EU Parlamentarian Gallo: ACTA Dissent 'A Soft Form Of Terrorism'

from the she-finally-said-it dept

Marielle Gallo is probably best known for the Gallo Report, which Techdirt described back in 2010 as a “similarly draconian intellectual property enforcement” to ACTA, with which it has much in common. So it’s no surprise that Gallo has been one of the few vocal supporters of ACTA, and it was widely expected that the EU’s Legal Affairs (JURI) committee she chairs would support her draft opinion calling for ACTA to be ratified. As we now know, that didn’t happen, and JURI formed one of five committees that all recommended that ACTA should be rejected.

Gallo must be a little taken aback by this turnaround: from easily pushing through her Report with its harsh proposals against copyright infringement, she now finds herself increasingly marginalized within the European Parliament on the subject of ACTA precisely because of its disproportionate measures designed to deal with copyright infringement online. A fascinating interview in PC INpact (original in French) gives us an insight into her state of mind at the moment..

As you might expect, she speaks of the “the disinformation campaign we have been enduring for the past months”, the standard line taken by the European Commission and its allies. She also makes the interesting claim that “We’re supposed to represent citizens, but since they are busy with other things, we are supposed to think for them!” But she reserves her choicest words for the people who have dared to disagree with the pro-ACTA camp:

It’s not only a disinformation campaign. It’s a soft form of terrorism that frightens people. People are being scared. It’s a fantasy. ACTA has become a fantasy. And that, that’s propagated by the whole Internet network.

So there we have it. Anyone who dares to disagree with those politicians doing all that thinking are “soft” terrorists, making subversive use of “the whole Internet network” to spread their “fantasy.” It was probably inevitable that someone would play the politicians’ trump card — terrorism – against ACTA opponents; and it’s no surprise that it was Marielle Gallo that finally did so.

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Comments on “EU Parlamentarian Gallo: ACTA Dissent 'A Soft Form Of Terrorism'”

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61 Comments
Shmerl says:

Re: Re: Re:

// Political system at work

bool busy;
do
{
   busy = true;
   if (lobbied_by_mafiaa())
   {
      std::cerr << “Piratez and terroristz!” << std::endl;
      pass_legislation();
   }
   else
   {
      get_lobbyists();
   }
}
while (busy);

while (!busy) do_something_useful();

AzureSky (profile) says:

Re: Re: Re:3 Re:

whats wrong with C# or .net anyway…..works on the bulk of computers out there, far better then most c i have seen thats poorly or totally un-remarked/documented, dont get me started trying to help debug some server software…

that said, the code made me laugh….lol(im not a coder, but I have helped track down and fix bugs in alot of software for friends who are, and about 1/2 of them dont like .net simply because its MS, on the other hand they all like .net better then using java…..(lol?)

AzureSky (profile) says:

Re: Re: Re:

not really any better now, look how many people are getting prococuted for whistle blowing by obama, look how many people they have sent thugs to threaten…

I hated bush, but….obama sadly isnt any better…

and if romney wins, same shit different day…

the more I look at our political system the more I realise that what we got is a system where we are encouraged to vote for one arsehole or another, based on colour, smell and texture….and no matter who gets voted in, we all should know, we are going to get shat on….

DannyB (profile) says:

Re: Re: I guess there should be soft conspirators, also, then?

Secret negotiations hidden from the public are a “soft form of tyranny“.

Tyranny is the right word. Unrestrained abuse of power. Even if ACTA is voted down, we’re going to get it rammed down our throats anyway — for our own good. Our dear leaders know best.

Anonymous Coward says:

Re: Re:

IP extremists really outdid themselves here. Their last argument was that IP laws are important because grocery stores need them or some nonsense like that. Just when I thought their arguments couldn’t get any more ridiculous this comes along. I mean, wow, what’s next?

It’s very hard to fathom a more ridiculous argument than the OP, but here goes.

IP laws contribute to the economy which contributes to more jobs which contributes to more tax revenue which contributes to more space defense funding which can be used to deflect comets from hitting the earth. Without IP laws comets may hit the earth, especially since IP laws contribute to the military and government funded innovation necessary to develop the necessary technologies to deflect these things. Also, aliens can better attack us without the technology that more jobs helps fund. So we need IP laws.

It’s like there is a competition over who can come up with the most ridiculous claims. Does anyone think that IP extremists will top this one?

Dark Helmet (profile) says:

Here's the fun part....

