Poland Protests as Britain & 21 Members of EU sign Anti Counterfeiting Trade Agreement
ACTA, a document that was planned in secret (and only revealed in 2008 through Wikileaks) has been signed by several countries amidst protest of the bills possible impacts onto free speech and sovereignty. Poland saw thousands take to the streets to protest the signing by their country. Several countries in the EU did not choose to sign including Germany while the countries that first insisted upon the secrecy around ACTA, the US and Japan had already provided their signatures back in September and October 2011.
The final draft of ACTA dropped draconian provisions about disconnecting users for sharing copyrighted content as well as criminalizing the use of cell phone cameras in movie theaters. It is important to remember that the long process of planning ACTA was only opened up to the public through the actions of pirate online group wikileaks and it is only through this public scrutiny and widespread protests that the legislation is being reconsidered.
The language of ACTA makes the current act of online piracy a more severe crime in many of the signing countries, essentially saying that piracy is counterfeiting. George Orwell would be proud of the double think.
It
is still entirely up to the senate of the EU to pass the provisions
later in the year and they might be entirely shot down if enough citizens
continue to press their representatives.
But
really, it seems like there will just be another massive Bill or Agreement, with
international repercussions, just around the corner. Another NDAA, another day,
another acronym to learn as the laws become ever more secretive,
sweeping and meaningless.
After
all, without massive amounts of spending who will enforce all of these
laws on an international scale? Will Interpol, a former tool of the Nazi
party, become the global content and copyright police?
The University of Ottawa's Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic filed an access to information request on ACTA but received only a document stating the title of the agreement, with everything else blacked out.
Senator Reid: PIPA Vote Postponed
The anti-SOPA Day of Protest ripples continue to spread. On Friday morning, US Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid put the brakes on a PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) cloture vote. The vote was originally scheduled for Jan. 24.
“In light of recent events, I have decided to postpone Tuesday’s vote on the PROTECT IP Act,” said Reid in a statement Friday morning
.
In a cloture vote, the Senate decides whether or not to end debate on a bill and bring it forward for a final up-or-down vote. For such a vote to be successful, three-fifths of the Senate (or 60 Senators) must vote in the positive.
Sen. Reid previously said that “we need to work on this and we’re going to — I will hope we can have a manager’s amendment when we get back here in a week or 10 days and move forward on this. It’s important that we try to do this on a fair basis and I’m going to do everything I can to get that done” during a Jan. 15 interview on NBC’s Meet the Press.
On Wednesday, major websites such as Wikipedia and Reddit went dark to protest PIPA and its sister bill in the House of Representatives, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). Facebook and Google, which came out against SOPA and PIPA in a public letter written late last year, provided users with information about the bills and contact information for elected officials. Google also launched an online petition, which gathered over 7 million signatures by Thursday morning.
SOPA and PIPA made it into the CNN-Southern Republican presidential debate Thursday night, with each candidate denouncing the bills to some extent.
WHEREAS, despite almost a century of prohibition, millions of Canadians today regularly consume marijuana and other cannabis products;
WHEREAS the failed prohibition of marijuana has exhausted countless billions of dollars spent on ineffective or incomplete enforcement and has resulted in unnecessarily dangerous and expensive congestion in our judicial system; 
WHEREAS various marijuana decriminalization or legalization policy prescriptions have been recommended by the 1969-72 Commission of Enquiry into the Non-Medical Use of Drugs, the 2002 Canadian Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs, and the 2002 House of Commons Special Committee on the Non-Medical Use of Drugs;
WHEREAS the legal status quo for the criminal regulation of marijuana continues to endanger Canadians by generating significant resources for gang-related violent criminal activity and weapons smuggling – a reality which could be very easily confronted by the regulation and legitimization of Canada’s marijuana industry;
BE IT RESOLVED that a new Liberal government will legalize marijuana and ensure the regulation and taxation of its production, distribution, and use, while enacting strict penalties for illegal trafficking, illegal importation and exportation, and impaired driving;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a new Liberal government will invest significant resources in prevention and education programs designed to promote awareness of the health risks and consequences of marijuana use and dependency, especially amongst youth;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a new Liberal government will extend amnesty to all Canadians previously convicted of simple and minimal marijuana possession, and ensure the elimination of all criminal records related thereto;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a new Liberal government will work with the provinces and local governments of Canada on a coordinated regulatory approach to marijuana which maintains significant federal responsibility for marijuana control while respecting provincial health jurisdiction and particular regional concerns and practices. Young Liberals of Canada Liberal Party of Canada (British Columbia)
Federal Liberals have selected Mike Crawley, the former head of the party’s Ontario wing, to be their new national president.
Crawley, a private businessman who started his own renewable power generation company, defeated three other contenders at the party’s biennial convention, including former cabinet minister Sheila Copps, who was considered the favourite.
The second-highest position in the party after the leader, the president’s duties are onerous and include overseeing party organization, fundraising, expanding membership and liaising with local riding associations. Given the state the Liberal Party is in, the stakes are considered higher than ever as a poor choice could threaten the party’s ability to compete and succeed — or even its existence.
The announcement of Crawley’s victory came after a recount delayed the release of the results. In selecting Crawley, many Liberals are hoping they are embracing real change as the party looks to begin the long, hard job of rebuilding after last spring’s devastating federal election.
“Roaming around this convention, it was clear what Liberals want,” Crawley told thousands of delegates after his selection was confirmed. “A party that woul
d get back down to the nuts and bolts of getting inactive ridings going . . . . A party that respects and listens to its members.”
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Reforms to elections & marijuana laws: can the Liberal Youth Party lead the way to a significantly more rocking Canada?
Members rejected a proposal calling for Canadians to consider cutting this country’s ties to the monarchy but they’ve thrown overwhelming support behind another calling for the legalization and regulation of marijuana. The proposals were among of a handful of controversial resolutions at the Liberals’ renewal convention.
They were put forward by the party’s youth wing, which argued that the Liberal party, reduced to rubble in last May’s election, needs to advance bold ideas if it is to revive.
Delegates have also thrown their support behind adopting preferential balloting in federal elections, rather than the current first-past-the-post system.
Preferential ballots would ensure that only candidates who receive more than 50 per cent of the vote in their ridings would be elected to the House of Commons.
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The
League of Women Voters of Florida, Rock the Vote and the Florida Public
Interest Research Group claim that new GOP-sponsored voting
requirements will hurt students, seniors, the disabled and minorities —
groups that often vote Democratic in the state.
The
GOP's efforts to narrow voting rights in Florida have now engendered
legal resistance. The League of Women Voters and other civic groups,
claiming that a new state law unconstitutionally “burdens their efforts”
to simply register voters, filed suit in state court last week seeking
to dismantle the new legislation.
Attorneys for the League of Women Voters of Florida, Rock the Vote and the Florida Public Interest Research Group argue that Florida’s new law 40 requires so-called “third party voter registration” organizations such as theirs to pre-register with the state and satisfy a number of cumbersome disclosure requirements before engaging in any voter registration activities. Under the law, they are now also required to continually submit updates about their organization’s status, an act the groups call “burdensome.”
"There is no indication that Florida's existing law was inadequate in addressing the state's interest in preventing voter registration fraud and ensuring the integrity of the registration process,” the complaint reads. “Furthermore, even if the state had discovered shortcomings in the existing law, the new law burdens far more speech and associated activity than is necessary to accomplish any legitimate government interest."
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