Mexican Legislature Scolds Executive Branch For Signing ACTA

Politics

from the not-easily-convinced dept

As we noted recently, Mexico’s executive branch surprised a lot of people recently by having its ambassador to Japan sign ACTA (just as people were claiming that ACTA was dead in the country). Of course, this came after the Congress had very specifically called for the Mexican President to reject ACTA (long before other countries and the EU Parliament began realizing ACTA was a problem). As we noted, Mexico’s IP Office has been telling people that it’s sure that it can convince the Mexican Congress to come around to supporting ACTA.

That may be a tougher battle than they originally expected, however. Both houses of the legislature have now passed resolutions condemning the decision to sign ACTA, sometimes with rather pointed language. From the InfoJustice writeup linked here:

The Senate resolution, sponsored by Sens. Francisco Javier Castellon Fonseca, Carlos Sotelo Garcia, Maria Beatriz Zavala Peniche, and Dip. Rodrigo Perez-Alonso Gonzale rejects the signing because it didn’t respect Mexican law on the approval of international economic treaties; it ignored the official Senate recommendation of September 6, 2011; and it violated domestic law and human rights.  This resolution asks the President to take the steps necessary to revoke Mexico’s signature from the agreement, and it asks the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to prepare a report on the reasoning behind the signing of the agreement.

The Chamber of Deputies resolution, sponsored by Dep. Jaime Aguilar Alvarez rejects ACTA and calls the executive’s disregard of the legislature on this matter an “authoritarian and unilateral stance.”

It does not look like the Congress is going to be convinced to support the ratification of ACTA any time soon.

Filed Under: acta, copyright, mexico, senate, signatures

Google To Help Take On Mexican Drug Cartels

Surprises

from the do-no-evil dept

Normally when we talk about Google ’round these parts, it’s to discuss issues of privacy and piracy. But, according to an ABC News report, Google is going on the offensive to help take down Mexican drug cartels.

“Eric Schmidt, Google’s executive chairman, has taken a keen interest in Mexico, where more than 47,500 people have been killed in drug-related violence since President Felipe Calderon launched an offensive against the cartels in 2006. Schmidt recently visited most of Mexico’s most violent cities, Ciudad Juarez, where civic leaders asked if he could help.

“Defeated, helpless, these people have been so hardened in their experience with cartels that they have lost battles and they have lost hope,” Schmidt told a conference on international crime this week. “They were looking for a universal hammer to protect them. For me the answer was obvious. It was technology.””

At the conference in California, put on by both Google and the Council on Foreign Relations, a variety of ways technology and Google could help the Mexican authorities tackle their drug cartel problem were discussed. Some of the strategies may raise eyebrows for privacy-minded citizens of any country: sharing real-time intelligence with police, identifying through Google’s data how individuals are connected with one another, and even showing links between criminals or corrupt politicians and potentially implicated bank accounts.

But, in my mind, the real winning ideas probably won’t raise any of those privacy concerns: creating an anonymous network through which anyone can report drug cartel information or activity, so as to avoid reprisal, and creating community web platforms so citizens can share information about the criminals and publicly chastise them.

If I had to guess, that’s where you’re going to have the most success. Using technology to empower the police can be a good thing, but using technology to empower the citizenry, that’s how you can really have an impact.

Of course, it will take more than Google’s help to take down drug cartels, something Eric Schmidt recognizes:

“”I think at the end of the day, there really are bad people, and you have to go in and arrest them and kill them,” he said.”

Still, empowering the Mexican people with technology should produce a step forward in the fight against the drug cartels, and that’s a good thing.

Filed Under: cartels, drugs, mexico
Companies: google

Looks Like Canada & Mexico Will Be Blocked From Next Round Of TPP Negotiations As Well

Failures

from the why-do-people-put-up-with-this-crap? dept

Last month, we noted that the US had agreed (after resisting for a while due to Hollywood pressure) to let Canada and Mexico join the TPP negotiations, with significant restrictions on their ability to go back and debate previously agreed upon terms. Both countries agreed to sign on… but were then forced to sit out the recently concluded negotiating round in San Diego.

