japan. Is there something in the water in Japan that makes people pro-ACTA?

* http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120201/10170517623/slovenian-ambassador-apologizes-signing-acta-u pdated.shtml
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- maclypse (profile), 25 Jul 2012 @ 5:17am
  
  Re: Something in the water in Japan?
  It's an international trade agreement, on paper at least. The thing was partly negotiated in Japan or something... Lots of countries "signed" by forcing their ambassadors to Japan to sign something they couldn't comprehend. Sweden, my country, was among them as well - but our ambassador and government still haven't got the decency to apologise.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Androgynous Cowherd, 25 Jul 2012 @ 11:26am
    
    Re: Re: Something in the water in Japan?
    The Slovenian ambassador signing suddenly and the Mexican ambassador signing suddenly, both in Japan and both without permission from their countries' respective elected deliberative bodies, occurred fairly widely separated in time, both from each other and from the negotiation session that took place in Japan.
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
PopeyeLePoteaux, 25 Jul 2012 @ 3:17am

Altough the CURRENT legislators are opposed to ACTA, it is unknown if the next legislators will follow the same path, if another fellow mexican read my coment, please correct me if I'm wrong, I don't know if the PRI will be a majority within the congrees, Pe�a Nieto and the PRI are heavily supported/influenced by the big TV/entertainment monopoly (Televisa), as far as I can see, things seems pretty grim here because of that, and knowing how corrupt our politicians are, and seeing the track record of utter failure for the people they are supposed to represent, so, at this point my optimism is at best, slim to non-existent.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 25 Jul 2012 @ 4:54am

like mexico cares about laws and rights, they do nothing to stop the illegals crossing into america, and even said they won't, no one cares about mexico
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- silverscarcat (profile), 25 Jul 2012 @ 5:03am
  
  Re:
  Why should they care about illegals going to another country?
  
  They've got to deal with wide-spread poverty, disease, hunger issues, drug lords, ETC down there.
  
  They've got more things to worry about than illegals running to America.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Headbhang, 25 Jul 2012 @ 6:48am
  
  Re:
  And meanwhile, the US knowingly allows weapons to cross the border into the hands of murderous drug gangs... Ever heard about operation Fast and Furious? And you talk about caring? Psshh.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 25 Jul 2012 @ 6:57am
  
  Re:
  Yeah, can't have those filthy non-IP maximalists Mexicans sneaking into our country pirating movies with their iPads and macbooks and not buying new Blu-Rays (with digital copy AND ultraviolet -- what a deal!)...
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- John Fenderson (profile), 25 Jul 2012 @ 4:03pm
  
  Re:
  You're funny.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 25 Jul 2012 @ 6:07am

La cucarachas signed everything.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Pixelation, 25 Jul 2012 @ 7:34am

Die ACTA die
At first I thought it would be great if ACTA just failed quickly. Now I think, perhaps, this is better. A long, drawn out, gasping, convulsive death that has people take notice and action.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
warnerk, 25 Jul 2012 @ 2:08pm

Where is Eric Goldman's follow-up blog regarding the ACCC versus Google case in Australia? The federal high court in Australia reversed the lower court in ruling that Google was a publisher of sponsored links ads and was therefore responsible for them. This is a mammoth decision which could put Google out of business for good. Pitiful Google is appealing but that is so pathetic. Google is kicked out of China and will now be kicked out of Australia. Soon Google will be just a bad memory everywhere in the world. Speaking of that, has anyone seen Larry Page? He hasn't done an honest day's work in over two months. Is he hiding in the men's room at the Googleplex?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]