Slovenia's ambassador apologizes to her children and her nation for signing ACTA

boingboing.net — After Helena Drnovsek Zorko, Slovenia's ambassador to Japan, signed the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, she was deluged with emails from Slovenians criticizing her for signing onto the agreement, which encourages widespread network censorship and creates criminal penalties for copyright infringement. Feb 3, 2012 View in Crawl 4

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Anonanimal Feb 3, 2012

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Her apology was pretty damning. Not only did she admit to not understanding or researching the issue, which is bad enough, but she admits that she was ignoring all news reports and petitions in Slovenia about the issue because she was "too tired" to pay attention. It's good that she apologized, but having an ambassador that is incapable of doing such exhausting things as "reading newspapers" is a detriment to the country, and she should be recalled.

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chadpyle Feb 3, 2012

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She basically broadcasted that she's unfit for duty. Probably time for Helena to find a quiet town in Slovenia to open a candle boutique.

Figyg Feb 4, 2012

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God forbid an American politician openly apologized for a mistake.
Hell might just freeze over, pigs would fly, and Ron Paul would be elected into office.

dde2 Feb 3, 2012

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Somehow I don't think we in the USA will ever hear any of our politicians admiting they screwed up like this lady did.

chadpyle Feb 3, 2012

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Yeah, maybe give that legislation a once-over before you put pen to paper, eh? That goes for the rest of you bureaucrats; I know reading is hard n' stuff, but...

jphr Feb 3, 2012

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Actually signing is reversible. Procedure is part of the treaty text like in any treaty. Though unusual to retract support soon after signing it is very well feasible. Problem with ACTA is that a lot of the US law system including the obscene damages are exported to other countries. The balance between interest of the citizens and corporate interests is quite different in Europe. Also the US patent system is recognized as broken. However ACTA is for instance also covering Monsanto's genetic patents. Farmers all over the world ought to object, because this will directly affect their livelihood.

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crimaluca Feb 3, 2012

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IF she can retract it, she better f**king retract it. If she doesn't the apology sounds like a f**king load of s**t.

chadpyle Feb 3, 2012

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I'd still prefer due diligence over a retraction.

macbookforme Feb 3, 2012

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O M G Helen!
(O, moj Bog, Helena!)

nitori Feb 4, 2012

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She better do a lot more then apologize how about retracting Slovenia's membership with ACTA.
Seriously this shows that she is unfit for duty and should step down and any treaty she signed should be considered null and void.

captswuits Feb 4, 2012

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Government officials should be tested on what they have to sign before they sign it. Must like an exam for grad school.

xeromus Feb 4, 2012

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Isn't it wonderful that when us "common folk" sign something, legally expected to read all the fine print (see ToS for anything), but when politicians blindly sign things, it's a "whoops, I didn't read it all; I was too busy." How is this appropriate?

bagtreek Feb 4, 2012