Flogging the whole shagging Dáil

ALL government e-mail addresses: http://www.censortube.eu/AllGovernmentTDs.txt
The letter: http://www.censortube.eu/LetterToAllGovernmentTDs.txt

The ONLY positive aspect of the whole debacle is that Seánie boy is VERY likely to end up having is own arse handed to him through his own legislation:
https://sites.google.com/site/seansherlocktdsopa/
I LOLed.

Dear Minister, Dear TD,

Your colleague or coalition partner, Minister Seán Sherlock of Labour, is planning to implement an ill-conceived piece of legislation aimed at curbing copyright piracy through the internet.

This legislation is of the same ilk as the SOPA and PIPA legislation that was recently put on hold in the USA due to a massive outcry by the American public when they realised what this type of legislation might lead to. It is of the same rotten stock as the proposed ACTA legislation, myopically focused on a single goal whilst deliberately ignoring any possible wider impact.

Minister Seán Sherlock has already partially given in to pressure. He had intended to push this legislation through without proper consultation. After this led to a massive outcry and online petitions he has now agreed to allow this legislation to be discussed in the Dáil in the coming week.

You are asked to consider this legislation and to speak about it. We ask you to consider this legislation very carefully. Don't just consider how it may achieve its intended goal. We all agree that online piracy and the unlicensed distribution of copyrighted material is a huge problem that needs to be addressed. But when you consider this legislation, PLEASE consider how it could possibly be abused. This legislation is suffering from the same faults as the U.S. DMCA legislation. It will allow for material to be attacked and blocked on the basis of mere ACCUSATION of infringement of copyright. This leaves the legislation wide open to abuse, and to being used as a tool for internet censorship, allowing those who are of a certain mindset to silence voices they find objectionable simply by alleging copyright infringement.

Please send Minister Sherlock back to the drawing board. He did not consider the wider implications of his legislation carefully enough, and it should not be passed as is.

Legislation should always be put in place with the view to protect rights. But most importantly, it should protect rights without affecting other rights. Yes, the right to have one's intellectual property protected needs to be enforced, but NOT at the expense of the rights of others to freedom of expression. If legislation is put in place that will undermine our freedom of expression the public cannot help but respond by accepting its moral duty to undermine and subvert such laws by exploring every technical avenue it can that will emasculate this legislation and render it ineffective. Alternatively, you can show the wisdom to consider the rights of individuals and how they may be affected by any legislation you may consider to protect the interests of billion dollar entertainment industries. If you do this, you may find that the public would work with you rather than against you in order to address the serious problem of internet piracy. But if YOU will not protect our freedom of expression, the people of Ireland will HAVE to do whatever it takes to ensure that our voices continue to be heard, and if this means expediting the development technology that could make internet piracy even easier, such as torrent based search engines and anonymous hosting and surfing, then to the public that would be a small price to pay. Our fundamental rights cannot be negotiated away. We voted for you less than a year ago. We trusted you to do the best for the country and the people that live in it. Do NOT betray our trust.

Thank you for reading these objections.


Yours faithfully




Giuseppe Carafa

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Letter
• To
• All
• Government
• TDs
• regarding
• internet
• copyright
• legislation
• Ireland
• Seán
• Sherlock

[rollofnickles]

Damn,rose, you come up with some of the best info. Kudos

[rozeboosje]

@rollofnickles Cheers!

[TheTomtompiper]

Unfortunately I don't fall within his jurisdiction so cannot apply pressure to the SOAB, but good luck with your effort.

[rozeboosje]

@TheTomtompiper Thank you - And yeah, I know the feeling. This is how powerless I feel when I read about what US legislators are doing :-)

[grungeface87]

I can't help but feel exhausted and bewildered that our elected representatives need to have this kind of thing explained to them. It really is a damning indictment on their intelligence (or their character).

[kelliko70]

Read up on HR 1981--no one is talking about it enough and its a HUGE threat to privacy

[Laoch111]

Stop SOPA

Stop ACTA

Stop PIPA

[Knr911]

@rozeboosje Ah, OK. Well good luck to you Ireland!! - Srsdly DON'T let these fuckers invade your internet!

Sarkozy did that to us frenchies a couple years ago and the bastard was very successful - Plenty of fees and strikes to P2P users, as a result the french only used Megaupload, so now... Errr....

[rozeboosje]

@Knr911 Oh soz - no, that's AllGovernmentTDs - All TD's who take part in the government. TD is the Irish equivalent to the English "MP" - "member of parliament".

[Knr911]

@rozeboosje Thanks. In fact I did get that he was Irish , but I did not get if every citizen of the world should be concerned, as you put a list named "ALLGovernments".

[DaithiDublin]

(Contd) ..in breach of other EU directives for the protection of eCommerce, just highlights his ignorance further. Not only is he ignorant of the broader situation regarding the copyright debate, he is also ignorant of the guidelines he is supposed to be following. Actually, incompetent is the word. He should have his seat taken off him if he is so unfit to hold it. He's not even clever enough to be accused of manipulation.

[DaithiDublin]

I had to laugh when I read an interview with Sean Sherlock after he had succumbed to pressure for a Dail debate. In it he conceded that there “will be a debate before it is signed”. But surely he meant that there will be a debate before it is *decided* whether or not it will be signed! He sounds like some Texas lawman promising a fair trial followed by a first class hangin'! The fact that he doesn't know that the EU directives he keeps bleating about following were ruled to be.. (Contd)