On Feb. 11th, 2012, The Economist ran a story about the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, or ACTA. ACTA is an international regime which seeks to protect intellectual property by "imposing civil and criminal penalties on internet piracy." In a sense, ACTA is like an international SOPA/PIPA. And much like SOPA/PIPA, ACTA has generated a great deal of protest.
The Economist article detailed how a number of government representatives have come to regret signing ACTA. Specifically, representatives have called ACTA a "masquerade", admitted that its signing was an act of "civic carelessness", and even suspended ACTA's ratification immediately after signing it.
Why the resistance to ACTA? The Economist explained that ACTA's intentionally vague language opens the door to draconian enforcement. Notably, ACTA could hold infringers liable for the "total loss of potential sales" for "unintentional use of copyright material." Moreover, many of the same concerns that drove SOPA/PIPA protests (preserving the internet's freedom, doubts about enforceability, and the fear of turning ISPs into content police) are driving ACTA protests.
President Obama signed ACTA as an executive agreement. As such, Congress did not ratify it as a treaty.
You can find the Economist source article here.
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Edit: AFP is reporting that tens of thousands of protesters are marching throughout a dozen European cities in protest of ACTA. Today (2/11) is Anti-ACTA day.
