ACTA and the EU

[thewayne]

On Thursday, 22 countries signed the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement in Tokyo, it was largely written by Hollywood.

http://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/01/26/1746202/acta-signed-by-22-eu-countries

Shortly after the signing, the EU parliamentary chief who was in charge of this project resigned. ""I want to denounce in the strongest possible manner the entire process that led to the signature of this agreement: no inclusion of civil society organisations, a lack of transparency from the start of the negotiations, repeated postponing of the signature of the text without an explanation being ever given, exclusion of the EU Parliament's demands that were expressed on several occasions in our assembly."

"As rapporteur of this text, I have faced never-before-seen manoeuvres from the right wing of this Parliament to impose a rushed calendar before public opinion could be alerted, thus depriving the Parliament of its right to expression and of the tools at its disposal to convey citizens' legitimate demands."

"Everyone knows the ACTA agreement is problematic, whether it is its impact on civil liberties, the way it makes Internet access providers liable, its consequences on generic drugs manufacturing, or how little protection it gives to our geographical indications."

"This agreement might have major consequences on citizens' lives, and still, everything is being done to prevent the European Parliament from having its say in this matter. That is why today, as I release this report for which I was in charge, I want to send a strong signal and alert the public opinion about this unacceptable situation. I will not take part in this mascarade."

http://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/01/27/026249/eu-acta-chief-resigns


So Hollywood is going to get SOPA one way or another. Now the entire world has the best government that money can buy.

Comments

[silveradept]

Since this has happened, does that mean we can start sending all our problems to Hollywood to get them to write legislation to fix all of them? They certainly are able to buy enough votes to get what they want, so we should just make it official and say that the seat of government is in Hollywood and the media cabals now have to deal with all of our problems, including debts, defense, education, and the rest. Citizens United has only made it easier for them to control everything, so we may as well make it official.