Monday, December 07, 2015
The second reading of the copyright amendment bill will resume on Wednesday, followed by a vote to pass it into law after a third.
Although it has been dubbed "Internet Article 23, the legislation is substantially watered down from the last version in 2012. Had the current amendment been available three years ago, I'm sure the bill would have passed back then.
It's now become an issue because the political climate has worsened since, with trust in the government plummeting.
The bill provides exemptions to calm fears. Content including parodies, satires, caricatures, pastiches and comments on current affairs are explicitly exempted.
Opponents like Keyboard Frontline are crying foul, asking for all user- generated content to be exempted too.
If this is to be the case, I believe even US consul-general Clifford Hart may disagree, for Hong Kong is the only place that has yet to legislate to enact the World Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty.
Will Washington place Hong Kong on its Special 301 watch list if the SAR doesn't pass the bill for the second time?
It's possible, given the Americans' vast commercial interest in intellectual property. Hart is said to have met with opposition lawmakers to emphasize his government's concerns.
Nevertheless, this isn't the most difficult part to understand, since everything said or done by SAR authorities will be politicized these days.
Most curious is the tirades that netizens have heaped on the pan- democrats rather than their pro- establishment enemies. Suddenly, even those who used to be considered the most radical in the opposition aren't radical enough.
"Long Hair" Leung Kwok-hung was surrounded for an hour in Mong Kok by people who were supposedly his peers.
Radical factions - People's Power and League of Social Democrats - were challenged, and mainstream players Democratic Party and Civic Party branded cowards. However, pro- establishment groups like the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, Federation of Trade Unions and their ilk were spared the anger.
Only "Mad Dog" Raymond Wong Yuk-man was hailed as a hero. It couldn't have been more intriguing.
Wong has submitted more than 900 amendments as part of a filibuster . In Mong Kok on Saturday, an activist demanded the People's Party and LSD cooperate with Wong.
Leung reacted by grabbing the microphone, ridiculing Wong for being absent most of the time during past filibustering.
It's ironic that Long Hair was prevented from leaving until police intervened to escort him to board a taxi.
Facing the online attacks, the Democratic Party made a tactical move to slightly adjust its stance, introducing amendments to the bill to include principles radicals demanded.
If the amendments are all rejected, the Democrats will vote against the bill. That's a compromise, for even many Democrats consider the bill as it stands now to be substantially improved from the version they vetted years ago, and thus supported.
The outcry over Internet Article 23 is a mysterious fire lit in the opposition's backyard. No wonder the pan- democrats have been eyeing Wong with suspicion.
http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=49&art_id=163974&sid=45707952&con_type=1&d_str=20151207
