30 de junho de 2012
Exército perde helicópteros - Expresso.pt
Exército perde helicópteros - Expresso.pt
O estado podia pegar e construir helicópteros.... os militares ja iam ter o que queriam e ja se arranjava alguns empregos...
O estado podia pegar e construir helicópteros.... os militares ja iam ter o que queriam e ja se arranjava alguns empregos...
29 de junho de 2012
Nexus Q hacked to run Android games in under 24 hours
Nexus Q hacked to run Android games in under 24 hours:
Less than 24 hours after its release, Google’s new Nexus Q media player has already been hacked to run — but not play — Android games.
The $299 Nexus Q possesses all of the internals it needs to run applications, including a dual-core OMAP4460 processor — the same processor packed into the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, a PowerVR SGX540 graphics processing unit, and 1GB of RAM. It also has a microUSB port, which means developers can plug it straight into their computers and tinker with it.
The $299 Nexus Q possesses all of the internals it needs to run applications, including a dual-core OMAP4460 processor — the same processor packed into the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, a PowerVR SGX540 graphics processing unit, and 1GB of RAM. It also has a microUSB port, which means developers can plug it straight into their computers and tinker with it.
Megaupload Judge To Issue Order On Return Of User Data “Shortly”
Megaupload Judge To Issue Order On Return Of User Data “Shortly”:
It’s been almost six months since Megaupload’s servers were raided and seized by U.S. authorities, a long time if you have valuable data stored on the companies now-frozen infrastructure.
That’s the predicament sports reporter Kyle Goodwin found himself in after he chose Megaupload as the company to host his videos. Ever since he’s been campaigning for the return of his files with the invaluable help of the EFF. Together they filed a motion demanding a workable solution to enable him, and other users, to regain access to their data.
Today the EFF appeared in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia to continue the fight, in the face of what they describe as a government failure to assist Goodwin and other lawful Megaupload users to retrieve their property.
According to Bloomberg, during the hearing prosecutors argued that users such as Goodwin should be treated as “unsecured creditors” who should file civil actions against either Megaupload itself or Carpathia Hosting, the company where Megaupload housed its rented servers and where the data remains in limbo.
In Court, Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Peterson described Megaupload as a service provider as opposed to an entity that holds people’s property. “A file-copying service is what Megaupload provided,” he said.
In response, Judge O’Grady noted that Goodwin wasn’t asking for a service to be restored, but his videos back. “He’s asking for his data back, and that’s property, right?” he said.
O’Grady did not make a decision on return of the data today, but indicated that one will come soon.
“We’ll look at it a little further and issue an order shortly,” he concluded at the end of the hearing.
According to PC World, during the hearing O’Grady rejected a request from Megaupload’s lawyers to challenge the Department of Justice’s seizure of Megaupload assets, describing the request as “premature” while noting he’s still considering their motion to dismiss.
Source: Megaupload Judge To Issue Order On Return Of User Data “Shortly”
It’s been almost six months since Megaupload’s servers were raided and seized by U.S. authorities, a long time if you have valuable data stored on the companies now-frozen infrastructure.That’s the predicament sports reporter Kyle Goodwin found himself in after he chose Megaupload as the company to host his videos. Ever since he’s been campaigning for the return of his files with the invaluable help of the EFF. Together they filed a motion demanding a workable solution to enable him, and other users, to regain access to their data.
Today the EFF appeared in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia to continue the fight, in the face of what they describe as a government failure to assist Goodwin and other lawful Megaupload users to retrieve their property.
According to Bloomberg, during the hearing prosecutors argued that users such as Goodwin should be treated as “unsecured creditors” who should file civil actions against either Megaupload itself or Carpathia Hosting, the company where Megaupload housed its rented servers and where the data remains in limbo.
In Court, Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Peterson described Megaupload as a service provider as opposed to an entity that holds people’s property. “A file-copying service is what Megaupload provided,” he said.
In response, Judge O’Grady noted that Goodwin wasn’t asking for a service to be restored, but his videos back. “He’s asking for his data back, and that’s property, right?” he said.
O’Grady did not make a decision on return of the data today, but indicated that one will come soon.
“We’ll look at it a little further and issue an order shortly,” he concluded at the end of the hearing.
According to PC World, during the hearing O’Grady rejected a request from Megaupload’s lawyers to challenge the Department of Justice’s seizure of Megaupload assets, describing the request as “premature” while noting he’s still considering their motion to dismiss.
