Thousands Take To the Streets To Protest ACTA

An anonymous reader writes "The protests against the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement continue to spread in cities across Europe. The protests began in Poland, where thousands have taken to the streets and opposition politicians have worn Guy Fawkes masks in protest against the country signing the agreement last week. The scenes from Poland and France are remarkable, demonstrating the widespread anger over the decision to join ACTA. A full rundown of protest plans can be found here."

But does it change anything?

[erick99]

These protests are short-lived and I wonder if they end up doing any good. I am against ACTA and I have called my congressman as has my son to ask him to not support it. Interestingly, he knew little about it and wanted information. We had a fairly long call. At the end of the call he said that he would not vote for it. How many others in congress are not aware of what's in this bill? Protesting is well and good but I think making phone calls, emails, etc. are also very, very important. We can get to folks in congress one phone call at a time and put ACTA out of our misery.

ACTA Represents the End...

[kuleiana]

ACTA represents the end of political power as we knew it, growing up. ACTA, the NDAA, SOPA, PIPA, and the inconcievably invasive H.B. 2288 (which I am ashamed to say originated here in Hawaii) represent some of the best efforts by the 1% to control what we say and do, especially online. What hubris!

Re:But does it change anything?

[Anonymous Coward]

Even if it doesn't change anything, symbolically its HUGE.

Remember how the media tried to downplay Occupy Wall Street as just a money issue? Well if something as technical as ACTA/SOPA can mobilize people, what does that say about sitting governments and future elections?

Good to see someone standing up against this junk

[Strych9]

While artists and such do deserve a right to be able to make a fair shake on what they produce, why should patentable items only have a 20 year shelf life while a song have 100+ years of protection?

This is insane.

That should give the entertainment/content industry pause, if there was a strong united Internet demand for fair copyright terms.

That should give some pause to those trying to hijack the production and distribution of ideas.

Re:But does it change anything?

[qbast]

In Poland both media and politicians are already trying to downplay it too. Either as bunch of thieves who are worried that gold days of getting stuff for free are going to end or as bunch of easily manipulated young idiots who don't even know what they are protesting.

Let's do Brussels next weekend...

[TheRaven64]

There are going to be about 4,000 geeks in Brussels next weekend for FOSDEM - I bet at least half of them could be persuaded to pop over to the EU parliament for a little bit of protesting...

Re:But does it change anything?

[erick99]

There were members of the media participating as well. And while I am pretty much in agreement with a lot of the core stuff that the occupy movement opposes, I do not think that a member of the media should report on something that they are participating in. I don't see how they can remain objective. That objectivity, a crucial component of critical thinking, needs to be there so that they can ferret out anything that might go against some of their own beliefs. I teach, among other psych classes, social psychology. In that course we discuss how our biases get in our way and how we can get blind-sighted by them. We tend to see our own group as diverse and heterogeneous while we view the "outgroup" as a monolithic block on unthinking lemmings. We know we do that so we have to correct for that bias.

They really should protest copyrights and patents

[roman_mir]

As always people are not being logical and are not looking at the root of the problem, which is the fact that copyrights and patents are enforced by government in detriment to the individual rights of the people in the first place.

How to change goverment

[Digital Vomit]

The only thing politicians value more than money is their own life. As terrible as it is to consider, this is really the only avenue to effect change that the electorate has.

Re:Good to see someone standing up against this ju

[RazorSharp]

You know, you bring up a good point. If the internet community can try to fight with legislation of their own - legislation that would limit copyrights and extend fair use and public domain - then these media giants might find that they've awakened a sleeping giant. Not only should we be contacting our congressmen and telling them what to oppose, but we should also be telling them what type of changes we want made in regards to copyright.

Even if the endeavor isn't successful, imagine how scared shitless the MPAA would be if we could get guys like Ron Paul and Ron Wyden to introduce a bill that would get rid of the Mickey Mouse Protection Act or other such nonsense. Furthermore, if we can convince guys like that to vocally campaign on these issues, it would do a lot towards raising awareness.

