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<h1 class="title">Europe Rises Up Against ACTA</h1>
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<span class="submitted">Submitted by <a
href="http://www.zerohedge.com/users/george-washington">George
Washington</a> on 02/04/2012 22:19 -0500</span><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/europe-rises-against-acta?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+zerohedge%2Ffeed+%28zero+hedge+-+on+a+long+enough+timeline%2C+the+survival+rate+for+everyone+drops+to+zero%29">http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/europe-rises-against-acta?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+zerohedge%2Ffeed+%28zero+hedge+-+on+a+long+enough+timeline%2C+the+survival+rate+for+everyone+drops+to+zero%29</a><br>
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<p>The widespread protests against the <a
href="http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/01/acta-would-usurp-congressional-authority-threatens-numerous-public-interests-a-backroom-special-interest-deal.html"
title="anti-democracy bill">anti-democracy bill</a> ACTA by the
Polish people have forced Poland’s prime minister to stall – or
perhaps even back out – of the treaty. As TechDirt <a
href="http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120203/11115017653/poland-prime-minister-suspends-any-effort-to-ratify-acta-may-kill-acta-eu.shtml"
target="_blank" title="notes">notes</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Following the <a
href="http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120203/01072617645/watch-out-widespread-protests-against-acta-spreading-across-europe.shtml"
target="_blank" title="growing protests">growing protests</a>
about ACTA in Europe, as well as signs of <a
href="http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120203/06001517649/is-us-meddling-polish-acta-voting.shtml"
target="_blank" title="US meddling">US meddling</a>, Poland’s
prime minister is making it clear that <a
href="http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/intellectual-property/2012/02/03/actas-eu-future-in-doubt-after-polish-pause-40094978/"
target="_blank" title="Poland will not ratify ACTA for the
time being">Poland will not ratify ACTA for the time being</a>,
leading to speculation that the EU may not actually join ACTA.</p>
<blockquote>
<p> </p>
<p><em>Tusk’s backtracking could spell the end of ACTA for the
entire European Union. If Poland or any other EU member
state, or the European Parliament itself, fails to ratify
the document, it becomes null and void across the union. As
it stands, there are already five member countries that have
not even signed ACTA.</em></p>
<p><em> </em>
</p>
<p><em>“I share the opinions of those who from the beginning
said that consultations were not complete,” Tusk said,
according to a report in Wirtualna Polska. The 54-year-old
prime minister added that a Polish rejection of ACTA is now
on the table, and admitted that he had previously approached
the agreement from a “20th century” perspective, due to his
age. </em></p>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<p>The Slovenian ambassador to Japan has apologized to her country
and her children for signing ACTA, saying she signed it <a
href="http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120202/02305917633/full-text-slovenian-ambassadors-apology-signing-acta.shtml"
target="_blank" title=" because her government told her to, and
“out of civic carelessness” in not bothering to understand what
ACTA meant before signing it"> because her government told her
to, and “out of civic carelessness” in not bothering to
understand what ACTA meant before signing it</a>.</p>
<p>Bulgarian and Polish MPs wore Guy Fawkes masks to protest ACTA.