Source: Megaupload Judge To Issue Order On Return Of User Data “Shortly”
28 de junho de 2012
27 de junho de 2012
Disney Has Been Teaching Us about Capitalism
Disney Has Been Teaching Us about Capitalism:
Submitted by: mugimunteng
Posted at: 2012-06-26 04:30:55
See full post and comment: http://9gag.com/gag/4601484
Submitted by: mugimunteng
Posted at: 2012-06-26 04:30:55
See full post and comment: http://9gag.com/gag/4601484
Culture Shock Sudanese refugees coming to America
Culture Shock Sudanese refugees coming to America:
Repara na mulher no final, a dizer "Então vocês agora têm aqui muita liberdade aqui nos USA que não tinham no Sudão" eles dizem que sim mas podia ter feito referencia a que não podem andar todos juntos para não meter medo as outras pessoas -.-'
No Sudão podiam pedir direções e bater à porta das pessoas sem as conhecer para pedir alguma cena sem que se passem da tola e chamem a policia.
Repara na mulher no final, a dizer "Então vocês agora têm aqui muita liberdade aqui nos USA que não tinham no Sudão" eles dizem que sim mas podia ter feito referencia a que não podem andar todos juntos para não meter medo as outras pessoas -.-'
No Sudão podiam pedir direções e bater à porta das pessoas sem as conhecer para pedir alguma cena sem que se passem da tola e chamem a policia.
Safety First!
Safety First!:
Submitted by: nstom
Posted at: 2012-06-26 15:05:19
See full post and comment: http://9gag.com/gag/4605516
Submitted by: nstom
Posted at: 2012-06-26 15:05:19
See full post and comment: http://9gag.com/gag/4605516
Oh God WHY lvl: George Carlin
Oh God WHY lvl: George Carlin:
Submitted by: zubarashka
Posted at: 2012-06-26 13:57:16
See full post and comment: http://9gag.com/gag/4604868
Submitted by: zubarashka
Posted at: 2012-06-26 13:57:16
See full post and comment: http://9gag.com/gag/4604868
Some Useless Japanese Inventions
Some Useless Japanese Inventions:
Submitted by: llager
Posted at: 2012-06-26 15:31:05
See full post and comment: http://9gag.com/gag/4605797
Submitted by: llager
Posted at: 2012-06-26 15:31:05
See full post and comment: http://9gag.com/gag/4605797
26 de junho de 2012
25 de junho de 2012
Prominent Americans urge Ecuador to accept Julian Assange's asylum request | Media | guardian.co.uk
Prominent Americans urge Ecuador to accept Julian Assange's asylum request | Media | guardian.co.uk
Michael Moore, Oliver Stone and Noam Chomsky among signatories to letter delivered to Ecuador's embassy in London
Michael Moore, Oliver Stone and Noam Chomsky among signatories to letter delivered to Ecuador's embassy in London
23 de junho de 2012
Letters: Julian Assange and Ecuador consider their options | Media | The Guardian
Letters: Julian Assange and Ecuador consider their options | Media | The Guardian
Julian Assange is in the Ecuadorian embassy and has asked for political asylum (Assange trapped in embassy deadlock, 21 June). How shouldEcuador respond? Assange is wanted in Sweden for questioning, although there are no criminal charges against him as of now. Yet, when he offered to be questioned in the UK by Swedish officials, they did not take him up on it. UK judges twisted and stretched the law to permit extradition, even without an order from a Swedish judge. Reportedly Sweden has an arrangement with the US whereby it would hand him over to the US on a mere request. That would lead to his prosecution for helping inform the world public. It is no surprise therefore that Assange would prefer to be captive in the Ecuadorian embassy.
It would be improper for Ecuador to shield Assange from possible sex charges. I suggest that Ecuador invite Swedish officials to question Assange in the embassy (or in Ecuador). If he is subsequently charged in Sweden, Ecuador could approve his extradition to Sweden on the condition that Sweden not hand him over to the US, but rather let him return to Ecuador if acquitted, or at the end of his sentence, if he is found guilty.
