On eve of protests, Germany backs away from ACTA

[p2p rules]

A large group of European nations signed ACTA two weeks ago, sparking outrage across the continent. But not all European nations signed onto the agreement. Several countries, including Germany, had not finished their internal processes for approving the treaty, but vowed to sign on shortly.

But on Friday, the German government signaled it was having second thoughts. According to Der Spiegel, the German government now plans to wait and see how the European Parliament votes before Germany makes a decision on the treaty itself.

Germany's move comes on the heels of a similar move in Poland last week. As we reported then, the treaty must be approved by all 27 member states in order to go into effect anywhere in Europe. Germany is one of the wealthiest and most populous nations in Europe, so its move is likely to have a big impact on the handful of other European nations that have not signed onto the treaty.

Germany's change of heart was likely influenced by the growing grassroots backlash against the copyright treaty. Organizers are planning ACTA protests in 200 cities across Europe on Saturday.

The United States has already signed ACTA. The Obama administration has argued that because ACTA is an "executive agreement" and does not require changing US law, it does not need to be submitted to the Senate for ratification.

ars technica

[Trestor]

It's interesting that, after years of doing pretty much whatever the cartels have wanted, the politicians have started paying attention after the public has taken much more overt actions that have gained media attention, such as the recent blackouts of certain popular websites.

That suggests to me that similar overt actions should be made to reverse the unreasonable actions against civil liberties, unreasonable copyright restrictions and greedy and frivolous lawsuits. What we need is a coordinated campaign of actions that will be effective in achieving the regaining of our rights to do with our property as we will and to force the cartels to adopt fair and equitable business models and practices.

In my opinion, of course.

[Bluey_412]

Cartels, fair and equitable????

You MUST be KIDDING, now Trestor, really!

Hell would freeze over first!

[White Stripes]

It's interesting that, after years of doing pretty much whatever the cartels have wanted, the politicians have started paying attention after the public has taken much more overt actions that have gained media attention, such as the recent blackouts of certain popular websites.

website blackouts beat the guillotine

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Revolution