Re:Opressing conservatives wearing Guy Fawkes-feel

[Anonymous Coward]

Not any more ironic than the fucking corporate media giant and SOPA/PIPA supporter Time-Warner making bank on all those Guy Fawkes masks being sold to people who are protesting the dominance of corporate influence over their governments.

Re:Let's do Brussels next weekend...

[Anonymous Coward]

No they don't ... they clearly don't ... Also some nice facts about Belgium:

- It's not illegal to run from the police at all
- it's not illegal to try to escape from jail (as long as you don't do anything illegal by doing so)
- You won't get charged with "assaulting a police officer" if you "touch one"
- You won't get charged for "resisting arrest" (unless you shoot some cop) by just "moving your hands on your face"
- You won't get a 10 years jail sentence even if you punch one ... in the face !!
- They don't use Tazers because it's been proven medically dangerous and useless (they're still able to arrest you normally)
- They do have spray but not pepper spray , it"s some sort of CS gaz ...
- Cops are not allowed to use firearms unless directly life threatened (and NO ... walking towards a cop who is saying "STOP" is not life threatening)

Most likely cops in Belgium will just place some barricade ... and wait for the crowd to fatigue an go home.
However ... if a protest becomes violent

- They can arrest you without any charge for up to 12 hours (not anymore), it's called "Administrative Arrest"
- They can use mounted police which you don't want to get in front of
- They do use a lot of water cannons which are quite powerful
- They do use tear gaz but very rarely because it pisses everyone off including the people living there and themselves

Here is an example of a typical Belgian Protest "retaliation" from the Cops https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=2vEdgySRnxk#!
As you can see , it"s quite "soft" and well ... humid , compared to US police ...

No really :) Protesting in Belgium is OK. It's not yet a Police State at all compared to the USA

Re:Opressing conservatives wearing Guy Fawkes-feel

[zAPPzAPP]

Are you sure?

According to my news sources, the faction that showed the masks are called "Ruch Palikota".
They are being described as "left wing, liberal" and seem to have a tendency for publicity stunts like this.

Re:Not a bill; Congress was never asked.

[equex]

they are DISTRACTIONS to keep us fighting with each other.

This. A thousand times this. There are no left or right. There are no republicans or democrats. It's all distractions from the real problem, which are the sleezy puppet masters that we do not see.

Re:But does it change anything?

[rsilvergun]

The media didn't downplay, they outright ignored. Worked too. The cops moved in and busted some heads and the whole thing fizzled out. Occupy Wall Street wasn't about a few anti-1% protests. It was about changing America's economic narrative: e.g. work hard and play by the rules and you'll succeed. It was about letting the 99% know the deck was stacked against them; and that no matter how hard they worked they'd keep losing ground. The American Ruling class figured that out right quick and squashed it.

Re:Low attendance...

[Skal Tura]

and maybe because of that media is not interested to report about it :(
I see remarkably little in mainstream media about any of this

Re:But does it change anything?

[Yvanhoe]

I call my European MP and he said he received tons of calls already. He was honest "we didn't do our homework on this yet, but we are already critical of it because of its part on generic drugs."

Protests are not enough to withdraw a law, but they show that the issue is not minor either. There are tons of text being voted. More often than not, representative just vote along their party's line. When they see protests, there is a chance they will investigate a bit further. And when they investigate even a slight bit further, if they just google 'ACTA' they'll find a tone of things to be critical of.

Re:But does it change anything?

[Forty Two Tenfold]

These protests are short-lived and I wonder if they end up doing any good. I am against ACTA and I have called my congressman as has my son to ask him to not support it.

WE THE PEOPLE of POLAND didn't have time for that. ACTA was signed behind our backs. Some of us (myself included) sent letters to our ambassador in Tokyo asking not to sign. They all flicked us. There is a considerable number of us (myself included) who not only want ACTA rejected but also want the regime changed. Go figure.

Re:ACTA Represents the End...

