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EU Signs Controversial ACTA Agreement

The European Union has officially signed the controversial “anti-piracy” trade agreement ACTA.

It hereby follows in the footsteps of Australia, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore and the United States, who already signed it last October.

While this is a step in the wrong direction, it is not the end-station for the legislation which first appeared on our radar early 2008.

Individual EU Member States and the European Parliament still have to ratify ACTA later this year.

poled protestWhile the opposition against ACTA had been fairly low in recent months, the Internet revolt against SOPA and PIPA once again brought it to light as a key issue.

Especially in Poland ACTA has been widely protested, online, in the streets and also in parliament where members on the left-wing Palikot’s Movement wore Guy Fawkes masks.

More protest will undoubtedly be organized in the weeks to come.

photo AP

This post is from the News Bits section of TorrentFreak where we present stories from around the web in a concise summary format. Full TorrentFreak articles can be found here. If you have a tip please let us know. News Bits have their very own RSS feed
  • random

    Oh god. Oh god, oh god, oh god. The end is near.

    • http://twitter.com/twistedpc twistedpc

      check out http://www.djamac.com He is the newest and hottest dj to come out of america!

    • http://ipduh.com ip intel

      some ( most ) countries signed on a piece of toilet paper. It needs to be voted on the parliament.

  • Pingback: EU Officially Sings ACTA | GREEN PIRATE

  • JaredLeeLoughner

    Sean Sherlock should be mobbed and beaten.
    Little cocksucking sellout.

  • Derp

    It’s over guys, the Internet is finished.

  • Snew

    I believe if ACTA does pass,It won’t last,the world won’t allow it.

    But If it does last.

    I love you all.

  • Anonymous

    it still has to pass in the parlaments, so it is not too late to stop this

  • Captain Buzzoverinthehead DFC

    All is not lost: the (French) EU rapporteur for the ACTA vote has resigned (link deliberately broken):

    hxxp://boingboing.net/2012/01/27/chief-acta-eurocrat-quits-in-d.html

    • http://profiles.google.com/zerianis10 Christopher Kidwell

      Little too broken…… it isn’t even showing the whole link with the hxxp:// at the beginning.

  • PlatinumC

    I love the polak politicians at least :P

  • Anon

    Another win for Palikot’s Movement, if he keeps racking up those points i will need to actually vote for him.

  • Anonymous

    Dude thats jsut downright scary when you think about it.

  • http://twitter.com/arron62 arron

    uk people sign this
    epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/20685

    • Anonymous

      Already signed, The numbers seem to be going up AND down

      Not a fan of the down part. xD

  • DannyUfonek

    time to move to Poland, it’s quite close from the Czech Republic :]

  • http://torrentfreak.com/ Rob8urcakes

    OK folks DON’T PANIC (just yet) coz there’s still time for those of us in the EU to reject ACTA. Here’s why and how -
    http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120125/11082317540/european-parliament-member-marietje-schaake-explains-how-europeans-can-stop-acta.shtml

    btw, when a Country signs a Treaty it doesn’t mean it becomes law or that they have to put it into practice!
    For example, the USA signed the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 and they (like ALL of their fellow signatories) have so far FAILED to pass laws that comply with their so-called “Treaty obligations”.

    Treaties aren’t enforceable in law, and aren’t worth the paper we wipe our ass with. They’re simply declarations of intent and cooperation.

    So don’t panic too much over ACTA (or the even more evil TPP https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Pacific_Strategic_Economic_Partnership ) coz it aint legally binding on anyone OK?

    But we still need to moan at our politicians about this shit, so they know we care and are watching what they’re doing :)

    • http://twitter.com/twistedpc twistedpc

      check out http://www.djamac.com He is the newest and hottest dj to come out of america!

    • anyonecanpost

      It may not be legally binding, but it does make up for encouraging the passing of real national laws. The bought politicians would just say “look, we signed ACTA, now we must carry on with SOPA, PIPA, etc. or we’ll be bad in the picture.”

    • anon101

      theyre not talking about signing it, thats already been done. theyre voting on RATIFICATION, which makes it binding and (in most countries) places it above national law.

  • Mwhahaha

    So when can we have an pan global agreement that the following must be law:

    - Full refunds on cinema films we dislike right up to the final moment of a film

    - Realistic cinema ticket/food prices

    - Being allowed to take your own food/drink into cinemas without having to hide it from the spotty teen staff

    - Worldwide multi-platform release dates

    - Full refund on CDs, DVDs, games and books we dislike after purchasing them with no real knowledge of what their quality is.

