European Council Rejects EU Parliament's Amendment Against Three Strikes Rule
from the it's-good-to-be-the-king dept
Earlier this year, we noted that the European Parliament overwhelmingly rejected the idea of various countries implementing any kind of policy that would kick file sharers off the internet -- often referred to as "three strikes" legislation. However, TorrentFreak is now reporting that, despite 88% of Parliament voting in favor of rejecting any such law for being a violation of basic human rights, the European Council (made up of the heads of state of various EU governments, has rejected the amendment drafted by the Parliament. Why? Well, TorrentFreak notes that French President Sarkozy just so happens to be President of the European Council, and as we recently noted, France just recently moved forward in approving a three strikes law, which was originally championed by Sarkozy. So, rather than listen to the vast majority of the EU Parliament, Sarkozy has apparently convinced the Council to let him push through this particular law, despite the widespread concerns about its draconian nature.
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Filed Under: eu, three strikes
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So sad that the EU is well in the pocket of the RIAA and MPAA.
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I dont understand all this Euro stuff
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Re: I dont understand all this Euro stuff
1) the EC has mountains of power - EC makes law and that law trumps national law where there's a conflict.
2) The Council here is made up of all the cabinet ministers from the various countries. It is they who vote for legislation initiated (always) by the Commission.
3) The Parliament is made up of elected Parliamentarians from the member states and though it does not function like a national parliament, it has some say in the legislation that passes through it on the way from the Commission to the Council (an over simplification, but it will do in a pinch).
Hope this helps.
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Soon they'll see
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Re: Soon they'll see
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Corporations rule the world, not governments...
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Someone should listen to Ireland
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Re: Someone should listen to Ireland
If the Irish intended to make the EU's more democratic through their "no" vote, they failed miserably. The trouble, however, with referendums on Lisbon (like those on the Constitution before it) is that citizens are likely to be voting on anything *but* the specific provisions at hand...
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Point of info
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check your facts please
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Re: check your facts please
I work for a french company, and there are plenty of french people here.
Oddly enough, none of them like Sarkozy. Not a single one.
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This kind of reporting makes you look stupid
I'm used to TorrentFreak sucking, don't join them. If you don't know anything about European legislative procedures, don't report on it.
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Not necessarily the end
To put this into context, the "bill" in question is a set of directives, called the "telecoms package", aimed at regulating the EU-wide telecommunications market. The anti-3-strikes amendment (which Parliament voted for, and the Council has rejected) is only a tiny part of it.
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