That should already be a concern, because now you have two countries who have agreed to sign on to an agreement, without the right to object to clauses already agreed upon… and then allowing a negotiating round to take part in which they can’t participate. Basically, then, they’re agreeing to accept whatever comes out of that negotiation without being able to have real input. That’s pretty crazy for a sovereign nation.

And now it gets even worse.

As Michael Geist has discovered, Canada isn’t just being blocked from the San Diego round, but from the next round as well, which will be held in September in Virginia. One has to assume that Mexico is in the same boat, as it’s likely that both were given the same 90-day period in which they are excluded. I really can’t fathom how either country could agree to such terms, or how the citizens of Mexico and Canada put up with such things. Their governments have bound them to an agreement over which they don’t know what’s being agreed to, which they have no say in what’s being negotiated for two rounds, and which they cannot object to once it’s finally let in the door.

Who agrees to such things?

Filed Under: canada, mexico, negotiations, tpp

Mexico's IP Office Surprised Its Congress By Signing ACTA, And Now Hopes To Win Their Support

Politics

from the good-luck-with-that dept

Right after the EU Parliament somewhat emphatically rejected ACTA, there was a report saying that ACTA was pretty much dead in Mexico as well — especially since the Congress there had been against ACTA since before it was “cool” to be against ACTA. However, the very next day, the Mexican government surprised an awful lot of people by signing ACTA anyway.

Of course, the agreement still needs ratification, and that seems like an uphill battle. However, the Mexican IP Office — major backer of ACTA — is now claiming that it believes that the Mexican legislature can be convinced to sign on. Of course, it would help if the Mexican IP Office was even the slightest bit intellectually honest. For example, in explaining its reasons for signing on, it points out that the EU signed on — which is kind of funny coming so soon after the EU Parliament’s wholesale rejection of ACTA. Seems like that would be a point worth mentioning, rather than implying that ACTA was going to be implemented in the EU. This move still has the US’s fingerprints all over it. The US needed some sort of “win” for ACTA these days, and coming so soon after the US allowed Mexico to enter TPP negotiations, it’s hard not to think that there was some horse trading going on here.

Filed Under: acta, mexico, tpp

Rewind: Mexico Surprises Everyone, Signs ACTA

Surprises

from the hmm dept

Just yesterday we pointed out that reports coming out of Mexico suggested that ACTA was dead there and had no chance of being signed and ratified. And then, just hours later, the news comes out that Mexico’s ambassador to Japan signed on to ACTA without anyone knowing about it. Bizarrely, that particular news report claims that in signing this agreement, Mexico joins with others, including the European Union. Yet, of course, as anyone who’s been paying attention knows, the EU loudly rejected ACTA just last week.

Also, I’m a bit confused. One of the reasons that Mexico did not sign way back in October when many others signed, was that the legislature had also rejected ACTA, and reports had said that the executive branch had to get the Mexican Senate to ratify the agreement. So, to have a representative just suddenly up and sign ACTA seems… very, very strange. If they could just do that, why didn’t they do it back in October with most other signatories?

To be honest, I’m now curious if this sudden surprise signature has anything to do with the US inviting Mexico to join in the TPP negotiations. It may be cynical, but Mexico has wanted in to TPP negotiations for a while and had been kept out. It seems entirely possible that a “deal” was struck, whereby Mexico would sign ACTA in exchange for getting in on TPP.

Of course, if you’re the Mexican legislature, or a Mexican citizen who spoke out against ACTA (and there were many), it seems that your government just sold you out completely and signed what is otherwise a dead treaty. Bizarre.

Filed Under: acta, mexico, tpp

Add Mexico To The List Of Places Where ACTA Is Now Likely Dead

Politics

from the down-goes-another-one dept

The rejection of ACTA by the EU Parliament was a big deal that effectively killed off ACTA. We’ve seen US officials try to put on a happy face about all of this, claiming that ACTA still does important things for those who have agreed to it, but that’s increasingly difficult to believe. We’ve already seen indications that Australia is backing out, and now reports are coming from Mexico that ACTA no longer has a chance there, thanks mainly to the EU vote. Mexico was already somewhat doubtful due to pressure from the legislature, but the EU rejection appears to have put them over the top. Hopefully, now that Mexican negotiators are joining the TPP negotiations, they’ll remember how things went with ACTA, and maybe (just maybe) not agree to proposals whose sole purpose is to reward US special interests.

