European Parliament Opposes ACTA, Votes Wednesday
Linked by Thom Holwerda on Tue 9th Mar 2010 16:58 UTC
Legal We have some very, very good news for Europeans (which happens to include myself): we have the European Parliament on our sides when it comes to battling ACTA. If you may recall, ACTA is basically an attempt by the US to impose upon the rest of the world draconian measures like three strikes laws and the DMCA. All parties within the European Parliament have together put forth a resolution that would effectively tackle ACTA.
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RE[5]: Three strikes in the USA?
by SReilly on Tue 9th Mar 2010 21:52 UTC in reply to "RE[4]: Three strikes in the USA?"
SReilly
Member since:
2006-12-28

That is a seriously warped world-view. The whole reason that most EU states get away with not having much of an army of their own is because the U.S. -- they guys with the biggest military of any single nation on Earth -- is guaranteeing their security from outside threats for them. Our military is a benefit for you, not a threat. The whole reason, for example, that Japan can be right next to China, with the history they have an tension between those states that exists, and not have a standing army is because the U.S. has kindly pledged our own military to their defence! Not to mention that it's pretty much nothing short of ridiculous to try to claim that military competition enters into US/EU trade negotiations.

First off, the cold war is a long time over. Secondly, you don't seem to know much about European armies. On their own and compared to the US, individual European powers have small standing armies but together they form quite a formidable force. If you seriously think that the idea of a unified European armed forces does not make the US nervous then it is you, my friend, who has a seriously warped view of the world. To think that trade negotiations of any kind are done without keeping thoughts of military power in mind is very naive and completely flies in the face of history.

And I may point out, the original point is valid. The U.S. does not have Three Strikes laws. If ACTA is ratified, it'll actually create a whole raft of onerous new requirements for U.S. citizens too -- and the U.S. public is being kept just much in the dark as everyone else is. In my never-humble opinion, the ACTA is just as much an effort to sneak crazy new regulations past the U.S. legislature as it is to force anything onto the European Union; it's an effort that's being lead by some other interested group to co-opt both the U.S. and E.U.'s internet policies, not some diabolical plot by the U.S. government to force the E.U. to do things our way.

I agree that the original point stands, but that was not what I was talking about. I was talking about the fact that the US uses it's military might in ways that are considered bullying by the rest of the world. The parent post was getting all huffy about Europe being protectionist. How can a US citizen claim protectionism by any other state or group of states and still keep a strait face? Just take a look at the WTO and the World Bank. It's the definition of hypocrisy to claim that Europe is protectionist when coming from a US centric point of view.

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