By Ingrid Daschner
The politicians here in Germany seem to have assumed that no one would be too bothered about ACTA. After all, who could possibly get worked up about ACTA – the proposed international Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, aimed at combating product piracy? A handful of activists, maybe, but other than that?
The elected representatives of the people, old-hands at the game of politics, really should have known better. In 2011, the Pirate Party, which was only founded in 2006, took 8.9 percent of the vote in the not exactly inconsequential Berlin State Parliamentary elections. To put that in perspective, the FDP (Free Democratic Party), a member of the ruling German coalition, polled just 1.8 percent, representing a support base so slight they could almost have shaken each of their voters personally by the hand. As for the Pirates – the information society is what they’re all about.
Now ACTA is out for consultation and tens of thousands of people are taking to the streets. Tens of thousands of people who, to the established political parties, are as incomprehensible as a table dancer is to a monk. The generation which makes up the bulk of the representatives of the people can barely conceive of the idea that the internet is a core aspect of the lives of many people under the age of 30 (and indeed many over 30s). And they’re not going to let it be regimented, have laws imposed upon it or be hemmed in by regulations. Period. Should we, perhaps, have started to take these children of the digital age seriously a little sooner? Should we, perhaps, not have delegated the issue of digital media to a sub-committee?
ACTA is currently on ice, awaiting examination by the European Court of Justice, so there’s still time for the honourable ladies and gents in Berlin to get hold of a copy of The Internet for Dummies. So why not trot down to your nearest bookshop. Alternatively you could even risk ordering one from amazon.de, but that really would be going out on a limb.
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