The European Parliament voted on July 4 to reject the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), which therefore cannot become law in the European Union. A total of 478 members of the European body voted against the deal, with 39 in favor and 165 abstentions. The guidelines of the treaty was meant to curb the piracy of trademarks, patents and digital copyright but it was strongly contested by many in the civil society, especially internet activists and NGOs, who feared that it would pose a threat to freedom of expression, research and privacy. Its formulation, in fact, could allow violation of the privacy of internet users suspected of profiting from the intellectual property of others (more in SGI Europe).
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