A virus specialized for AutoCAD, a perfect cyber espionage tool
A virus specialized for AutoCAD, a perfect cyber espionage tool:
A virus specialized for AutoCAD, a perfect cyber espionage toolIn recent years we are assisting to a profoundly change in the nature of malware, it is increased the development for spy purposes, for its spread in both private and government sectors. The recent case of Flame malware has demonstrated the efficiency of a malicious agent as a gathering tool in a typical context of state-sponsored
A virus specialized for AutoCAD, a perfect cyber espionage toolIn recent years we are assisting to a profoundly change in the nature of malware, it is increased the development for spy purposes, for its spread in both private and government sectors. The recent case of Flame malware has demonstrated the efficiency of a malicious agent as a gathering tool in a typical context of state-sponsored
22 de junho de 2012
New passenger service to the Moon for $100M
New passenger service to the Moon for $100M:
Excalibur Almaz has announced that it is selling tickets to lunar orbit. The price is $100 million.
Tags:
Fujitsu cracks 278-digit crypto in 148 Days using 21 PCs
Fujitsu cracks 278-digit crypto in 148 Days using 21 PCs:
Fujitsu cracks 278-digit crypto in 148 Days using 21 PCs
A team of researchers in Japan have successfully broken a 278-digit piece of crypto in less than 200 days. Fujitsu Laboratories Limited, National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) and Kyushu University jointly broke a world cryptography record with the successful cryptanalysis of a 278-digit (923-bit)-long
Fujitsu cracks 278-digit crypto in 148 Days using 21 PCs
A team of researchers in Japan have successfully broken a 278-digit piece of crypto in less than 200 days. Fujitsu Laboratories Limited, National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) and Kyushu University jointly broke a world cryptography record with the successful cryptanalysis of a 278-digit (923-bit)-long
21 de junho de 2012
Microsoft Surface presentation epic FAIL
Microsoft Surface presentation epic FAIL:
Submitted by: makeupguru
Posted at: 2012-06-20 00:24:17
See full post and comment: http://9gag.com/gag/4541776
Submitted by: makeupguru
Posted at: 2012-06-20 00:24:17
See full post and comment: http://9gag.com/gag/4541776
Caetano Veloso oferece toda a sua música online
Caetano Veloso oferece toda a sua música online:
O músico Caetano Veloso decidiu lançar uma página na Internet onde disponibiliza gratuitamente todas as músicas que compôs ao longo dos seus 70 anos de vida.
Os fãs de Caetano Veloso já não vão poder reclamar da dificuldade em encontrar algumas raridades do cantor. O músico brasileiro decidiu oferecer, em streaming online, todas as músicas que alguma vez fez. São, ao todo, 47 os álbuns disponibilizados de forma gratuita no site www.caetanoveloso.com.br que acabou de ser lançado em celebração das sete décadas do músico brasileiro.
Mesmo assim, e apesar da disponibilização gratuita online, o download não está acessível. Quem quiser guardar os êxitos de Caetano Veloso vai ter mesmo de comprar no iTunes.
Para além das músicas, o novo espaço online de Caetano Veloso também oferece diversas fotografias do espólio pessoal do artista, bem como material multimédia gravado ao longo dos anos e um blogue, que é atualizado pela equipa que acompanha o cantor. Também os livros e filmes que contaram com a colaboração do artista estão mencionados no site, onde ainda é possível ler as letras de cada canção.
Caetano decidiu, igualmente, aderir ao Twitter há uns dias. No entanto, na conta @falacaetano quem fala é mesma a equipa que auxilia o artista. O mesmo acontece com o Facebook do cantor, que, criado no dia 6, já conta com pouco mais de 400 "gostos". Já no Youtube, na conta inaugurada no dia 11, é possível ver o primeiro de muitos vídeos que a editora vai disponibilizar em jeito de homenagem.
Apesar da disponibilização de todo o repertório, os fãs portugueses ainda vão ter de esperar para ouvir as canções de Caetano Veloso. Para já, as mesmas não se encontram disponíveis em Portugal (pelo menos de forma legal): apenas no Brasil é possível ouvir o vasto conjunto de músicas.
Caetano Veloso vai celebrar o seu 70.º aniversário a 7 de agosto deste ano. Até lá, o artista e a sua editora prometem muitas surpresas para assinalar a data, como vídeos/documentário ou canções de Caetano interpretadas por outros artistas.