[kuleiana]

Mahalo for the correction/clarifications (esp. i.e. the *illusion* of being represented fairly, or at all, by our phony "representatives" in Washington, D.C., in the State Capitol, and the local governments); it's very telling that these people whom we have trusted for years, no matter what their claimed political bent, is ultimately serving as public relations agents for the top one hundredth of one percent of the wealthiest, internationally. Scams like our current taxation system, phony environmental "regulations" which actually *deregulate* and allow much worse pollution to occur, and anti-discrimination legislation which actually winds up *creating* hatred and resentment... In the past, we were simply told that we were not "holy" or "pure" enough; these days, we're not "law-abiding" or "in a high enough tax bracket". In the absence of scientific knowledge--when you could prevent people from knowing something by simply burning down the library [i.e. the Library at Alexandria] and hoping that no-one had managed to make copies of the books inside first--now these same facetious people are attempting to burn down vast swaths of the Internet simple because they do not like what people are saying. As the censorship of our free speech becomes more obvious, the illegal detainment of people like the brave (gay) soldier Bradley Manning and the mud-smeared heroism of Julian Assange and the overt actions of beautiful/talented programmers of Anonymous, including an new, inspiring wave of incredibly akamai (female) computer programmers becomes more relevant and more highlighted in the public eye. The more that the news cronies refuse to cover the thousands of daily protests involving thousands of Occupy demonstrators in thousands of locations around the world, the more important this type of thinking becomes in my mind. I just don't understand how these people keep going; I mean, when it comes down to it, the foundation of all those peoples' lives is only money. As a member of a sociopolitical party which by definition can only ever include: 307,000,000 people in the U.S. (times) .01% = 30,700 top wealthiest people in the U.S. 7,000,000,000 people in the world (times) .01% = 700,000 top wealthier people in the world; ...that's a huge minority. Especially once they start looking around at all the people they've screwed and continue to screw, pretty soon all their bankers, lawyers, buddies, gardeners and pals who make slightly to much less than them will start realizing who it is that's been messing with their finances, their medical health, their families, and their freedom in order to keep their bosses in charge all over the world. Deliberately. Deliberately. How long after this realization hits the supporters of the top .0001 (i.e. me and you and 99.99% of the rest of us on this Earth) will we tolerate these phony revolutions, these assassinations, these character assassinations, this mutual atta-boy backslapping and disgusting Real Housewives international jet-setting while the rest of us try to afford a single bag of poi (which now costs $9 in our local grocery store and is no longer affordable)? It won't take long for people to realize that this economic prison is just as illusory as the other ones those people have created for us to believe in and so peacefully slot ourselves into at their demand. I, personally, will be much more aware of political pandering to my liberalism, my homosexuality, my economic status, and I will not be supporting those who say one thing and do another. If Hawaii is going to start keeping track of every website that we visit from now on, I demand a list of every website that our public legislators visit, and those of the lobbyists who pay them. I want this "public record" to include those unexpurgated records of our highest politicians and religious leaders, alongside our own. Only then will people see how disgustingly filthy this system is, from bottom to top.

Re:But does it change anything?

[Kalriath]

While you're at it, you might want to direct your congressman's attention to ACTA's sharper fanged big brother, the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement. TPPA makes ACTA look like fuzzy kittens in comparison - and that's only from the few bits we've seen leaked (the US government demands other negotiating countries protect it on National Security grounds). This particular one is particularly vicious in that it gives Big Pharma the right to sue government purchasing schemes that fail to "accurately reflect the value of the patents" in negotiations for bulk medicine supplies. It will single-handedly quadruple the cost of schemes like Medicaid in the US or PHARMAC in New Zealand (not sure of Australia's equivalent).

Re:ACTA Represents the End...

[green1]

If the numbers are truly on your side, the guns aren't necessary at all. If they aren't the guns can't help you.

The problem isn't whether or not you have a gun. The problem is in convincing enough of the population to join you that the members of the armed forces see it as anything more than a few terrorists to put down.