Just Say ‘No’ to ACTA

3. Millions online and offline take action against ACTA

Access in October raised the red flag on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), a dangerous international trade agreement that threatened the openness of the internet and free speech online by forcing ISPs to track and watch our every move online. But in January, only days before many EU member states were slated to sign the agreement, protests in Poland against ACTA began to spread throughout Europe. Overwhelming public pressure over the next few weeks, including an international day of protest on Feb. 11, caused Parliamentarians to reconsider the treaty. ACTA, now losing steam, is expected to be voted on in early summer and could be dead by July.

The Access’ global movement for digital freedom to exploded from 100,000 to 400,000 members worldwide in the matter of days -- all from one tweet against ACTA!
Over 370,000 of us called on the European Parliament to vote NO on ACTA. Facing public criticism, scores of MEPs have backed away from supporting the treaty. Final vote is expected to come by July.
Hundreds of thousands took to the streets across Europe on Feb. 11 to protest ACTA in an international day of action. Access, which became a central hub of information for protest organizers, was featured in MSNBC, the International Business Times, and the Next Web.
The ACTA rapporteur, Kadir Arif, resigned his position in protest of the process, which he called a “masquerade.” Other countries have backed away from ratification, including Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Latvia, Netherlands, Poland, and Slovakia.
Brett Solomon, Executive Director of Access, spoke at the European Parliament and met with the new ACTA rapporteur, Paul Martin.