The US public should reach out to Congress and urge their representatives to block the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade agreement, Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) Global Policy Analyst Maira Sutton said during a protest against the trade deal in San Francisco, California on Thursday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Sutton, who rallied in front of the office of US Senator Dianne Feinstein in San Francisco, argued that the TPP agreement threatens Internet users, extends restrictive intellectual property laws, and rewrites rules on its enforcement, among its other controversial aspects.

“We have to preempt this legislation from getting introduced,” Sutton stated. “Please call your representatives… call them every day.”

Dozens of people listened to Sutton, holding signs against the free trade agreement that stated "No TPP" and "TPP-Corporate Power Grab," among other signs of disapproval.

The San Francisco protest has been co-sponsored by a wide range of non-governmental organizations, including East Bay Move to Amend, Women‘s International League for Peace and Freedom as well as Occupy San Francisco Action Council.

The wording on the TPP deal was agreed on in October 2015 among 12 nations, including the United States, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

Protest! Demonstrators outside the New York Times building protesting the #TPP (and its coverage?) @allimaloney pic.twitter.com/hWxaw1L5IC — Andrew Tavani (@andrewtavani) February 4, 2016

​On Thursday, US Trade Representative Michael Froman signed the TPP agreement in a casino in Auckland, New Zealand, setting in motion the process for President Barack Obama to send the agreement to Congress for ratification.

Critics of the TPP agreement claim it undermines domestic companies, laws, regulations and institutions through an extra-judicial process that stacks the deck in favor of multinational corporations.

On Monday, United Nations human rights expert Alfred de Zayas said the TPP agreement is fundamentally flawed and should not be signed.