    - No multimillionaires at the top of the media tree whilst media grunts/creatives are under paid all whilst we pay thru the nose for new media

    - A trade in on books-ebooks, video-dvd-bluray-digital films/tv and CD-mp3 music by where we only pay a fraction of the costs for rebuying what we already own.

    - No adverts at the cinema cos you know, you’ve PAID to see the film once already.

    If all the above was how things worked I wouldn’t have to download a film to see if it’s worth paying money for, or skim thru an ebook to see if I like the style of the author.

    I just want some kind of equality!

    • Mwhahaha

      Oh … and…

      Adam Sandler to be forced into retirement.

      • Jesus

        Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo…….

      • Old School Dude

        May I suggest Angry Video Game Nerd, Irate Gamer, and Nostalgic Critic and all those(Insert all angry game wanabes here) off of the Internet? I think the Internet would be a better place so we don’t see another “reviewer” pretending to be funny, plus GameFAGS I mean GameFAQS should shut down their message boards, Hell the WHOLE Internet is infected with AIDS!

    • Anonymous

      I agree with most of the things you’ve said there, but I’m not too bothered about the adverts at the cinema. It’s easy money for the cinema and also is a bit of entertainment for the people who get in early (Some adverts can be quite funny/amusing).

      - Worldwide multi-platform release dates

      Definitely! That confuses the hell out of me.

      - Full refunds on cinema films we dislike right up to the final moment of a film

      Hmmm… a good idea in theory, but in practicality that would suck. People would be able to abuse that system. Maybe a ‘first 15 minute’ rule or something along the lines.

      • http://twitter.com/twistedpc twistedpc

        check out http://www.djamac.com He is the newest and hottest dj to come out of america!

      • Guest

        Than they would make movies interesting only for the first 15 minutes…

        • Anonymous

          I guess. I think the refund idea isn’t the greatest of ideas, no matter how awesome it would be if implemented and used legitimately.

  • http://twitter.com/twistedpc twistedpc

    check out http://www.djamac.com He is the newest and hottest dj to come out of america!

    • http://twitter.com/twistedpc twistedpc

      check out http://www.djamac.com He is the newest and hottest dj to come out of america!

  • Anonymous

    It is with extreme disgust that I write this letter and say what will honestly be considered harebrained by some of my peers. Nonetheless, it must be stated that the longer we delay action, the harder it will be to reveal the constant tension between centripetal and centrifugal forces of dialogized heteroglossia resulting from ACTA’s remonstrations. Before examining the present situation, however, it is important that I compile readers’ remarks and suggestions and use them to put inexorable pressure on ACTA to be a bit more careful about what it says and does. Yes, ACTA may be nothing more than a disposable tool of power-wielding, puerile numskulls but my cause is to examine the warp and woof of its belief systems. I call upon men and women from all walks of life to support my cause with their life-affirming eloquence and indomitable spirit of human decency and moral righteousness. Only then will the whole world realize that it’s really not bloody-mindedness that compels me to discuss the relationship between three converging and ever-growing factions—mindless, disaffected drug addicts, brown-nosing toughies, and heinous, craven showboaters. It’s my sense of responsibility to you, the reader. ACTA has recently been going around claiming that five-crystal orgone generators can eliminate mind-control energies that are being radiated from secret, underground, government facilities. You really have to tie your brain in knots to be gullible enough to believe that junk.

    ACTA says that it holds a universal license that allows it to destroy that which is the envy of—and model for—the entire civilized world. Wow! Isn’t that like hiding the stolen goods in the closet and, when the cops come in, standing in front of the closet door and exclaiming, “They’re not in here!”? ACTA and its backers are on a recruiting campaign, trying to convince everyone they meet to participate in fueling inquisitions. Don’t join that flock; instead, remember the scriptures: “Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil.” I guess what I really mean to say is that ACTA’s machinations are based on a technique I’m sure you’ve heard of. It’s called “lying”.

    There appears to be some disagreement in the community regarding the number of times that ACTA has been seen deploying enormous resources in a war of attrition against helpless citizens. Some say once; some say five times; some say a dozen times or more. The point is not to quibble over numbers or anything like that but rather to clarify that ACTA insists that it has no choice but to promote mediocrity over merit. Its reasoning is that granting it complete control over our lives is as important as breathing air. Yes, I realize that that argument makes no sense, but some organizations are responsible and others are not. ACTA falls into the category of “not”. Unfortunately, there is no shortage of individuals and organizations, many of whom may seem innocent at first glance, who secretly want to break us up into a set of quarreling, wrangling, squabbling factions. I conclude this letter with an appropriate quote: “You probably can’t find one good reason why ACTA should worsen an already unstable situation.” I believe we all know who said that, don’t we?

