ACTA: the new threat to the Internet

ACTA the worst is back again! Mobilize !

[spin] CITIZEN ALERT: NO TO ACT... of partypirate

Dear friends,

Last week, 3 million of us repelled the US attack on our Internet! But an even greater danger looms, and our global online freedom movement is desperate to neutralize it for good.

ACTA, a global treaty, could allow big companies to censor the Internet. Negotiated in secret by a small number of rich countries and powerful corporations, this treaty would set up a shadowy anti-counterfeiting body allowing private interests to monitor everything we do online. It would also give them the possibility of imposing very severe sanctions - going as far as prison terms - against the people guilty in their opinion of harming their activity.

The European Union is deciding whether or not to ratify ACTA -- and its refusal would defeat this global attack on the free Internet. We know she's opposed ACTA before, but some MEPs are hesitant -- let's give them the support they need to reject the treaty. Sign the petition -- we'll dramatically deliver it to Brussels when we reach 500 signatures:

http://www.avaaz.org/fr/stop_acta_en/?vl

This is outrageous - the governments of four-fifths of the world's population were excluded from negotiations on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) and unelected bureaucrats worked closely with big business lobbyists to craft new rules and a dangerously restrictive and powerful enforcement regime. ACTA would initially be applied in the United States, the EU and nine other countries, and then its application would extend to the whole world. But if we persuade the EU not to ratify it today, the treaty would lose momentum and could be stopped for good.

This regulation would be extremely harsh: it could punish citizens anywhere in the world for such mundane activities as sharing a newspaper article or uploading a video of a party featuring copyrighted music. Sold as a commercial agreement protecting copyrights, ACTA could also lead to the banning of generic first aid drugs and threaten farmers' access to the seeds they need. And even more incredible, the ACTA committee would have carte blanche to modify its own rules and sanctions, without any democratic control.

Big companies are doing their best to make this happen, but the EU Parliament stands in their way. Strongly call on MEPs to stand up to lobbies and take a strong stand for a free internet. Sign the petition and share it with all your contacts:

http://www.avaaz.org/fr/stop_acta_en/?vl

Last week, we saw the strength of our collective power when millions of us joined forces to stop the United States from passing a censorship law that would have struck the internet in the heart. We also showed the world how powerful our voices can be. Let's ring them again to counter this new threat.

With hope and determination,

Dalia, Alice, Pascal, Emma, Ricken, Maria Paz and the entire Avaaz team

More information:

Internet freedom: the ACTA project follows on from Pipa and Sopa (RTBF)
http://www.rtbf.be/info/media/detail_freedom-internet-le-project-acta-fait-suite-a-pipa-and-sopa? id =7447173

ACTA: resigned, Kader Arif denounces "a masquerade" (Numérama)
http://www.numerama.com/magazine/21424-acta-resigned-kader-arif-denounce-a-masquerade.html

Acta, "a pretext to legislate on downloading" (Nouvel Observateur)
http://tempsreel.nouvelobs.com/high-tech/20120126.OBS9900/l-acta-un-pretext-to-legislate-on-the-download.html

ACTA: the secret treaty that could change the face of the internet (ReadWriteWeb)
http://fr.readwriteweb.com/2010/01/20/top-news/treaty-acta-censorship-loppsi-hadopi/

22 European countries including France sign ACTA (PC INpact)
http://www.pcinpact.com/news/68561-france-traite-acta-european-parliament.htm