O músico Caetano Veloso decidiu lançar uma página na Internet onde disponibiliza gratuitamente todas as músicas que compôs ao longo dos seus 70 anos de vida. Os fãs de Caetano Veloso já não vão poder reclamar da dificuldade em encontrar algumas raridades do cantor. O músico brasileiro decidiu oferecer, em streaming online, todas as músicas que alguma vez fez. São, ao todo, 47 os álbuns disponibilizados de forma gratuita no site www.caetanoveloso.com.br que acabou de ser lançado em celebração das sete décadas do músico brasileiro.
Mesmo assim, e apesar da disponibilização gratuita online, o download não está acessível. Quem quiser guardar os êxitos de Caetano Veloso vai ter mesmo de comprar no iTunes.
Para além das músicas, o novo espaço online de Caetano Veloso também oferece diversas fotografias do espólio pessoal do artista, bem como material multimédia gravado ao longo dos anos e um blogue, que é atualizado pela equipa que acompanha o cantor. Também os livros e filmes que contaram com a colaboração do artista estão mencionados no site, onde ainda é possível ler as letras de cada canção.
Caetano decidiu, igualmente, aderir ao Twitter há uns dias. No entanto, na conta @falacaetano quem fala é mesma a equipa que auxilia o artista. O mesmo acontece com o Facebook do cantor, que, criado no dia 6, já conta com pouco mais de 400 "gostos". Já no Youtube, na conta inaugurada no dia 11, é possível ver o primeiro de muitos vídeos que a editora vai disponibilizar em jeito de homenagem.
Apesar da disponibilização de todo o repertório, os fãs portugueses ainda vão ter de esperar para ouvir as canções de Caetano Veloso. Para já, as mesmas não se encontram disponíveis em Portugal (pelo menos de forma legal): apenas no Brasil é possível ouvir o vasto conjunto de músicas.
Caetano Veloso vai celebrar o seu 70.º aniversário a 7 de agosto deste ano. Até lá, o artista e a sua editora prometem muitas surpresas para assinalar a data, como vídeos/documentário ou canções de Caetano interpretadas por outros artistas.
Expert claims Julian Assange will be arrested regardless of Ecuador asylum decision
Expert claims Julian Assange will be arrested regardless of Ecuador asylum decision:
Police will arrest Julian Assange even if he is granted asylum with one legal expert claiming his only way out of the country is becoming Ecuador's representative to the UN.
The WikiLeaks founder has spent the past two nights holed up in the South American country’s London embassy, in an attempt to avoid extradition to Sweden for questioning over alleged sex crimes. He will discover later today if Ecuador plans to grant him asylum.
The WikiLeaks founder has spent the past two nights holed up in the South American country’s London embassy, in an attempt to avoid extradition to Sweden for questioning over alleged sex crimes. He will discover later today if Ecuador plans to grant him asylum.
Apple Founder “Woz” Visits Kim Dotcom
Apple Founder “Woz” Visits Kim Dotcom:
In January, the U.S. Government announced that it had initiated one of “the largest criminal copyright cases ever brought by the United States.” That case was brought against Megaupload and its key employees, including founder Kim Dotcom.
This ‘criminal’ label might have deterred some from associating with the larger than life entrepreneur, but it certainly didn’t prevent Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak from getting in touch.
When Dotcom was released on bail a few months ago, ‘Woz’ flew over for a visit.
“Woz came to see me at my house when I was still on house arrest. He is such a great legend and totally supportive,” Dotcom told TorrentFreak.
“He was involved in the foundation of EFF and they are now helping Mega users to get their files back.”
“When I get my assets back I will become a major EFF supporter. That’s for sure,” Dotcom concludes.
Evidence of the meetup was posted by Kim Dotcom on his new Twitter account.
Source: Apple Founder “Woz” Visits Kim Dotcom
In January, the U.S. Government announced that it had initiated one of “the largest criminal copyright cases ever brought by the United States.” That case was brought against Megaupload and its key employees, including founder Kim Dotcom.
This ‘criminal’ label might have deterred some from associating with the larger than life entrepreneur, but it certainly didn’t prevent Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak from getting in touch.
When Dotcom was released on bail a few months ago, ‘Woz’ flew over for a visit.
“Woz came to see me at my house when I was still on house arrest. He is such a great legend and totally supportive,” Dotcom told TorrentFreak.
“He was involved in the foundation of EFF and they are now helping Mega users to get their files back.”
“When I get my assets back I will become a major EFF supporter. That’s for sure,” Dotcom concludes.
