Have all the anti-ACTA protests started to sway European politicians? Maybe this weekend’s plans for mass protest is what did it, but there does appear to be some headway being made against the overreaching attempts at Internet regulation that have permeated throughout the collective social conscious.
According to various reports, Germany will not be signing the controversial treaty, at least not anytime soon. Perhaps the Germany is waiting for the EU parliament to issue its vote of consent, but that won’t happen until later this year, sometime in the summer.
According to a Google translation of an article appearing in Spiegel.de, German government officials offered the following response for their ACTA delay:
The minister, Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger (FDP), has now made it clear that in Germany first before a decision is to decide the EU Parliament. “It is good that the public debate about ACTA, both on and offline so committed is done,” the justice minister said on Thursday. “The EU must now decide whether it needs ACTA and wants,” said Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger. “This must be approved by the European Parliament only once. All controversial issues are being discussed at European level and must now be answered.”
While the translation is responsible for the broken English-like response, it appears as if Germany’s government officials won’t act until the controversy surrounding the bill is addressed. Conversely, it also seems as if the German government is waiting on the EU parliament to weigh in before their vote is offered.
While that may indeed be the case, the fact German officials are acknowledging the controversy surrounding ACTA and other Internet regulatory treaties and laws, which indicates the protests are indeed being noticed. With that in mind, if the following Hatebreed masterpiece isn’t the theme song of the anti-ACTA movement, something needs to change:
Keep fighting the good fight, you Guy Fawkes-masked groups.