EU-Parliament Rejects ACTA

[beachwanderer]

ACTA won't come into force within the European Union.

In todays vote, there were 478 votes against and 39 in favour. (165 abstentions.)

Previously 5 subcommitees already had rejected the treaty.

Press conference: David MARTIN - ACTA rapporteur
BRUSSELS - Press Room - Mi 04 Juli 2012 - 14:00 - 14:30

Press Release by the President of the European Parliament:
ACTA wrong solution to protect intellectual property

Via TransAtlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD):
Lessons from the ACTA battles and opening up new fronts

[beachwanderer]

David Martin MEP, Press Conference starts now here

[Lynx-lynx]

Thank you for this update.

[Greg Anos]

Looks like the Pirate Party is having influence in the EU, if not in some of the individual member nations.

I'm waiting for Stonetool's hissy fit....

[Sil_liS]

The fact that there were any votes in favor of this nonsense is bad enough.

[Greg Anos]

Originally Posted by Sil_liS

The fact that there were any votes in favor of this nonsense is bad enough.

The MAFIAA got something (not much, but something) for its bribes....

[JoeD]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

Looks like the Pirate Party is having influence in the EU, if not in some of the individual member nations.

I'm waiting for Stonetool's hissy fit....

Not necessarily. There's a lot of people who are very much against piracy and want it stamped out, but they've realised how far reaching ACTA would be and that it could do more harm than good.

Some of those who voted against it were totally in support of ACTA at the beginning when they heard what it was for/doing. It was only after they studied it in depth that they realised the scope.

[Greg Anos]

Originally Posted by JoeD

Not necessarily. There's a lot of people who are very much against piracy and want it stamped out, but they've realised how far reaching ACTA would be and that it could do more harm than good.

Some of those who voted against it were totally in support of ACTA at the beginning when they heard what it was for/doing. It was only after they studied it in depth that they realised the scope.

My point was that having a few Pirate Party members in the Parliment let them act as internal lobbyists to get the other members to look more in depth, which they may not have done otherwise...

[plib]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

My point was that having a few Pirate Party members in the Parliment let them act as internal lobbyists to get the other members to look more in depth, which they may not have done otherwise...

"Today, on July 4, Europe celebrates a day of independence from American special interests.
Today, we stood up for our most basic rights against corporate giants, and won."


Rick Falkvinge (Founder, Swedish Pirate Party)

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by plib

"Today, on July 4, Europe celebrates a day of independence from American special interests.
Today, we stood up for our most basic rights against corporate giants, and won."

Rick Falkvinge (Founder, Swedish Pirate Party)

LOL

[RainingLemur]

Originally Posted by plib

"Today, on July 4, Europe celebrates a day of independence from American special interests.
Today, we stood up for our most basic rights against corporate giants, and won."


Rick Falkvinge (Founder, Swedish Pirate Party)

*Fires off illegal fireworks*

[JoeD]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

My point was that having a few Pirate Party members in the Parliment let them act as internal lobbyists to get the other members to look more in depth, which they may not have done otherwise...

I'll concede that's possible

Equally they may have had no influence at all and members took on board the recommendations and concerns of the EU trade committee who recommended MEP's vote against it due to the vague wording of the treaty.

However it happened though, I'm happy with the outcome. Though, I expect this won't be the last we see of ACTA, maybe individual countries will press ahead with passing legislation at a national level instead.

We may need better solutions to tackle piracy but ACTA and SOPA were just poorly thought out and risked causing more harm than good.

[plib]

Originally Posted by JoeD

I'll concede that's possible

Equally they may have had no influence at all and members took on board the recommendations and concerns of the EU trade committee who recommended MEP's vote against it due to the vague wording of the treaty.

However it happened though, I'm happy with the outcome. Though, I expect this won't be the last we see of ACTA, maybe individual countries will press ahead with passing legislation at a national level instead.

We may need better solutions to tackle piracy but ACTA and SOPA were just poorly thought out and risked causing more harm than good.

Apparently MEP's were deluged with emails and phone calls and the main petition created against ACTA was signed by 2.8 million people, which is 10% of the entire EU population. That's an incredible number considering the nature of the debate and how much attention most people pay to politics and trade agreements.

No doubt there were a lot of influences creating that groundswell, but having a few MEP's standing up in Parliament and pointing out ACTA's flaws can't have hurt.

[Sil_liS]

Originally Posted by plib

Apparently MEP's were deluged with emails and phone calls and the main petition created against ACTA was signed by 2.8 million people, which is 10% of the entire EU population.

As of 1 January 2011, the population of the EU is about 502.52 million people.

[plib]

Originally Posted by Sil_liS

As of 1 January 2011, the population of the EU is about 502.52 million people.

Hmm, thinking about it that makes sense, just adding the populations I know off the top of my head. That'll teach me to reiterate half read comments in news articles. Still an impressive number of signatories though.