Evidence of the meetup was posted by Kim Dotcom on his new Twitter account.
Kim and Woz
Source: Apple Founder “Woz” Visits Kim Dotcom
Final Europarl Committee Rejects ACTA: Internet-Lobbyists, 5-0.
Final Europarl Committee Rejects ACTA: Internet-Lobbyists, 5-0.:
A lot of prestige had been building up toward today’s vote in the International Trade committee (INTA), which was about to give its recommendation to the European Parliament on the ACTA treaty.
Six months ago, it looked like a no-brainer. Then, protests on the streets in Poland appeared, spreading through Europe like wildfire. The Polish government promised to put ratification of ACTA on hold, pending the outcome of the European Parliament. Shortly thereafter, so did pretty much everybody else.
So, all eyes on the European Parliament.
I have written before on why ACTA lives or dies with the acceptance of Europe: if two of the world’s three largest economies do not accept a trade treaty, it does not exist. China (#3) is not a party to ACTA, and it is being pushed by the United States (#2). If the European Union rejects it, the treaty is without practical effect.
So, again, all eyes on the European Parliament.
For an acceptance or rejection in the European Parliament, one committee becomes primarily responsible for every issue, recommending a course of action to their colleagues. For the many issues handled every day, this is usually a very helpful process – getting input from the people most knowledgeable on the topic. For complex topics, another committee can sometimes join in, sending their own recommendation to the responsible committee in turn.
For ACTA, there have been four such advisory committees in addition to the responsible main committee. Those four were Industry, Civil Liberties, Development, and Legal Affairs. They voted on May 31 and June 4, and all voted to recommend a rejection. This was encouraging for the net activists, very encouraging, but didn’t really say anything about the vote in International Trade – the main committee – for such a high-profile issue.
There has been no shortage of stunts pulled that were, at best, questionable. Yesterday at 18:00, the person responsible for ACTA in the European Commission (roughly the executive branch of Europe), Karel de Gucht, held a firebrand speech to the committee, telling them how to vote. He added that if Parliament votes the wrong way, he’ll just re-submit ACTA to the next parliament (!). He was later rightfully scolded by some Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) for showing an unacceptable level of disrespect for the separation of powers and for the democratic institution of Parliament.
So this morning, the INTA committee gathered for its vote. Some industry group had managed to put up a poster across the entire door, urging them to vote for adoption. This breaks a very long set of very bureaucratic rules and raised quite a few eyebrows. The room was filled to and over capacity – TV cameras were lining the walls, and people were standing in the back and along the sides, all seats being taken in the quite large room. INTA had 32 items on its agenda, starting at 10:00, and ACTA was last.
When an issue is adopted or rejected in committee, the committee starts out from a draft report suggesting a stance it should take, and then, any MEP on the committee can suggest a change – an amendment – to the draft. The draft report in INTA said that the committee recommends parliament to reject ACTA (“withhold its consent”). Some MEPs wanted these particular words to be replaced by others, so there were some amendments on the table. The two first amendments said the exact same thing – replace the words “reject ACTA” with “adopt ACTA” – and the third replaced “reject ACTA” with “postpone a decision until the European Court of Justice has said whether ACTA is legal or not.”
The party group lines were quite defined. The positions had been established, the prestige had been bet, the trenches had been dug. Those in favor of ACTA were the EPP and the ECR party groups, comprising almost exactly half of Parliament, and those against were the rest.
INTA started out with 29 MEPs present, and everybody kept counting who was present to try to figure out which side had the majority. Early counts said that the for and against sides had 14 votes each, so there was frantic activity figuring out where the 29th vote went.
Then, mid-session, an INTA MEP with voting rights showed up, bumping the total vote count to 30. Lather, rinse and repeat all the frantic guesses about majorities for ACTA.
Fifteen minutes later, repeat the same thing happening all over again as the 31st MEP appeared in committee.
At 11:30, the INTA committee finally got to the thirty-second item on today’s agenda, ACTA. The first thing that happened was that the first two amendments, those wanting to adopt ACTA, were withdrawn.
This led us to the situation where there was not even a proposal on the table to adopt ACTA. It was “say no now”, or “decide later”. So ironically, the trade group who was breaking half of the rules in the book by putting the “adopt ACTA” poster on the outside of the committee door couldn’t even theoretically have their will.
