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		So, that democracy thing...
		
		
		03-29-2012, 10:45 PM 
	 
	
		So, a few weeks ago I emailed my locally elected representative, outlining my concerns about an upcoming statutory instrument. Cut a long story short, it was a copyright instrument. At the time, I expected it to dissapear into the void, like so many job applications.
But.
I actually received a response today. 
My concerns, admittedly likely shared with a number of people in the constituency, were raised in the Dáil as a question put to the Minister, and my TD received a written reply that was informative and contained a lot of relevant information.
And so. I was surprised. And rather pleased, actually. The whole democracy thing actually worked for once.
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		It's always good to hear about things actually working right. So often it's only the parts that fail which get remarked on.
- CD, it's the reason I make a habit of telling workers in stores and such places that everything was good, as long as it's true - a little positive reinforcement goes a long way sometimes.
-- 
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows
	
	
	
	
		
	
 
 
	
	
		Watch out for your government allowing the US to impose its copyright laws on your citizens, even when they've never set foot in the US and have never broken any Irish laws. It may help to point out to your representatives that the UK does that frequently, and I can't imagine there are too many Irish politicians who want to follow the UK's example in anything...
	
	
	
	
		
	
 
 
	
	
	
		
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		You would think so, but no.  There's a long history of GB and ROI introducing complimentary laws.... usually one government sees how a law affects the other then decides to implement it or not based on that.
And yes, I do also wish they would stop it. It hasn't happened yet here that I know of.... though two people involved with Lulzec were picked up by Gardaí there recently.
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		It's not so much the US as the CORPORATE INTERESTS buying the politicos across the pond. XP
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''
-- James Nicoll
	
	
	
	
		
	
 
 
	
	
	
		
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		Granted it's Brit law, not Irish, but given what you just said about common reciprocal laws - what's your impression on the universal monitoring of internet use that just went through?
- CD, just heard his father's radio mention it on NPR news, doesn't know much detail
-- 
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows
	
	
	
	
		
	
 
 
	
	
	
		
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		Considering what I wrote to my TD about was a recently introduced statutory instrument that allowed for companies to go to the High Court and compel ISP's to block websites, or supply subscriber information, then it's fair to say I am rather disgusted by it.
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