Today, Saturday 11th February 2012, will see hundreds of thousands of people across Europe and the rest of the world joining a global street protest against ACTA.
The scale of this is impressive and it’s wonderful to see so many people motivated to protect their rights and stand up to this highly suspicious piece of legislation. Check out the map below of all the protests going on. If there’s one near you, get along and be counted.
View ACTA Protests Worldwide – Brought to you by stoppacta-protest.info in a larger map
What is ACTA?
The oppressively strict regulations could mean people everywhere are punished for simple acts such as sharing a newspaper article or uploading a video of a party where copyrighted music is played. Sold as a trade agreement to protect copyrights, ACTA could also ban lifesaving generic drugs and threaten local farmers’ access to the seeds they need. And, amazingly, the ACTA committee will have carte blanche to change its own rules and sanctions with no democratic scrutiny.
Big corporate interests are pushing hard for this, but the EU Parliament stands in the way. Let’s send a loud call to Parliamentarians to face down the lobbies and stand firm for Internet freedom.
How can I get involved?
- There is an on-line petition which Avaaz will deliver to parliamentarians in Europe. It has already received over 2.1 million signatures. Add your name to that list.
- Join the day of action at one of the protests shown in the map above. Visit this page for a full list of events.
- Contact your elected representative. There’s detailed advice on how to go about this over on laquadrature.net.
- Visit the ACTA Day of Action Hub on Avaaz.org and add your voice, or spread the word to your friends.
Is this protest effective?
Yes! The amount of voices raised against this legislation is already having an effect. A mass turnout at today’s protests will only further strengthen the message that the European voters do not want this legislation to be passed.
From an Avaaz.org newsletter:
Four Eastern European governments and now Germany have just said they’ll stall their decision on the treaty. Now, if hundreds of thousands of people attend thousands of rallies all across Europe tomorrow, we can ensure that all politicians across the 27 EU countries are put on notice that people don’t want ACTA and will continue to take action until the treaty is buried.
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