  • Anonymous

    Wouldn’t be so happy for Palikot’s Movement action. This is acutally a populist party and it’s leader – a millionaire businessmen – jumps on whatever bandwagon that can bring him votes.

  • Anonymous

    Hears what I’m going to be doing this weekend:
    Setting up a private server(Only people I trust IRL can access it);
    Ripping DVD’s;
    Downloading everything I can off TPB.

    Might as well make use of the time and pirate everything.

    • Anonymous

      Awesome dude.

      I would be doing the same thing, except for the fact that I’ve already pirated everything.

    • Ghest

      I have a tiny 64GB USB memory stick as my keyring – Pop round for a beer and share some files.

      Much simpler – and less traceable if it comes to that :)

  • Xiao Pa

    Poles are are freaks about freedom and independence. If you live between Germans and Russians you have to learn how to fight for it. Now they just do what they do best :)

  • kieszpot

    Palikot’s movement didi it for votes they are not very familiar with ANON :P We in Popeland dont have ANON party dont be mistaken ;]

  • Anonymous

    http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xo3g7i_hipokryta-palikot-pseudo-demonstruje-przeciwko-acta-na-krakowskim_news

    Anti-ACTA protesters shout “Hypocrite” at Janusz Palikot, leader of Palikot’s Movement (hear at the end of material)

  • Alyssa Blindy

    Go around and ask people if they know what ACTA is. They probably wouldn’t know a thing about it. Know why? Because it has not come to light yet. Not many people know about it.
    I remember, in April, I asked people if they had heard of PROTECTIP. They all seemed to think I was crazy, and had no idea what I was talking about. Know why? Because they weren’t informed yet. Torrentfreak is not the mainstream news. Not everyone gets information from it. We can certainly get tons of information from it which people will not know for some time. And when (hopefully) the copyright industry’s corruptions get exposed and people come upset, I will be able to tell them I knew it was coming. All because TF keeps great archives of the main intellectual property news of the internet.

  • Pingback: EU Signs Controversial ACTA Agreement | U Torrent Free Download

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Mic-Dot/100002567167151 Mic Dot

    funny how we are aloud to vote for this and then, but when it comes down to it, when they know we will vote against it, and the rich stand to benefit, we get counted out. hmmm? can’t stop us from going to http://www.thepiratebay.org and toreentz and smaller sites like http://www.made-downloads.com and torrent toolbars. if this passes, someone needs to get voted out.

  • anon

    It’s official, the world is run by idiots. it’s no wonder we’ve had wars/deaths.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Viktor-Ahilov/100001670633954 Viktor Ahilov

    If they want war, I say we start with the Black March!
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZuAXp3q3VI

    • Guest

      For all I care we can all do Black March, April, May, and June.
      It wont bother me.
      I’ve been boycotting Hollywood for over a year now.
      Not missed it one bit.

  • Openslop

    Australia signed the ACTA on 1 october 2011.. 4 months later and I am only just hearing about this…. Talk about hiding it… after a search on torrent freak it seems they only just found out about it…. never been in any national newspapers…. so much for democracy

  • Scott Porter

    its never too late. we the people are the ones who decides ultimately what happens with the internet around the world. Its just a matter or organizing and standing together as one. it takes numbers to make things happen. i think when there is a substancial change that will effect people on a massive scale that it will be then when more and more people will respond to the changes. alot don’t know or quite understand what’s happening. but when they see the changes it will be easier to see. I hope that people will band together and not stand for this. I hope this isnt the end.

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  • Guest

    Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement Agreement?

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  • lulz
  • maxwell elle

    as long as the software industry and entertainment keep the prices high people will drive away from them

  • Jason

    The truth is in the below link, thanks DoJ for illegally destroying our files on Thursday:

    http://pastebin.com/iquHfjBa

  • http://twitter.com/Spartanessa Steph Hogan

    Just letting people know about New Zealand thing; our parliament signed it under ‘urgency’ because of a devastating earthquake in a major city. They snuck it through under our noses. It’s disgusting and insulting to those that died during the event.

    Burn ACTA.

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