Comments for Daphne Caruana Galizia's Notebook | Running Commentary

Comment on Trouble for nothing by old-timer

old-timer — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 09:42:48 +0000

Is “Joseph” a seasoned politician?

Comment on Trouble for nothing by Anthony

Anthony — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 08:51:02 +0000

Franco will be on the way to “greatness” only when he is accepted in the PL skip. Outside of that he is forever doomed as a politician.

Only a fool would trust a proven blackmailer.

Franco assumes he was born great and is convinced he has achieved greatness.

Whether he will ever have greatness thrust upon him depends entirely on the extent of Joey’s foolishness. (Twelfth Night).

Comment on More ACTA – Nationalist MEPs’ statement by ACD

ACD — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 01:28:25 +0000

Here’s a Comment is Free article about ACTA explaining why it’s a bad thing.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/feb/03/act-acta-democracy-free-speech

Personally I’m very much against the parts of ACTA forbidding circumvention of DRM as well as the circulation of tools to do so (is putting a DVD I bought onto an iPad such a heinous crime? Why shouldn’t I be able to re-encode my MP3′s to AAC?). I’m not a fan of the suggestion that a copy is a lost sale (because, no I would not have bought my whole MP3 collection again in a different format, and no, I won’t buy more than one copy of a film).

“…the European Commission has given repeated, detailed and written assurances that individual internet users will not be restricted in any way and that what internet users can do today they can still do after ACTA.”

That statement is blatantly untrue. Will I be able to download deCSS (open source library to decrypt and play DVDs)? How about use software like rtmpd to access encrypted streams? What will the effects on Linux be if decss and similar libraries become illegal in Europe? (I certainly wouldn’t be able to watch DVDs on 2 of my computers). Why exactly should people not be able to reverse engineer protocols to build legitimate applications that don’t, in themselves infringe copyright? How does limiting competition in this way help anything (e.g. open source implementation of Flash plugin)? I’ve mentioned a few projects that would clearly infringe ACTA – there are many more (even larger, e.g. components of Android) that would be questionable.

What hope do we have if, when it comes to such a critical component of our society, our politicians don’t know their arse from their elbow?

Comment on Simon Busuttil’s newspaper piece about ACTA, today by Sergio Azzopardi

Sergio Azzopardi — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:57:49 +0000

Why did you resort to calling me names? It’s shameful. In my comment I did not defend piracy, I did not mention downloads, for that’s the last thing on my mind. Do you know what I download for free? Free podcast from The Economist, Bloomberg, WSJ and co. Try watching a couple episodes about etiquette, will you? And, if you do need to offend people, be a woman/man and sign your name.

Do you know anything about ACTA?

How it came to light, and why it came to light? Do you know the effects it will have on your life? Did you know that today, just today, the Slovenian Ambassador (Helena Drnovšek-Zorko) apologized to the Slovenian people for signing ACTA.

I never said ACTA is wrong. I just said, we cannot take Simon’s and the EU Council’s word for it being good. We need to know what is being agreed. So, go ahead and read the agreement, and make up your own mind. Try reading. It’s more fulfilling then name calling, trust me.

Comment on Just in case you missed this earlier – I’m uploading it again in case you’ve run out of cake decorating ideas by francesco

francesco — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:50:34 +0000

If that is a pillow, than Muscat is sleeping on the left hand side of the bed.

Ix-xitan ma ghandux halib.

Comment on Labour launches its campaign underground by Anthony

Anthony — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 23:31:45 +0000

If only he were.

Then he would certainly not be in the business of dallying with Malta’s future.

Comment on Trouble for nothing by John Schembri

John Schembri — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:55:25 +0000

Would Daphne ever learn?

Comment on Just in case you missed this earlier – I’m uploading it again in case you’ve run out of cake decorating ideas by Mark Camilleri

Mark Camilleri — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:19:34 +0000

What a great idea actually. I’m going to make some Joseph Muscat Figolli for Easter.

Comment on More ACTA – Nationalist MEPs’ statement by Vanni

Vanni — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:15:11 +0000

It seems that these two gentlemen have already decided that they will support ACTA. Should they vote accordingly, they are not representing the wishes of quite a percentage of their voters. Constituents should email these two gentlemen, expressing their concern, and reminding them that they (like the Franco Debonos of this world) are ultimately answerable to their voters, and we do not wish that our representatives to support ACTA. Should these MEPs receive enough emails, they will have to sit up and take notice.

Should you wish to contact them, here are their emails:

Dr. Simon Busuttil:
simon.busuttil@europarl.europa.eu

Mr. David Casa
david.casa@europarl.europa.eu

Comment on Dear Dom – film coming soon by Kirsten Dunlop

Kirsten Dunlop — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 21:15:29 +0000

Oh hail Mintoff! People may reminiscence on those luxurious years. Wasn’t it enough enduring all that suffering and violence for a decade? Hitler’s biopic – take 2.