Paris, December 14th 2011 – EU Member States –represented by the Council of the EU– adopt today the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), which aims at imposing new criminal sanctions and privatized online censorship in the name of copyright. The text will now be sent to the European Parliament, which has a chance to oppose it. Citizens must act to ensure their freedoms online are protected by having ACTA finally rejected.



Update: The EU Council eventually adopted the instrument leading to the signature of ACTA on December 16th, 2011.

After the adoption of the legal instrument allowing its signature by the EU Council this afternoon , ACTA is now headed towards the EU Parliament, which will accept or reject it in the next months, after elaborating its report .

For EU members states and the Commission, who along with the US and Japan have pushed for ACTA , ACTA aims to impose measures that they know would be unacceptable if properly debated in democratic arenas. Member States will thus force privatized online censorship in the guise of “cooperation” between the entertainment industry and Internet actors . This transformation of internet actors into a private copyright police and justice will be made possible under the threat of new, harsh criminal sanctions .

The ratification process in the Parliament is already characterized by the absence of transparency. The EU Parliament has refused to publish its legal services’ full opinion on ACTA, saying that it would “seriously interfere with the complex ratification process” . Citizens now have a major role to play in making sure Members of the European Parliament face their responsibilities by rejecting this dangerous text.

“Our governments are bypassing democratic processes to impose draconian repressive measures. They know that such measures would be very difficult to obtain through regular legislative process, so they have them imposed through the back door. By privatizing online censorship in the name of copyright, ACTA would have a dreadful impact on our freedoms online, but also on innovation and growth for Internet companies. The European Parliament is our last chance to reject ACTA. We, as citizens, must act now.”, said Jérémie Zimmermann, spokesperson for La Quadrature du Net.

For how to act against ACTA, right now, please refer to our dedicated campaign page.

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