Dear all,
Many thanks for your email concerning the ACTA agreement. I am delighted to be able to inform you that ACTA has been defeated in the plenary session of the European Parliament by 478 votes to 39, with 165 abstentions. This represents the biggest ever defeat of a legislative proposal from the Commission in the European Parliament. An earlier attempt by the pro-ACTA MEPs to postpone the vote was defeated.
Over the last few days, I have received thousands of emails expressing opposition to ACTA. This proves that there is a huge movement against ACTA and it is very positive that this opposition is so active. Unfortunately, due to the large amount of emails I have received, I have been unable to respond to everybody individually. I would also like to apologise for not replying to everybody in the language they wrote to me in.
The Socialist Party (Ireland) and I feel very strongly about ACTA, we have completely opposed the ACTA agreement from the start and have been actively campaigning against it in the European Parliament.
We share your concern that internet providers should not be given the power and the task to police the internet and states should not have the power to block access to the internet. This could be used to limit basic democratic rights to freedom of expression and association. As well as infringing on the rights of internet users the ACTA agreement could also be used to block access to seeds which would cause hardship to the world's poorest farmers. Supporters of ACTA claim that it is fighting digital piracy and supporting the interests of small musicians and artists, however it is in fact serving the interests of big business and runs counter to the interests of the majority of the population.
The defeat of ACTA is an excellent result and is a testament to the very impressive campaign of people power against ACTA which saw millions sign petitions, thousands taking to the streets and contacting their MEPs.
The European Commission has indicated that it will continue with their case in the European Court of Justice and will most likely attempt to get the European Parliament's consent on a modified version of ACTA in the future. So we need to keep up the campaign.
You may be interested in looking at the video of the speech I made in the debate on ACTA in the Parliament the day prior to the vote,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32T_9vVf8Bw
You may also be interested in reading an article I have recently published on my website about ACTA http://www.paulmurphymep.eu/blog-why-acta-needs-to-be-defeated. I will publish a more in depth article with some more analysis of the recent developments in the coming days on the same website.
I would also encourage you to visit the website of the international socialist organisation my party is affiliated to, the Committee for a Workers' International (CWI) www.socialistworld.net . There you will find reports and analysis from the Anti - ACTA movement around the world and information on the alternative society that we stand for. A society that puts the rights and well beings of the world's millions ahead of the interests of the millionaires.
Again, many thanks for your opposition to ACTA and your contribution towards getting it defeated.
Warm regards,
Paul Murphy MEP
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