‘The SOPA and PIPA bills that went down in flames earlier this year for their unbearable intrusiveness, used content piracy as an excuse to give the government powerful tools with which to censor Internet content. For 2012 the primary author of those bills has switched to a fallback tactic: using child porn as an excuse to create a vast surveillance network from which the government can demand data on every email sent, site visited or link clicked on by all but a fraction of one percent of the U.S. population.’

Read more: PCFIPA: SOPA replacement uses child porn as excuse to spy on 99.7 percent of Americans

‘Tens of thousands of Germans have protested against ACTA, a controversial international anti-piracy agreement that has embroiled Germany’s politicians in a heated debate on whether the treaty is a useful tool to protect intellectual property or an infringement of personal freedom.

On Saturday, people turned out in droves for demonstrations all over Germany, in spite of temperatures as low as 5 degrees Fahrenheit. The biggest protests took place in Munich, where about 16,000 people took to the streets, and in Berlin, with 10,000 participants. Police estimate that all in all more than 30,000 demonstrators turned out in German towns and cities. The organizers of the protest put the number closer to 100,000.’

Read more: More than 30,000 Germans turn out against anti-piracy treaty ACTA

‘First there was SOPA, then there was PIPA. The Internet beat those back. Then along came ACTA inciting protests around the world. Up next is something far worse and far more secret – the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement.

For those that don’t know about TPP, which is probably a large majority of the population, it’s a treaty being devised by the U.S. with eight other countries in the Pacific including Peru, Chile, New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei Darussalem and Vietnam. What many people consider to be the most dangerous thing about TPP is that the negotiations for it are being conducted in absolute secrecy. The public is not being allowed to be involved with the process of this all too important treaty.’

Read more: Secret Internet Legislation: Is TPP Worse Than SOPA, PIPA & ACTA?

‘Poland’s prime minister said Friday that Warsaw would put on ice plans to ratify a controversial international online anti-piracy accord after massive off-and-online protests in his country. “I consider that the arguments for a halt to the ratification process are justified,” Donald Tusk told reporters.

“The issue of signing of the ACTA accord did not involve sufficient consultation with everyone who is part of the process,” Tusk said, adding that he would hold broad talks on what to do next. “The ACTA ratification process will be frozen as long as we haven’t overcome all the doubts. This will probably require a review of Polish law. We can’t rule out that, at the end of the day, this accord will not be approved.”’

Read more: #ACTA: Poland Freezes Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) Ratification

‘The shadowy online hackers group Anonymous blocked access to the websites of the Mexican Senate and the Interior Ministry Friday to protest a proposed law to fine people who violate copyright online.

The proposal, from conservative senator Federico Doring, is widely seen as the Mexican version of SOPA — the US Senate and the Stop Online Piracy Act that Wikipedia and other Web giants have denounced as a threat to Internet freedom.’

Read more: Anonymous attacks Mexico’s government websites to protest copyright law

‘We’ve had a lot of discussion about SOPA and PIPA recently, the bills that want to cripple the internet, but there are still plenty of people who aren’t clear on the issues. And although the bills have been shelved for now, similar threats (e.g., ACTA) loom and it’s wise to stay informed of the issues at stake. This infographic lays SOPA’s and PIPA’s legal and technical technical details out pretty clearly.’

Read more: SOPA and PIPA Technical Issues Explained Simply in Infographic Form

22 EU Countries Ratify ACTA http://mys.tc/1p2 internet counterfeiting piracy copyright IP PIPA SOPA