Filed Under: acta, eu parliament, mexico, tpp

Canada And Mexico Not Allowed To Observe TPP Negotations, Even Though They're Joining Them

Politics

from the shut-out dept

Remember how Canada and Mexico have been asked to join the negotiations over the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement — and both agreed to do so? You might think that this would enable them to show up this week in San Diego and at least observe, if not actively participate in, the latest round of negotiations. No such luck. Both countries have been denied access to the negotiations as observers. This is, of course, similar to what Rep. Darrell Issa discovered after his own request — but in that case, you can at least kind of understand, since we already know that the USTR wants to hide its negotiations from Congress. But denying two countries who are entering the negotiations? If Canada or Mexico had any self-esteem at all, this is the point where they should have walked out and said to hell with the TPP. Why should they be expected to join an agreement where secret negotiations are happening, which they’re not allowed to take part in?

Filed Under: canada, darrell issa, mexico, san diego, tpp

US Invites Mexico, Canada To Join TPP Negotiations But With Less Power

Politics

from the take-it-or-leave-it dept

We’ve been talking about the Trans Pacific Partnership agreement (TPP) that’s being negotiated among a bunch of countries around the Pacific rim. Of course, we’ve been mostly focused on the intellectual property section, though it covers a lot more than that. Through leaks, we’ve already seen that the agreement really is an attempt to give special interest corporations extra benefits, rather than anything designed to actually help the public. That explains why only a few special interests have been able to see the documents (outside of leaks), but the public is left out. Of course, if you’ve been following the negotiations, you’ll note that there are some major “gaps” in PacRim countries taking part in the agreement. China, Japan, Canada and Mexico are all pretty big countries that touch the Pacific… and have nothing to do with the negotiations.

Canada has been wanting to join, but the entertainment industry has been blocking those efforts. Japan has wanted to join, but automakers in Detroit have been saying no. China just has no interest in shackling itself to the interests of American companies.

Yesterday it was announced that Mexico has been “approved” to join the negotiations. President Obama announced at an event in Mexico that it could join the negotiations, leaving many people to note the fact that nothing at all was said about Japan or Canada. Well… today Canada has been added to the pack as well, though still no word on Japan.

Mexico presents an interesting participant on the intellectual property side. While its executive branch supported ACTA, the Mexican Senate was not happy — voting to pull out of the negotiations earlier, and then rejecting ACTA directly. So it will be interesting to see how Mexico responds to the IP sections of TPP.

The situation with Canada may be even more troubling. There are reports that one of the conditions for Canada to join was that it had to accept the existing language in TPP and would not have veto rights to anything. Now, remember: the text of TPP is not public. So in order for Canada to agree, it needs to agree to abide by rules that it has not seen or approved. That’s pretty crazy. Furthermore, as Michael Geist points out, seeing as Canada just approved its new copyright reform, much of which seems to conflict with the leaked IP proposals in TPP, Canada may have to dump much of the copyright law it just fought so hard to get passed.

Filed Under: canada, china, japan, mexico, obama, tpp, transparency, ustr

US Government Gets 10% Royalty On 'Passion Of The Christ' Prequel In Plea Deal With Mexican Drug Cartel Money Launderer

Surprises

from the say-what-now? dept

This story is just bizarre. Sinkdeep alerted us to the details, which seem to make a better story for a movie than the script at the heart of this story. Let’s start from the beginning. You’ve got Benedict Fitzgerald, who wrote the screenplay for The Passion of the Christ, the controversial Mel Gibson movie that made over $600 million. Fitzgerald apparently wrote a “prequel” script to that movie, called Mary, Mother of Christ. However, at some point, Fitzgerald ran into some money trouble, and in defaulting on a $340,000 business loan from a company called Macri, he ended up giving the script to Macri’s owner, Arturo Madrigal. Okay, so now Madrigal has the script… but not for long.