Again, <a
href="http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120203/10091517652/bulgarian-mps-wear-anonymousguy-fawkes-masks-to-protest-acta.shtml"
target="_blank" title="from TechDirt">from TechDirt</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We recently pointed out that a bunch of Polish politicians <a
href="http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120126/12313917555/polish-politicians-don-guy-fawkesanonymous-masks-to-protest-acta-signing.shtml"
target="_blank" title="wore Guy Fawkes/Anonymous masks">wore
Guy Fawkes/Anonymous masks</a> in Parliament to protest ACTA:</p>
<p> </p>
<p> <img src="cid:part2.09060405.07040003@gmail.com" alt="SO53v
Europe Rises Up Against ACTA" title="Europe Rises Up Against
ACTA" class="lazy" width="560/">
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It appears that some politicians in Bulgaria thought that was a
good idea, and have <a
href="http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=136340"
target="_blank" title="done the same thing">done the same
thing</a>:</p>
<p> </p>
<p> <a href="http://imgur.com/V22Lv" target="_blank"><img
src="cid:part3.02030805.03070202@gmail.com" alt="V22Lv
Europe Rises Up Against ACTA" title="Europe Rises Up Against
ACTA" class="lazy" width="560"></a></p>
</blockquote>
<p> </p>
<p>Indeed, even the elderly are wearing Guy Fawkes masks in protest
of ACTA:</p>
<p> </p>
<a href="http://i.imgur.com/z6qZu.jpg" target="_blank"> <img
src="cid:part4.09070803.00000706@gmail.com" alt="z6qZu Europe
Rises Up Against ACTA" title="Europe Rises Up Against ACTA"
class="lazy" height="480" width="640"></a><a
href="http://i.imgur.com/z6qZu.jpg" target="_blank" title=" "> </a>
<p> </p>
<p>European Parliamentarian Marietje Schaake <a
href="https://torrentfreak.com/we-need-copyright-reform-not-acta-120204/"
target="_blank" title="writes">writes</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>As a Member of the European Parliament, I very much welcome the
increased attention the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement
(ACTA) has received in the past weeks. It has taken a while for
massive outcry to emerge, but we are seeing protest voices
getting louder and louder.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>ARS Technica <a
href="http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2012/02/acta-on-the-edge-in-europe-poland-suspends-ratification-greece-gets-hacked.ars?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:%20arstechnica/index%20%28Ars%20Technica%20-%20Featured%20Content%29"
target="_blank" title="reports">reports</a> that the Greek
Ministry of Justice was hacked by anonymous:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The Greek Ministry of Justice had its <a
href="http://www.ministryofjustice.gr/" target="_blank"
title="Web site">Web site</a> defaced by Greek and Cypriot
Anonymous-affiliated hackers (a mirror of the defaced site is
available <a href="http://pastehtml.com/view/bmvh533im.html"
target="_blank" title="here">here</a>). The hackers included a
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sCHi1Zw-YI"
target="_blank" title="video message">video message</a> (now
removed) complaining that the Greek government had abandoned the
democratic will of its people and was instead bending to the
will of the IMF and the EU.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Greece is expected to accept IMF funds in an effort to allow
its government to bring some semblance of sustainability to its
finances, but Anonymous believes that this move will “introduce
a new dictatorship upon [the Greek] people’s shoulders and allow
the bankers and the monarchs of the EU to enslave them both
economically and politically.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The defaced site itself focused on an anti-ACTA message. It
warned that Greece had two weeks to “stop ACTA,” and that if it
failed to do so, some 300 sites would be defaced. The next
targets will include both media and ministry sites, with the
hackers announcing that they already had passwords for most
sites and that this was “JUST the BEGINING [sic].”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Swedes are out in force protesting ACTA. As The Local <a
href="http://www.thelocal.se/38920/20120204/" target="_blank"
title="reports">reports</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Over 10,000 Swedes had pledged to take part in demonstrations
in Stockholm and other cities on Saturday to protest against the
ACTA anti-piracy legislation which is set to go before the
Riksdag later this year.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The demonstration, held at midday on Sergels Torg in the centre
of Stockholm, featured speeches from MEPs Christian Engström of
the Pirate Party, Carl Schlyter of the Green Party and Mikael
