Acting against ACTA

Bulgaria has become the sixth country that has refused to support the international Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).The controversial agreement is sponsored by the US and Japan, and meant to toughen intellectual property rights enforcement, but critics say limits freedom of speech on the Internet.Bulgaria’s Economy and Energy Minister Traicho Traikov says Sofia will not ratify the agreement until the EU member states elaborate a joint position on the document.

Bulgarian authorities have made the decision to halt the already signed agreement after street protests. More than eight housand protesters marched through the capital Sofia and 16 other cities.In addition leading voices for intellectual property rights have expressed concerns about the credibility of the agreement.To add to this, the infamous hacker group “Anonymous”  has  threatened the Bulgarian government with multiple hacker attacks .

Minister Traicho Traikov told reporters he is pessimistic about helping the industry that has not adapted to digital age with sanctions instead of through market means.

Coverage of ACTA by the Bulgarian. media has been lacking, at least compared to SOPA and PIPA.  So far, protests of ACTA have been predominantly held in the country.  However, as more and more European governments start to reconsider ACTA in response to this past weekend’s protests, we may finally start to see some more coverage of this clandestine  agreement here in the Bulgaria.