Terrorism, by definition, is the use of fear in order to achieve subversive political goals. Interestingly, this definition fits perfectly with the obvious scare tactic in using the “terrorism” boogie-monster in politics. We’ve reached the point where those decrying terrorism are often committing the act themselves, particularly this new “soft terrorism” of which Miss Whatever-Her-Name-Is speaks….

Richard (profile) says:

Re: Here's the fun part....

Yes I often thought along those lines. The irony I liked best was Tony Blair’s law that outlawed “Glorifying Terrorism”. The trouble is that he never bothered to look in the dictionary to se what the word “glorifying” actually means. It means making something seem more important than it actually is – but not necessarily with connotations of approval.

Since this law actually gives terrorism more importance than it has in reality, the law is in violation of itself!

Anonymous Coward says:

she needn’t worry about ACTA being adopted in the UK. it isn’t needed now with the UK government implementing it’s own version of it in the DEA. after the announcement today of the changes ordered into the bill for Ofcom by the UK government and in particular Ed Vaisey, a man that seems to be as on par with the internet as Lamar Smith, the recommendations by Professor Hargreaves have been ignored, as have the interests and rights of UK citizens. they have been branded guilty unless able to afford to go to court and prove innocence. if a wifi connection is unsecured, information on securing it will be supplied, even though it isn’t illegal to be unsecured or to not secure it. what do these conditions remind you of?

Anonymous Coward says:

Not a surprise. She started out pointing at the and asking them: “How can you sleep at night when you are about to break your promise to the european industrues?”
This is just a paranoid dilution. She probably also supports Hadopi!
Give the woman 10 mg of risperidone and give her a nice new jacket on.
If you want to, you can send her to Denmark where she will end up on a waitinglist for a year (http://www.kl.dk/Momentum/momentum2011-1-1-id78837/), get far overdosed when she gets into treatment (http://www.180grader.dk/Videnskab/forsker-rystet-dobbelt-op-p-psykose-medicin) and will get released again far too fast for her to have recovered (http://www.bedrepsykiatri.dk/nyheder/psykisk-syge-udskrives-for-tidligt.aspx).

Anonymous Coward says:

Dear Gallo

I most certainly don’t need you to do my thinking for me. In fact with “logic” like you have expressed, I wouldn’t trust you to do the thinking for my four year old, much less myself.

Given your clear contempt for “the masses” and the fact you deem us as “soft terrorists”, I will in turn express my contempt for you. I consider your opinion of me/us irrelevant as in my opinion you are, at best, in need of serious psychological help and at worst guilty of crimes against humanity (and should be afford the proper punishments).

Quawonk says:

“We’re supposed to represent citizens, but since the corporations are busy bribing us, we are supposed to ignore them! The MAFIAA’s anti-piracy statements are not only a disinformation campaign. It’s a soft form of terrorism that frightens people. People are being scared. It’s a fantasy. And that, that’s propagated by the whole mainstream media.”

Fixed it.

Almost Anonymous (profile) says:

She's a witch!

All joking aside, this lady’s comments *should* scare you. She is in a position of some power, she’s clearly and deliberately painting a large group of people with a broad brush in a color that is designed to provoke a fearful emotional response, for no other reason than that they disagreed with her point of view. This is vile and is basically the equivalent of a modern day witch hunt.

Anti-Fandom Association President says:

As President of the Anti-Fandom Association and a Christian. I taking my sides with Gallo, sister in Christ. I would remind everyone that God is watching you, and there’s nothing you can do to stop ACTA from going into effect even by not ratifying, because the ambassadors already signed it, Poland, and Switzerland.

I will enjoy hearing the sound of fandom nerds who break God’s laws and steal intellectual property working on the chain gang. Soon you and your families will join them. We will place wireless surveillance cameras in your house to make sure you do nothing that infringes copyright that goes with those who sing in the shower. And we will make it mandatory for everyone to have DRM thought police implants in their brains so that they will be uncreative, unproductive, and nothing else except buying our products. You have no free will or any type of freedom once we have that DRM chip implanted inside your little skull.

Gallo knows “Thou shall not steal”.

Anonymous Coward says:

so, exactly what is the name for what she and those like her, who are in positions for the public good, have done and are still doing that are contrary to the best interests of the public, simply because of the ‘encouragement’ they have all received from the US entertainment industries? if speaking out against bills like ACTA is soft terrorism, what they want to do seems like corporate dictatorship.

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