Gustavsson of the Left Party.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Over eleven thousand people had signed up to attend the
Stockholm demonstration on Facebook by 10am on Saturday.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Christian Engström told the Dagens Nyheter (DN) daily that with
indications that Poland’s parliament is set to reject the
controversial international anti-piracy legislation, the pirate
movement had wind in its sails.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“1.4 million signatures have been collected through an online
petition and there have been riots in Poland. There now seems to
be a commitment among citizens so I feel very hopeful,” he told
DN.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>By all accounts, the number of ACTA protests in Europe is
overwhelming:</p>
<img src="cid:part5.01070406.06050109@gmail.com" alt="7Vj5G Europe
Rises Up Against ACTA" title="Europe Rises Up Against ACTA"
class="lazy">
<p> </p>
<p>But that only tells half of the story.</p>
<p>As Pirate Party found Rick Falvinge <a
href="http://falkvinge.net/2012/02/04/today-sweden-rallies-against-acta-and-for-freedom-of-speech-we-can-win-this/"
target="_blank" title="reports">reports</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p class="intro"> </p>
<p class="intro">Just look at this map. I’ve never seen anything
like it in terms of people all across Europe demanding their
freedom of speech and being angry against backroom corporativist
deals that steals their most basic civil liberties.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>This is not Hollywood versus Silicon Valley, as oldmedia likes
to frame it. This is Hollywood versus <em>The People</em>. For
decades, they have trained us to think in black and white, in
good versus evil fighting for domination of the free world. And
now, they’ve gone and put themselves in the role of evil
villain.</p>
<p>The copyright cartel thought they were battling Google.</p>
<p>They’re not.</p>
<p>They’re waging war against the people, with the help of the
politicians.</p>
<p>And we’re not standing for it. We can’t change the copyright
cartel, but we can send a clear message to the politicians that
250 million Europeans sharing and preserving contemporary
culture is <em>not a problem</em>. It is a <em>power base of
250 million voters</em> that will <em>kick you out of office</em>
if you dare so much as touch the net.</p>
<p>And there are visible cracks in the façade, especially seeing
Poland falter and the copyright cartels visibly shaken from the
SOPA defeat in the US, with the politicians having started to
pay attention to what the Internet wants. <strong>We can win
this.</strong></p>
<p><strong>Today, Sweden rallies.</strong> List of rallies below (<a
href="http://christianengstrom.wordpress.com/2012/02/02/demonstrera-mot-acta-nu-pa-lordag-4-feb/"
target="_blank" title="via">via</a> Christian Engström, Member
of European Parliament):</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Stockholm</strong>: <em>Sergels Torg, 12 noon.</em>
[<a href="http://www.facebook.com/events/332489143440319/"
target="_blank" title="Facebook">Facebook</a>]</li>
<li><strong>Göteborg</strong>: <em>Götaplatsen, 12 noon.</em> [<a
href="https://www.facebook.com/events/333701656663138/"
target="_blank" title="Facebook">Facebook</a>]</li>
<li><strong>Malmö</strong>: <em>Stortorget, at the Karl X
Gustav statue, 12 noon.</em> [<a
href="http://www.facebook.com/events/363889936958608/"
target="_blank" title="Facebook">Facebook</a>]</li>
<li><strong>Helsingborg</strong>: <em>at the Magnus Stenbock
statue, 13:00.</em> [<a
href="https://www.facebook.com/events/239284842817072/"
target="_blank" title="Facebook">Facebook</a>]</li>
<li><strong>Umeå</strong> : <em>Apberget, 12 noon.</em> [<a
href="https://www.facebook.com/events/225106890910611/"
target="_blank" title="Facebook">Facebook</a>]</li>
<li><strong>Kalmar</strong>: <em>Giraffens Köpcentrum, 12 noon.</em>
[<a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/335884969766662/"
target="_blank" title="Facebook">Facebook</a>]</li>
<li><strong>Sundsvall</strong>: <em>Torget, 12 noon.</em> [<a
href="http://www.facebook.com/events/182586151841064/"
target="_blank" title="Facebook">Facebook</a>]</li>
<li><strong>Karlstad</strong>: <em>Stora Torget, 12 noon.</em>
[<a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/297023007013826/"
target="_blank" title="Facebook">Facebook</a>]</li>
<li><strong>Borlänge</strong>: <em>Jussi Björlings torg, 12
noon.</em> [<a
href="http://www.facebook.com/events/287094008012416/"
target="_blank" title="Facebook">Facebook</a>]</li>
</ul>
<p>(The observant will note that less than half of these rallies
are marked on the already-impressive map of European rallies.
