we live
In dangerous times.
I hope that Europe remembers its past and that the European Courts were set up to protect the freedom and rights of the people.
Censorship however small begins the erosion of freedoms.
The European Parliament (EP) has voted overwhelmingly not to refer the controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) for judicial review, but instead to strike while the iron is hot and vote on the treaty this June. The EP's International Trade Committee voted 21 to five against referring the controversial treaty to …
I don't understand this part. The thing doesn't require unanimity and it comes into force when 6 or more have ratified it. The UK and many others have already signed, so how can the EU Parliament's decision be that decisive?
Still, it would be nice to see the implications debated (would have been nice if UK Gov had had the decency to have that happen here).
The point however seems to be that the European Parliament has decided that there's no need to have the treaty professionally examined to see if it's fair to EU citizens, and so presumably is just assuming that it is. So the vote is likely to be yes. Odd that the Register hints otherwise. I think it might be some kind of intelligence test.
I don't think I would particularly trust either side on their claims about ACTA, but I do have some sympathy with the point that ACTA would mess up any hope of a reform of copyright law.
If it wasn't for the use of old black-and-white movies to fill TV schedules, there wouldn't be any value in the old stuff.