
Central Europe Backs Out of Copyright Deal After Protests - FredBrach
http://blogs.wsj.com/tech-europe/2012/02/07/central-europe-backs-out-of-copyright-deal-after-protests/
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zalew
I'm from Poland. It's pure BS propaganda. All lawyers say this putting on hold
means nothing legally, and the famous "debate" we had on monday was ridiculous
and made for publicity, they are just trying to save their butts and put the
public to sleep.

So, until we all hear that ACTA is no more, don't get too excited please and
act like everything is still on.

~~~
kolinko
Well - Tusk admitted that there were certain problems with ACTA, so I consider
it a big step. As for debate - yeah, it may not have been very nice, but what
did you expect?

Somehow, I trust that the signing of ACTA was because Tusk was misinformed.
We've made him rethink the whole thing, and he's starting to back off.

PO has much to lose if ACTA gets signed, and not much to gain. They seem to
get it now.

~~~
Vivtek
_We've made him rethink the whole thing_

This is what has really given me hope in this entire process. The shady back
room deals sound great when it's just the content industry in the room - they
know how to look cool, and who wouldn't want to be on the Cool Kids' side? But
then the public finds out, and the public is _really pissed_ \- and that makes
them think, "Why did I listen to those guys?"

If we can get the politicians of the world to think, "Why did I listen to
those guys" more about _every_ topic, the world will be a much better place.

------
SoftwareMaven
I would have never believed Eastern Europe would be leading the way in
freedom. I guess when you have had to fight for it, it is actually valuable to
you.

~~~
Vivtek
In 2006, we were in Budapest, watching TV, and they had a thing where you
could SMS a number and your text would scroll across the screen. My daughter,
then 12, was amazed that people were allowed to criticize the government in
public like that.

Chew on that a bit.

~~~
Create
A lot has changed since (again) in Hungary, and to many this is no longer the
case, unfortunately.

The most popular call-in radio is being killed, because officials feel, that
they need the frequency for another music station. It is an open secret, that
it is the prime forum for the criticism of the current government.

[http://blogs.ec.europa.eu/neelie-kroes/media-pluralism-
hunga...](http://blogs.ec.europa.eu/neelie-kroes/media-pluralism-hungary/)

For the record, the call-in show's radio station also obtained the frequency
in a shady way, displacing classic fm to be a traffic news station (hence its
original name), then ending up being the outlet of the most senior
professional journalists -- whom have seen much of the old regime.

~~~
Vivtek
Yeah, my wife's Hungarian, and we're coming to Budapest this summer (and maybe
staying; she still hasn't decided), so we follow this stuff. Orbán is trying
to do everything at once and doing most of it wrong, and I _really_ don't like
his media policy. But come on - you don't need media to communicate in
Budapest; everybody knows what's going on - because of the jokes they tell
each other, if nothing else.

But if a radio show of this nature were shut down in America, most people
wouldn't even notice. The media _never criticize the people in power_ here,
because the people in power simply own them outright. And by "people in
power", of course, I don't mean the government. That hasn't been true for a
long time.

In Hungary, this government has been really pushy (of course, the last
government was far more corrupt), but Hungarians actually care about that.

Anyway, you don't need to worry, because my wife is going to be there in May
and I'd hate to be in Orbán's shoes when she gets off the plane.

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runn1ng
Quite irrelevant to this link, but interesting to note here anyway:

in Slovakia, anti-ACTA protests are right now joined together with protests
against the current political system, thanks to leaking of so-called "Gorilla"
police file, that proves links of political parties to big money.

The reality of Czech and Slovakia is that corruption is much more prevalent
than in the west. People are getting really angry here. But the message that
these protests tell is also "I got noone to vote for".

~~~
Vivtek
Dude, look at the ongoing travesty in Washington and tell me again that
Slovakia has more prevalent corruption. I'm just not sure I believe it. It's
just less smooth and more obvious in a small country.

~~~
untog
Seriously: the influence of big money on US politics is a bad thing. But it's
far, far away from the worst corruption out there.

~~~
arethuza
Out of interest, what would you view as "the worst corruption out there"?

~~~
raquo
Well, like Putin & Co owning/controlling most of Russian enterprises larger
than a certain threshold? Oil, machinery, aviation - you name it, they have
it. Like not being able to get health care beyond the very basics without
spending a fortune in bribes. Like having a price tag on signagures of
everyone in parliament/government, or on becoming an MP or the like.
Corruption can really be bigger problem than it is in the US, and when quality
of life is so low, it becomes a problem of surviving it rather than it being
an abstract long term threat to development or something.

~~~
arethuza
Yes, that is bad.

FYI I'm currently in the middle of reading the book "Treasure Islands" about
tax havens, which spends a lot of time explaining how these places play a key
role in facilitating truly global corruption:

<http://treasureislands.org/>

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Vivtek
It's all well and good making your secret deals to make the rich richer, but
when the people find out, they're often not too pleased. Central Europe still
remembers throwing their bums out - and in some cases lining them up against a
wall in the process - and so it's not too surprising they're the first to take
action.

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a_a_r_o_n
After growing up in the sixties listening to this commercial for Radio Free
Europe, which was meant as much to highlight the west's freedom of expression
as it was to advertise RFE

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LWSOKOqh2c>

I am disappointed in the west's descent.

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noarchy
Meanwhile in Canada, the government is limiting debate on its own copyright
legislation. [http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2012/02/08/pol-
copyright...](http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2012/02/08/pol-copyright-
time-allocation.html)

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rplnt
In all fairness, the Slovakia probably backed out because it's just a few
weeks before parliamentary elections and politicians need to earn good points.
There were anti-acta protest and petitions, yes, but not so strong as in
Poland for example. The protests were also in the shadow of anti-corruption
protests taking place in similar times (as was already mentioned in comments).

~~~
metachris
It's just so sad that all this "backing out" really means nothing after
already signing the EC proposal.

> Some critics said the government’s decision violates the Vienna Convention
> on the Law of Treaties of 1969. In Article 18, the convention states that
> treaty signatories are “obliged to refrain from acts which would defeat the
> object and purpose of a treaty.”

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ajuc
Latvia also suspended ACTA ratification today.