Makes me wonder what the map would look like if all rallies were
included.)</p>
<p>Most of Europe will rally next Saturday, on February 11. That’s
going to be something, too. Let’s give Europe the best of
precursor to those rallies from Sweden that they could possibly
get!</p>
<p>As of early morning on February 4, 11,000 people have committed
to coming to the Stockholm rally, with another 3,500 maybes.
Those are numbers that would overfill the <em>Plattan</em>
plaza by a wide margin. I’ll be at the rally in Stockholm,
Sweden, and will be taking plenty of imagery and will follow up
here.</p>
<p><strong>UPDATE AT 1500:</strong> ***</p>
<a
href="http://falkvinge.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/anti-ACTA-stockholm-Feb04.jpg"
target="_blank"><img src="cid:part6.05030806.01080208@gmail.com"
alt="anti ACTA stockholm Feb04 621x349 Europe Rises Up Against
ACTA" title="Anti-ACTA rally in Stockholm on February 4, 2012"
class="size-thumbnail wp-image-10425 lazy" height="349"
width="621"></a><br>
<p class="wp-caption-text"> </p>
<p class="wp-caption-text">Rally at the Sergels Torg plaza in
Stockholm, Sweden. Anna Troberg, leader of the Swedish Pirate
Party, speaking (at left) and maybe 1/3 of the crowd.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The turnout was like <strong>nothing I’ve seen</strong> for a
February rally in Sweden. In -20°C, there were well over a
thousand people protesting corporate rights over their freedom
of speech; normally, you’re lucky getting 50.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Also, there was a very clear recurring theme among the Members
of European Parliament speaking, MEPs from three different
parties. They all told the story of how software patents had
been defeated in Europe, followed by the crucial “amendment 138?
in the Telecoms Package, which aimed to shut people off <em>en
masse</em> from the Net. Well, thanks to diligent activists
and people on the inside, we managed to get as strong safeguards
in place as possible against shutting people off. But the
monopoly lobbyists never quit. Now they’re <strong>at it again</strong>,
this time saying that if <strong>authorities</strong> can’t
shut people off <em>en masse</em> due to that “amendment 138?,
maybe they can get <strong>private corporations</strong> – the
ISPs – to do it instead through third-party liability forcing
certain terms of service and wiretapping. <strong>Hence, ACTA.</strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Fortunately, and this was a consistent message from all Members
of European Parliament, <strong>we have the blueprint for
defeating ACTA.</strong> We need to repeat what we did with
the software patents and with the Telecoms Package. It takes
hard work, it takes tons of activism, but we know exactly what
to do and how to do it, and most importantly: <em>we know that
we can win</em>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>As the rally concluded, everybody was determined to win this
fight, having heard the clear message that it takes work but is
perfectly doable.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>UPDATE 2</strong>: There are more photos from Christian
Engström, Member of European Parliament <a
href="https://picasaweb.google.com/christian.engstrom.pirat/ACTADemonstrationStockholm"
target="_blank" title="here">here</a>. Free for any use (CC0 /
Public Domain). Here’s one of his photos, showing the protester
crowd:</p>
<p> </p>
<p><a
href="http://falkvinge.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/IMG_1790.jpg"
target="_blank"><img
src="cid:part7.04050500.01010305@gmail.com" alt="IMG 1790
621x349 Europe Rises Up Against ACTA" title="View from
speaker's podium at the Sergels Torg plaza. A sea of
protesters, basically." class="alignnone size-thumbnail
wp-image-10432 lazy" height="349" width="621"></a></p>
</blockquote>
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