European parliament throws out online piracy pact

Last summer, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, more popularly known as ACTA, was voted down by the EU Parliament. The treaty, which was meant to streamline and standardize intellectual property laws across global jurisdictions was widely fought against by activists and protestors as an invasion of privacy and freedoms of speech. The protests ended with thousands of people in the streets and the EU Parliament emphatically rejecting the treaty. It was widely thought that the treaty was dead in the water.

A controversial global pact to battle counterfeiting and online piracy faced a new setback on Thursday as the European Parliament's pointman on the legislation urged fellow lawmakers to reject it.Several European governments and lawmakers have voiced reservations about the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) while protesters have marched against it in some cities, voicing fears that it may curtail Internet freedoms.

The European Commission on Monday defended a global online-piracy pact opposed by some EU states and still to be ratified by the European Parliament.Defending the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) from accusations that it amounts to a witch hunt against individuals illegally downloading content, the commission said that it will try to keep the deal alive when he appears before the European Parliament later this month.

Bulgaria's government formally decided Wednesday to end all consultation and ratification procedures on the controversial ACTA pact against online piracy and counterfeiting, its press office said."With today's decision the government ends definitively the procedure for ratifying the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement," it said.Bulgaria will also refrain from joining a European Commission request to the European Court of Justice for a legal opinion on ACTA, the government added.

A controversial international accord billed as a way to beat online piracy has sparked a fightback led by Internet users in ex-communist countries who say the region's past underlines the need to defend freedom.An international day of rallies against the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) has been scheduled for Saturday.For weeks, the hub of discontent has been Poland, whose centre-right government last week pledged to freeze the ratification process after a storm of protest.

The European Commission urged the EU Parliament on Wednesday to hold off on voting on a controversial global anti-online piracy pact until judges rule on its legality.The commission is expected to refer the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) to the European Court of Justice in a few weeks, hoping to settle if it respects fundamental rights such as freedom of expression and data protection.

The European Commission said Wednesday it has asked the EU's highest court to rule on the legality of a controversial treaty covering copyright, counterfeiting and Internet freedom.The EU executive "decided today to ask the European Court of Justice for a legal opinion to clarify that the ACTA agreement and its implementation must be fully compatible with freedom of expression and freedom of the internet," said a statement.

The OSCE's media freedom representative warned Tuesday that a global online piracy pact that has sparked protests around Europe could undermine freedom of expression."I ... am concerned that the present agreement on ACTA might have a detrimental effect on freedom of expression and a free flow of information in the digital age," Dunja Mijatovic wrote in a letter to Martin Schulz, the president of the European Parliament, which has yet to ratify the pact.