ACTA is not quite dead yet.

Thousands of Europeans rallied as one
against the controversial Anti-
Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, which
they believe is a draconian attack on
online privacy.
In Brussels, hundreds turned up at the
city center with banners and slogans
denouncing the bill, drawing parallels
between the treaty and George Orwell’s
seminal novel 1984; a reference to the
increased internet surveillance ACTA
would allow.
German protesters got in on the act too,
wearing the Guy Fawkes masks
associated with the Anonymous and
Occupy movements, brandishing
banners saying "don’t give ACTA a
chance".
More protests are expected on Saturday
in the United States, with hundreds in
New York and Kansas City using social
networks to confirm their attendance at
the rallies.
ACTA, which has been in the works
since 2007, is a multinational treaty for
the purpose of establishing international
standards for intellectual property rights
enforcement. It aims to establish a
global legal framework for targeting
counterfeit goods, generic medicines
and copyright infringement on the
Internet, and would create a new
governing body outside existing forums
like the World Trade Organization or the
United Nations.
Its supporters claim the treaty is the only
way to respond to “the increase in global
trade of counterfeit goods and pirated
copyright protected works.” But
opponents consider it an act of war,
clamping down on freedom of
expression and privacy.
The future of ACTA is already in
question, not only because of
continuous global protests, but because
of dwindling government support as
well. Earlier this year, the treaty lost
three crucial European Parliament
committee votes – which many say may
reflects on how the EU Parliament will
vote on the treaty in July.
The European Union suspended efforts
to ratify the treaty in February amid a
storm of protest from human rights
activists. Thousands demonstrated
across the EU against ACTA and the
amount of power it would give to big
corporations.