Moment of truth. Amendment three, changing “reject” to “postpone”. The vote was called, the vote was closed, and the numbers came up on screen. 13 votes in favor of the amendment, 19 votes against it, no abstains. WE WON! WE WON!
…but wait…?
19 plus 13 is … thirty-two. There are 31 MEPs. There was one vote too many. The vote was repeated, but at this time, it was practically over: one vote less from either side would not change the outcome. The amendment would be rejected, and the draft report would be adopted, recommending the European Parliament to reject ACTA.
The new vote said 19-12. The amendment was defeated by 19-12, and the draft report recommending a rejection of ACTA was adopted by the same numbers.
Thunderous applause interrupted the session. WE WON!
So what does this mean? The ironic thing is that it doesn’t really mean much in terms of the adoption or rejection process. ACTA is such a high-profile issue that people are already decided, quite regardless of the committee recommendation. But it does give you an indication of how the majorities lie — and what the vote in plenary in about 10 days will look like.
In the press conference after the INTA session, the sentiment in the room was one of a post-mortem. “Exactly where did this ACTA drive the crazy train off the nearest cliff?” Even though the ultimate vote in the European Parliament plenary still remains, the vote some time July 2-5, the sentiment was clear: it’s over. (Hint: it’s actually not. Not at all.)
Everybody in the press conference reiterated at today’s vote would not have had this outcome without energetic and persistent activity from citizens, urging MEPs to oppose ACTA. Yes, that’s you: you should pat yourself on the shoulder here.
In the press conference, we also learn that the reason for the large majority in INTA against ACTA was due to Polish MEPs not following the party lines, but referring to their home constituencies and saying they couldn’t do anything but reject. This changed the majority from harrowingly even between adoption and rejection, to having a safe margin on the side of rejection. It is a reasonable assumption that this phenomenon will carry over to the parliament at large.
Thank you, Poland!
5-0 to the Internet. Now, on to the final vote in July and ACTA’s final dismissal.
(This article is also published at falkvinge.net.)
Source: Final Europarl Committee Rejects ACTA: Internet-Lobbyists, 5-0.
A lot of prestige had been building up toward today’s vote in the International Trade committee (INTA), which was about to give its recommendation to the European Parliament on the ACTA treaty. Six months ago, it looked like a no-brainer. Then, protests on the streets in Poland appeared, spreading through Europe like wildfire. The Polish government promised to put ratification of ACTA on hold, pending the outcome of the European Parliament. Shortly thereafter, so did pretty much everybody else.
So, all eyes on the European Parliament.
I have written before on why ACTA lives or dies with the acceptance of Europe: if two of the world’s three largest economies do not accept a trade treaty, it does not exist. China (#3) is not a party to ACTA, and it is being pushed by the United States (#2). If the European Union rejects it, the treaty is without practical effect.
So, again, all eyes on the European Parliament.
For an acceptance or rejection in the European Parliament, one committee becomes primarily responsible for every issue, recommending a course of action to their colleagues. For the many issues handled every day, this is usually a very helpful process – getting input from the people most knowledgeable on the topic. For complex topics, another committee can sometimes join in, sending their own recommendation to the responsible committee in turn.
For ACTA, there have been four such advisory committees in addition to the responsible main committee. Those four were Industry, Civil Liberties, Development, and Legal Affairs. They voted on May 31 and June 4, and all voted to recommend a rejection. This was encouraging for the net activists, very encouraging, but didn’t really say anything about the vote in International Trade – the main committee – for such a high-profile issue.
There has been no shortage of stunts pulled that were, at best, questionable. Yesterday at 18:00, the person responsible for ACTA in the European Commission (roughly the executive branch of Europe), Karel de Gucht, held a firebrand speech to the committee, telling them how to vote. He added that if Parliament votes the wrong way, he’ll just re-submit ACTA to the next parliament (!). He was later rightfully scolded by some Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) for showing an unacceptable level of disrespect for the separation of powers and for the democratic institution of Parliament.
So this morning, the INTA committee gathered for its vote. Some industry group had managed to put up a poster across the entire door, urging them to vote for adoption. This breaks a very long set of very bureaucratic rules and raised quite a few eyebrows. The room was filled to and over capacity – TV cameras were lining the walls, and people were standing in the back and along the sides, all seats being taken in the quite large room. INTA had 32 items on its agenda, starting at 10:00, and ACTA was last.
