Thanks from Access Now: ACTA Is Voted Down In The EU Parliament

This just in -- the European Parliament, in a landslide vote, has voted down ACTA, with 478 votes against and only 39 in favor! As one of the 380,000 people who called on MEPs to vote "No," congratulations to you and all the other organizations, communities, and Members of Parliament who have fought to defeat this dangerous international treaty.

This morning, we met MEPs at the door as they entered Parliament for the vote (see picture to the right), giving them one last reminder to vote "No." Media and MEPs nodded to the strength of our global movement for digital freedom -- we got their attention, and your signature on our petition helped make this happen!

Though today’s win is significant for our global movement for digital freedom, those that supported ACTA will undoubtedly dust themselves off and begin a new push to protect their business models at any cost. What we need to do now is focus on reforming these broken copyright and patent regimes and promote a culture that is conducive to creativity, free expression and an open internet.

We can only do this with your help. Your voice helped bring down ACTA -- now we invite you to consider helping us sustain this momentum! Click here to chip in to make sure we see more of these victories in the future -- even a small amount helps.

The defeat of ACTA means there is one less agreement pushing ISPs to surveil and police users in the name of copyright. Without ACTA, countries can now engage in much needed reform to intellectual property laws. The people have spoken - international trade agreements that touch on our rights and our internet must be negotiated democratically and not behind closed doors. When it comes to internet policy, we will not be messed with!

While artists should absolutely be compensated for their work, it should never come at the expense of our freedom of expression, access to the internet, and privacy online. So now is the time to look beyond ACTA and work towards a new framework that recognizes our online practices rather than destroying them, an intellectual property framework fit for the digital age.

This global fight is not over and our small team is working hard to advocate for users like you. None of this work would be possible without the support of Access members -- that's why contributions, even in small amounts, go a long way in allowing us to plan what to take on next.

We can't stop now -- not with serious national and international battles on the horizon. Help us take on the next big fight, no matter where it is, by contributing to Access today.

Thanks for your support,
Mike Rispoli
The Access Campaign Team