It's not the end of the world, probably.

Sounds like sour grapes to me. News Flash: Politicians use these procedural tricks all the time, why do you think that said tricks exist? At someone point, some other guys slid laws through on the same deal. Look at the absurd things the US does - the Patriot Act, Obama's "bailout" plans, that nobody ever reads, but people vote on.

And shame on those whom left early to have off, whatever the custom may be.

I mean, if I am involved in a meeting at work, and it is my job to attend the meeting, and even vote about the discussed subject, even if it's next week, I stay and do my job. Of course lawmakers have a special kind of work ethic.

The people who showed "contempt for the democratic process" were the people who left early.

The problem in France is similar to some of the shenanigans we see in the U.S. The rules were put in place with the idea that the participants in the debate and vote were dedicated to democracy and the best interests of their respective nations. In the end, they're honor systems.

These days, that assumption just doesn't hold true often enough for the rules to work like they're supposed to. Too many in the legislatures have no honor.

We have much the same problem in contract law. Much of the law includes various 'reasonable person' tests. Unfortunately, corporations aren't real people (even if the law grants them a fictional personhood) and they are not reasonable (literally, ever tried to call up a corporation and reason with it?)

If you are born somewhere, sometimes it is difficult to leave. Some people just don't have the resources or skills to leave a country and start a new life somewhere else (I know I'm finding it pretty difficult right now). What other choices do they have if the politicians don't listen to the people?

The EU will probably shut this down anyway. We'll just have to see.

Yeah... the kind where you only work for a few months every couple years when you're up for election. :-/

A country with a 577-member body that allows 16 people to constitute quorum? If that's actually the case, that country deserves what it gets.

Say it ain't so.

You can sue and let a judge decide. That's why they're there: to interpret the law and shove the loopholes up people's rears. There's the letter of the law, then there's what it's meant for -- you can't legislate out all human error, but when someone tries to exploit that error, you have courts to help you out.

After a 30 hour discussion? Bullshit.

What this slashdot post needs is:
1. A description of the law that was passed. 'three strikes and you're out' isn't very descriptive. I'm assuming it has to do with file sharing and cutting off people's internet connections?

2. How many deputies were supposed to be there? 18? 100? 300?

the fallacy is in thinking that the government has any ability to enforce the laws they create on the topic of intellectual property. any law in regard to file sharing is akin to trying to herd cats two states over: does anyone really think that some chinese or russian or brazilian teenager with a broadband connection is aware, or even cares?

and if they don't, then for western teenagers in western nations with retarded intellectual property laws, its simply a matter of dipping into this transnational bounty of filesharing that is forever beyond the reach of idiotic national laws

so go ahead france, australia, the usa: pass your ridiculous 3 strikes law, dmca, whatever. who fucking cares?

intellectual property law was a gentleman's agreement from a dead era when there were only a few publishers (oh, you thought ip law was for the benefit of creators? ha!). but now ip law is now a conceptual dinosaur in the age of the internet. western nations depend heavily on the idea of intellectual property. well: get used to losing the concept

all that has to happen, all that is going to happen over the next few decades is that western nations have to get used to the extinction of intellectual property law as an enforceable concept in the age of the internet

when someone loses something dear to them, they go through 5 stages of grief. the first stage is denial. that is where western legal systems are now at in reliation to the death of intellectual property law as a valid, enforceable idea

its over

ip law is dead

everyone just shrug at france. the laws you see passed will get only more ridiculous and more desperate in the west, until finally a critical mass of legislators in western nations begin to wake up and take notice that its all just a giant fucking joke

Proposed amendment: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of a corporation, nor granting rights to same. All rights shall be reserved to the People as individuals. Congress shall accept no donations but from the People." (Or some variant thereof.)

That would put an end to the nonsense that corporations are people. The individuals within the corporation such as Gates, Ballmer, and the sundry employees will have rights to free speech, free press, et cetera, but not Microsoft the corporation. Hopefully this law would also block the buying-out of Congressmen by corporations.

You do realize that if your suggestions were taken into account, it is likely that important bills would not get passed because it would take FAR too long to do so. For example, bills to amend the criminal code or a bill for protecting the Arctic waters from pollution.

I certainly agree with your third point however. The bill should only deal with 1 subject matter and amendments to the bill should only be related to that subject matter.

Hmm, and who exactly is the winner here?

And you haven't read a single word of what I posted, right? Lame.

From the same article you dismissed:

UK is 29th out of 31 countries surveyed.

I rest my case.

It's time to shoot the French Secretary of State. Someone man up and take the bastard out. It is your patriotic duty otherwise you're just living under another monarchy that changes every what is is 4 years.

They did call a quorum, at the beginning of bringing it to the floor, with 500+ members present, almost 41 hours before the vote, then they were told the vote would be first thing next week, so almost everyone went home. Sadly in France there is no easy way for a member to force a quorum call at a later point. This was an abuse of the rules.

Does anyone find it amusing that after all the ridicule the French heaped on Americans for electing Bush that they went and elected somebody even worse?

What is even more worrisome is the opinion expressed by at least one deputy during the debate that of course it is acceptable to remove someone's internet access because having access to the internet isn't even close to being a basic right. This comes shortly after the European Parliament stated that internet access is a basic right, like the right to education.

Witty comments about the accuracy of Wikipedia aside, the internet is becoming the norm for getting information about the world, such as seeing what your elected representatives have been getting up to while you were asleep.

This is exactly the reason I won't buy a house that is subject to a HOA, what part of "MY PROPERTY" do these tin dictators not understand.

First of all, despite your eloquent language, you provide no facts or examples to support these assertions, which makes them no better than a poorly written rant.

What are these "arbitrary and wasteful things" we "labor relentlessly for" and what "important things are being neglected and allowed to fall apart"? That's so generic as to mean anything.

Secondly, Western societies have flourished because of their ability to enforce contracts in an (almost) corruption free legal system. Visit a developing country and you'll discover that justice in general (and enforcement of contracts in particular) is usually an arbitrary and capricious thing frequently decided by wealth, bribes, &/or connections.

What's your alternative?
Handshakes all around?

The only thing -1 Uncomfortable about your Truth is its lack of substance.
Sometimes I wonder how such claptrap gets modded up.

A pity the judicial branch is the least democratic, least accountable branch of government.

What a wonderful excuse for any wrong doing. Can I have your car towed away and crushed because driving is ecologically un-friendly?

Really? Disconnecting people after 3 warnings is disproportionate to the 'crime', but the answer to a sneaky gov't dude is to *shoot* him? Really?

I'm no more a fan of disconnecting people than the next guy (unless that next guy is a head honcho at RIAA/MPAA/etc., but as soon as you take that whole soapbox-ballet box-jury box-ammo box, skip the first three and go straight to 4, you're part of a far bigger problem.

This is nothing new, it's been around since about 3271 B.C. when the first guy realized he could flatter the priest-king to gain political privilege. Here's a big cluestick for all of you: Government is comprised of mortal human beings! They aren't divine beings, they aren't angelic beings, they aren't even superior beings. They are mere human beings with all the ills, foibles an failings that come with being human beings.

The problem is not that we have self-serving human beings in office, the problem is that WE have the naive expectation that they will not be self-serving. We need to stop wasting our time trying to vote the "right people" into office, and start limiting the power of the wrong people who do get in.

Of course, that's also been a long time excuse for racism. I don't have nothin' personal against them but when they move in, property values go down. Replace them and they with just about any minority.

I realize that not liking clotheslines is not racism, but it can be argued that it is a sort of classism. To some, clotheslines represent the lower class, so they don't want them in their neighborhood.