In a remarkable statement, the copyright monopoly fundamentalist Marielle Gallo – of the Gallo Report infamy – says that the citizens of Europe who have been campaigning against ACTA are terrorists.
In a just-published interview (in French), Marielle Gallo – a Member of the European Parliament, no less – calls the anti-ACTA campaigns “A soft form of terrorism” (une forme douce de terrorisme). Yes, she really does say that the citizens of Europe, her constituency, who contact her colleagues in Parliament regarding a concerning political matter should be regarded as terrorists.
This shows a couple of things.
- The monopoly maximalists have completely gone bonkers, off the deep end, and fishing. Calling your own constituents terrorists in media when they express political opinions that differ from your own is more than political suicide, it’s straitjacket material.
- The monopoly maximalists are scared beyond their wits of getting their dogma questioned, their facade scratched at, and losing their control of the monopoly-maximizing discourse. Apart from the obvious proof of having lost their wits, they are now acting in desperation and are at a loss for stronger words to denounce their opponents. (“Pirate” has kind of lost its denouncing effect when people get elected on the pirate banner.)
- Accordingly, the pendulum is starting to swing back in the right direction. The reason for the dogmatic maximalists’ obvious discomfort to this level of ridiculous statements – on the record, no less – can be no other than a feeling of situational control slipping through their fingers.
Overall, this is an excellent sign. Let’s continue with this form of “terrorism”. Myself, I just call it democracy at work. Mail the MEPs today to reject ACTA, whether you live in Europe or not.
Beyond a win on ACTA, we should take the opportunity to reverse the trend and express our opinion that the monopolies should begin to dismantle.
See also EDRi (with a full translation of the interview) and Techdirt.
UPDATE: Several people have pointed out that Gallo also states in this interview that the Members of European Parliament should be doing the thinking, and not citizens.
UPDATE 2: Specifically, MEP Gallo said, “It isn’t just a question of misinformation. It is a soft form of terrorism that scares people. They are afraid. This is a fantasy.” So yes, she claims that a differing opinion from hers is misinformation and terrorism.
“‘Pirate’ has kind of lost its denouncing effect when people get elected on the pirate banner”
Let’s start a “Terrorist Party” and see what name they will come up with next.
I personally wonder how many iterations of establishing a political party to make the next insult lose its negative connotations would it take to make the corrupt politicians invoke Godwin’s law and cause the entire Universe to implode from sheer irony.
Perhaps “Terrorist” is just Godwin v2.0. Nazi is so 20th Century.
Hah. Weird. But not surprising, no, not in this debate… However, are you completely sure Gallo refers to the citizens campaigns? Because if he’s referring to Anonymous, he’s actually having a point; shutting down websites is an infringement in freedom of speech – although it’s not terrorism, since it’s not actual violence.
It’s more of a protest than an infringement on the freedom of speech. Think of it as a digital “sit-in.”
I’m a terrorist! Apparently.
Those who are confused by Gallo’s defense of ACTA can read LQDN memo about it: http://is.gd/RYsoWQ
Stage three?
“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”
Robbie Williams?
Gandhi?
No, that’s “Let Love Be Your Energy”. But I can understand how you mixed them up.
Well, in a totalitarian regime, anyone not agreeing with the ruling party is a terrorist.
Apparently the (more and more desperate) copyright proponents are starting to really straight out mark themselves as wanna-be dictators.. Shows the desperation and climate is really starting to reach potentially dangerous levels…
I hope that in the eye of the public they are just marking themselves as greedy madmen by doing this.
[…] convince the parliamentarians to vote “yes” anyway. They’ve now even decided to play the terrorist card. La Quadrature du Net writes: “This Wednesday July 4th, the European Parliament will have an […]
[…] http://falkvinge.net/2012/06/26/marielle-gallo-if-youre-campaigning-against-acta-youre-a-terrorist/ […]
Over ten years ago the government of the USA redefined the word “terrorist” to mean “person who I disagree with”. Various other rouge states have since adopted this very useful definition and used it in their own rhetoric. Obviously Marielle Gallo has also adopted this definition.
[…] rant was inspired by this post on the blog of Rick Falkvinge, where I first read about Marielle Gallo’s interview and her weird opinions. But that is just […]
I’ve always considered myself a terrorist of the intellect.
Guess I should be glad not to live in Europe (or the US).
Is this woman completely out of her mind? Ms Marianne Gallo and Mr Karel De Gucht? What are they thinking is provoking and scaring people like this? Terrorists? They are the ones being the ‘terrorists’ here with all this. Are they completely insane? I mean, come on…!
hehe…
that awesome!
they are digging their own political graves.
David X.
@Rick
Although it’s awkward to ask you a suggestion on this column, but what is your opinion about Namecoin ?
A recent interview of it’s lead developer has been given :
http://coinabul.tumblr.com/post/2589060158/khalahan-and-namecoin-interview
What is your opinion about this alternate blockchain ? Maybe it could justify an article from your part ?
Thanks a lot if you do so.
Well… the more accurate translation of what she said about the thinking part is this:
“We’re elected representatives of the citizens and since they are occupied by other things, we’ve been elected to think in their place.” [ well actually we’ve been delegated to think in their place ]
Which pisses me off even more!
Well… the more accurate translation of what she said about the thinking part is this:
“We’re elected representatives of the citizens and since they are occupied by other things, we’ve been elected to think in their place.” [ well actually: we’ve been delegated to think in their place ]
Which pisses me off even more!
Nope, censé means “supposed to”, so the sentence translates as
“We’re supposed to represent the citizens, but since they are busy with other things, we’re supposed to think for them.”
The citizens of Europe are clearly engaging with this question, so they do not need Mme Gallo to think for them, thank you very much.
Oh… thank you, my French is obviously more than rusty… But it still pisses me off.
Since she’s already designated me a terrorist, I’ll combine that with my role as a pirate…
“Heave to Gallo or I fire!
So more an half of the world are terrorist ….. allow me to LAUGH HIGH !!!!!!!
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Marielle Gallo, from now on refered to as “the drooling and mentally unstable Marielle Gallo”.
This level of paranoia and delusion should really be treated by professionals, and she should _definitely_ not operate heavy machinery or gavels or ballots while in the current state.
[…] och att EU-politikernas jobb att tänka åt medborgarna. Finns på franska och på engelska. Rick Falkvinge och Hax […]
Well im a T E R R O R I S T apparently…
I do not think Gallo is insane. It is a good healthy dose of fear. It is something all politicians should feel. To quote Thomas Jefferson …
“When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.”
So the question is. How do we make them all afraid, all the time? Perhaps then they will do what is right for society not their bank accounts.
[…] Gallo: If You’re Campaigning Against ACTA, You’re A Terrorist. […]
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Political suicide? Far as I can tell she’s still got her job…