Josh's Blog

I’ve just been doing my armchair activism for the night. Having read, and been horrified by, the details of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), I emailed my 5 MEPs to share that same feeling of horror. Here’s what I wrote (heavily adapted from the Open Rights Group‘s standard letter):

Dear <Name>

I’m writing to share my concerns over the ongoing secret negotiations surrounding the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), and to urge you to stand against this opaque process.

The European Commission, the US, and eleven other countries (including several involved in systematic censorship at home the UAE, Singapore, and South Korea), have been negotiating the ACTA in secret for over two years. The proposed ACTA will be a global plurilateral agreement aiming to establish international standards over the counterfeiting of goods, generic medicines and online copyright infringement.

It is, of course, important that intellectual property is protected, and that those who research and develop products are able to make an appropriate return on their investments. However, I am extremely concerned that the ACTA, as proposed in recently released draft text, will threaten important, hard-won freedom of expression, stifle competition and access to generic medicines so important for poorer people and nations, and introduce overly harsh punishments for those who fall under its remit.

I am especially worried by the nature of the negotiations, which have become well advanced in secret, and cannot be subject to the proper scrutiny of the many, many people this agreement will impact if it comes in to force. I strongly believe the process needs to be much more open, and to be negotiated under one of the existing international bodies – such as the UN or WTO, rather than creating yet another international framework. It’s also key that the positions of individual countries are known, so that European citizens know what their governments are doing in their names. This is especially important when the ACTA proposes to allow law enforcement agencies to force Internet Service Providers to disclose personal usage data without a warrant, in direct violation of the UDHR Article 11. The proposed agreement would also provide for a 3-strikes clause for internet access disconnection, despite the fact that internet connections are usually shared, are near crucial for education in the modern world, and the fact that internet access is considered by many a fundamental human right.

I urge you to sign Written Declaration 12/2010 tabled by Françoise Castex, Zuzana Roithová, Alexander Alvaro, Stavros Lambrinidis which calls for greater transparency of the ACTA process.

Among other things Written Declaration 12/2010
- calls on the European Commission to immediately release all ACTA related documents
- states that ACTA should not limit judicial due process or weaken fundamental rights and data protection
- emphasises that Internet Service Providers should not be liable for the data they transmit
- states that the access to generic medicines should not be impeded

In March MEPs overwhelmingly approved a common resolution opposing the ACTA negotiations process. By signing Written Declaration 12/2010 you ensure that the call for transparency remains a top priority and put pressure on the European Commission to bring up the issue at the next ACTA round in Switzerland.

Thanks very much.

Yours, Josh Heald

If you’re anything like me, you’ll agree that this sort of thing transcends party boundaries, and requires the people to say no, as one, to any abuse of the power that we have entrusted to our governments. If you agree, the ORG’s tool makes it nice and easy to make your views clear to your MEPs. I encourage you to make the time to read about the issues and write an email of your own, but if you can’t, sending the form letters is better than nothing.

Some brief thoughts on the election result so far, as of 1045 the morning after – Tories on 291, Labour on 248, Lib Dems on 51 and everyone else up to 27, 33 to declare. Pretty much everything I’m writing is just based on gut reaction, I’ve not done much maths or analysis beyond my reactions and feelings – only getting two hours sleep didn’t help. It’s a bit strange seeing it all from so far away, down a slightly dodgy stream of BBC World News and on the World Service.

First and foremost, I’m worried about how close the Tories are to an overall majority. I know they won’t get it alone now, not unless the next 42 seats are ridiculous, and that is some comfort, but they still don’t deserve it and their views, principles and policies still don’t even come close to matching the views of the majority in the country. I also have a strange pervasive dread of hearing the words “Prime Minister David Cameron”, and I don’t think it’ll wear any better with time.

I’m very pleased for Caroline Lucas of the Greens taking their first ever seat, despite the fact that it meant a Labour loss. On the flip side, I’m gutted for the Lib Dems, who deserved to do a great deal better – I was expecting somewhere in the region of 100-125 seats, and for far more of them to be taken from the Tories, neither of which seemed to happen.

Like almost everyone, as far as I can see, I’m pleased and relieved that Nick Griffin and his Nazi ilk didn’t win a single seat, though it’s really quite depressing that there are over half a million racist morons who voted for them nationwide… and that under PR, which I am still all in favour of (preferably via STV, including RON in the absence of a perfect system), they would probably have won more than one seat – a real worry, though obviously still no reason to continue propping up FPTP

Naturally I’ll be keeping a close eye on everything with great interest…

The recent elections made me completely furious… I’m sure many many other people felt the same. Yes, it was a washout for Labour, which is always bad, but what made my blood boil was the BNP winning two seats in the European Parliament, largely because so few people could be bothered to take a two minute walk to their polling station and cross a box. Yes, there’s more to it than that, and a big chunk of the blame lies at the feet of scorn worthy ex-ministers for resigning in the days leading up to polling day, and the ongoing expenses scandal.

At the end of the day though, every single British, European or Commonwealth adult citizen in this country is responsible for casting their own vote. I’m disgusted that as someone who actually used their vote last week, I’m in a minority of just over a third of the electorate- UK turnout was only 34.48%.

I think the expenses scandal has been ridiculous, just like pretty much everyone. The next time I hear a politician whine “but it was within the rules…” I think I might scream. Yes, the rules were wrong, but I would hope the politicians I support and help return to Westminster would be bright enough to realise that without a month-long Telegraph exposé. We don’t want representatives who work systems to their own advantage as much as possible because it’s in the rules, we want MPs who are upstanding, responsible role models to society – they should have integrity, and at least try to be grounded in the real world.

Expenses are a necessary part of a fair political system, including second home allowances, and the Telegraph didn’t half ham up some of the claims, with their tendency to hone in on small parts of large claims, present them in isolation, and then say “what a scoundrel, couldn’t he even buy his own new toilet seat”. I don’t subscribe to an MPs halls of residence (I mean really, just think of the security risk for half a second) but MPs should know to be reasonable in their claims.

As for all this talk of Labour leadership elections, I’m glad the PLP got a grip. It was incredible to see a few self-serving members and even ministers try to ride the media’s storm to oust Brown, as if the expenses scandal were his fault, when the fascists are being returned to Brussels due to voter apathy. It’s a time for pulling together, ideally of all the moderate parties, to say no to the extremism in our midst, not for parties to be splitting down the middle.

All in all, a pretty awful week for UK and EU politics. I’m looking forward to seeing some improvements over the coming months.

The picture at the top was what I sent to Hope not Hate‘s anti-BNP campaign. It’s a petition which says NOT IN MY NAME. The petition will be handed into the European Parliament on the day that BNP leader Nick Griffin takes his seat. Sign the petition – let’s show the rest of the EU what we think of the racist BNP.