When an issue is adopted or rejected in committee, the committee starts out from a draft report suggesting a stance it should take, and then, any MEP on the committee can suggest a change – an amendment – to the draft. The draft report in INTA said that the committee recommends parliament to reject ACTA (“withhold its consent”). Some MEPs wanted these particular words to be replaced by others, so there were some amendments on the table. The two first amendments said the exact same thing – replace the words “reject ACTA” with “adopt ACTA” – and the third replaced “reject ACTA” with “postpone a decision until the European Court of Justice has said whether ACTA is legal or not.”
The party group lines were quite defined. The positions had been established, the prestige had been bet, the trenches had been dug. Those in favor of ACTA were the EPP and the ECR party groups, comprising almost exactly half of Parliament, and those against were the rest.
INTA started out with 29 MEPs present, and everybody kept counting who was present to try to figure out which side had the majority. Early counts said that the for and against sides had 14 votes each, so there was frantic activity figuring out where the 29th vote went.
Then, mid-session, an INTA MEP with voting rights showed up, bumping the total vote count to 30. Lather, rinse and repeat all the frantic guesses about majorities for ACTA.
Fifteen minutes later, repeat the same thing happening all over again as the 31st MEP appeared in committee.
At 11:30, the INTA committee finally got to the thirty-second item on today’s agenda, ACTA. The first thing that happened was that the first two amendments, those wanting to adopt ACTA, were withdrawn.
This led us to the situation where there was not even a proposal on the table to adopt ACTA. It was “say no now”, or “decide later”. So ironically, the trade group who was breaking half of the rules in the book by putting the “adopt ACTA” poster on the outside of the committee door couldn’t even theoretically have their will.
Moment of truth. Amendment three, changing “reject” to “postpone”. The vote was called, the vote was closed, and the numbers came up on screen. 13 votes in favor of the amendment, 19 votes against it, no abstains. WE WON! WE WON!
…but wait…?
19 plus 13 is … thirty-two. There are 31 MEPs. There was one vote too many. The vote was repeated, but at this time, it was practically over: one vote less from either side would not change the outcome. The amendment would be rejected, and the draft report would be adopted, recommending the European Parliament to reject ACTA.
The new vote said 19-12. The amendment was defeated by 19-12, and the draft report recommending a rejection of ACTA was adopted by the same numbers.
Thunderous applause interrupted the session. WE WON!
So what does this mean? The ironic thing is that it doesn’t really mean much in terms of the adoption or rejection process. ACTA is such a high-profile issue that people are already decided, quite regardless of the committee recommendation. But it does give you an indication of how the majorities lie — and what the vote in plenary in about 10 days will look like.
In the press conference after the INTA session, the sentiment in the room was one of a post-mortem. “Exactly where did this ACTA drive the crazy train off the nearest cliff?” Even though the ultimate vote in the European Parliament plenary still remains, the vote some time July 2-5, the sentiment was clear: it’s over. (Hint: it’s actually not. Not at all.)
Everybody in the press conference reiterated at today’s vote would not have had this outcome without energetic and persistent activity from citizens, urging MEPs to oppose ACTA. Yes, that’s you: you should pat yourself on the shoulder here.
In the press conference, we also learn that the reason for the large majority in INTA against ACTA was due to Polish MEPs not following the party lines, but referring to their home constituencies and saying they couldn’t do anything but reject. This changed the majority from harrowingly even between adoption and rejection, to having a safe margin on the side of rejection. It is a reasonable assumption that this phenomenon will carry over to the parliament at large.
Thank you, Poland!
5-0 to the Internet. Now, on to the final vote in July and ACTA’s final dismissal.
(This article is also published at falkvinge.net.)
About The Author
Rick Falkvinge is a regular columnist on TorrentFreak, sharing his thoughts every other week. He is the founder of the Swedish and first Pirate Party, a whisky aficionado, and a low-altitude motorcycle pilot. His blog at falkvinge.net focuses on information policy.
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Kim Dotcom: Artists Rejoice, Megabox is Not Dead
Kim Dotcom: Artists Rejoice, Megabox is Not Dead:
December last year, a month before the criminal proceeding against Megaupload became public, Kim Dotcom first revealed his plans to launch a new service to transform the music business.
In a guest post for TorrentFreak, the Megaupload founder described the Megabox project as “..a site that will soon allow artists to sell their creations direct to consumers and allowing artists to keep 90% of earnings.”