Jorge Vazquez Sanchez, who federal prosecutors claimed was a money launderer for a Mexican drug cartel, apparently hatched a plan to extort the script out of Madrigal. This was done by having some “associates” kidnap Madrigal’s brother, in Mexico. In exchange for his release, Madrigal agreed to hand over the rights to the script. Vazquez, script in hand, somehow then sold the screenplay to a Hollywood production company now known as Aloe Entertainment (then known as Proud Mary Entertainment) for close to $1 million with a 10% royalty on any profits from the movie. From there, Aloe was able to get the wheels moving on a full on production, with famed pastor Joel Osteen acting as exec producer. Filming was expected to happen later this year.

Throwing a bit of a wrench into all of this is that the US government came down on Vazquez for his various illegal activities, leading him to cop a plea deal in which he gave the US government the 10% royalty rights in the screenplay. He also had to plead guilty for money laundering and extortion. But in giving the feds his cut of the profits, he may have decreased his jail time from 40 years down to 7.

Of course, the story doesn’t end there. Apparently, minutes after officially making the plea in court (while still in court), Madrigal slapped Vazquez with a lawsuit of his own, saying that Vazquez had no right to sell the screenplay to Aloe in the first place, and he wants the rights to the script returned. Indeed, it would seem that the script and the deal are ill-gotten gains.

What’s really bizarre here is the feds role in all of this. First of all, why would it ever want a cut of the profits in a Hollywood movie? Second, wouldn’t it realize that the movie rights were obtained through illegal means — and shouldn’t it then have been the responsibility of the feds to return the rights to the script back to Madrigal? Either way, it seems pretty bizarre that the Justice Department appears to have given this guy a deal for a much lower jail sentence in exchange for some profits from a Hollywood movie the US attorneys had to know the guy had no right to.

Filed Under: arturo madrigal, benedict fitzgerald, joel osteen, jorge vazquez sanchez, mexico, passion of the christ, plea bargon
Companies: aloe entertainment, macri, proud mary entertainment

EU, Mexico & Switzerland Will Not Sign ACTA This Weekend, Despite The 'Signing Ceremony'

Surprises

from the a-brief-reprieve dept

With Japan announcing a signing ceremony this Saturday for those who negotiated ACTA, it seemed reasonable to think that most of those listed as planning to attend would be signing. Of course, we wondered about the US, the EU and Mexico — as there have been legal questions and challenges raised to ACTA in all three cases, with Mexico’s Congress specifically telling the President it will not ratify the treaty. The EU had also been investigating whether or not ACTA was in line with EU law, and that process has not been completed, so we thought it was premature for the EU to sign onto ACTA.

Thankfully, the EU Commission agrees… and has now said that it will not be signing ACTA this weekend, and also saying that Mexico and Switzerland have also said they won’t sign… yet:

“The EU has not yet completed its internal procedures authorising the signature, therefore it will not be signing ACTA at this event,” the Commission spokesperson said in a statement. “Neither will Mexico and Switzerland, since they did not conclude their domestic proceedings.”

“For the EU, the domestic process for signature is that the Council [of Ministers] adopts a decision authorising a EU representative to sign ACTA. Since this required the translation of the treaty in all the EU languages, such decision has not yet been adopted. It may still require a couple of months for the EU to be able to sign ACTA. After the signature, the European Parliament will have to vote its consent of ACTA,”

Of course, this is not a complete rejection of ACTA, but it is a reprieve. It also sounds as though all the other countries listed will be signing, including the US, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Korea, Morocco and Singapore. That’s a pretty bold move by the Obama administration, considering the evidence that signing ACTA in this manner without Senate approval is unconstitutional. I guess actually expecting the president to follow the Constitution is only important when you’re not in office. Once you get there, all bets are off…

Filed Under: acta, copyright, eu, mexico, switzerland, us