“You can expect several Megabox announcements [in 2012] including exclusive deals with artists who are eager to depart from outdated business models,” he added.
When Dotcom and his colleagues were arrested earlier this year, many people believed that the Megabox project would fade away. In fact, some theorized that Megabox was one of the main reasons why the recording labels and by extension the U.S. Government wanted the Megaupload team to fold quickly.
However, Dotcom now reveals that he hasn’t give up on the project. On the contrary.
On his brand new Twitter account Dotcom shared a picture of Megabox with the message that “it is coming.”
In a phone conversation Dotcom confirmed to TorrentFreak that the project is indeed making progress, and he promised to share further details in the days to come.
It’s certainly not dead, as the major music labels might have hoped.
While waiting for more details on Megabox, there’s plenty of other material to keep the masses entertained.
Dotcom is clearly in fighting mode judging from the stream of tweets he’s been sending out. Aside from the pictures of his wife and kids, the Megaupload founder also shared a preview of his upcoming website featuring the keywords “MPAA”, “Scandal” and “Obama.”
In a previous interview with TorrentFreak, Dotcom already hinted at government corruption.
“This Mega takedown was possible because of corruption on the highest political level, serving the interests of the copyright extremists in Hollywood,” he said. “Mega has become a re-election pawn.”
A recent tweet affirms this belief and shows that Dotcom is keeping a close eye on the relationship between Vice President Joe Biden and his former colleague, MPAA boss Chris Dodd. “Watch out lovebirds! I know what you did,” he notes.
While it’s not clear what Dotcom is getting at exactly, it’s no secret that Dodd and Biden are close friends. Also, U.S. attorney Neil MacBride who’s in charge of prosecuting Megaupload served as chief counsel for Biden when he was senator.
Dotcom did inform TorrentFreak that there’s will be some interesting revelations in the coming weeks. So stay tuned for fresh Megabox news, and a whole lot more.
Source: Kim Dotcom: Artists Rejoice, Megabox is Not Dead
December last year, a month before the criminal proceeding against Megaupload became public, Kim Dotcom first revealed his plans to launch a new service to transform the music business.
In a guest post for TorrentFreak, the Megaupload founder described the Megabox project as “..a site that will soon allow artists to sell their creations direct to consumers and allowing artists to keep 90% of earnings.”
“You can expect several Megabox announcements [in 2012] including exclusive deals with artists who are eager to depart from outdated business models,” he added.
When Dotcom and his colleagues were arrested earlier this year, many people believed that the Megabox project would fade away. In fact, some theorized that Megabox was one of the main reasons why the recording labels and by extension the U.S. Government wanted the Megaupload team to fold quickly.
However, Dotcom now reveals that he hasn’t give up on the project. On the contrary.
Megabox is coming soon
On his brand new Twitter account Dotcom shared a picture of Megabox with the message that “it is coming.”
In a phone conversation Dotcom confirmed to TorrentFreak that the project is indeed making progress, and he promised to share further details in the days to come.
It’s certainly not dead, as the major music labels might have hoped.
Megatweet
While waiting for more details on Megabox, there’s plenty of other material to keep the masses entertained.
Dotcom is clearly in fighting mode judging from the stream of tweets he’s been sending out. Aside from the pictures of his wife and kids, the Megaupload founder also shared a preview of his upcoming website featuring the keywords “MPAA”, “Scandal” and “Obama.”
In a previous interview with TorrentFreak, Dotcom already hinted at government corruption.
“This Mega takedown was possible because of corruption on the highest political level, serving the interests of the copyright extremists in Hollywood,” he said. “Mega has become a re-election pawn.”
A recent tweet affirms this belief and shows that Dotcom is keeping a close eye on the relationship between Vice President Joe Biden and his former colleague, MPAA boss Chris Dodd. “Watch out lovebirds! I know what you did,” he notes.
Lovebirds
While it’s not clear what Dotcom is getting at exactly, it’s no secret that Dodd and Biden are close friends. Also, U.S. attorney Neil MacBride who’s in charge of prosecuting Megaupload served as chief counsel for Biden when he was senator.
Dotcom did inform TorrentFreak that there’s will be some interesting revelations in the coming weeks. So stay tuned for fresh Megabox news, and a whole lot more.
Source: Kim Dotcom: Artists Rejoice, Megabox is Not Dead
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