Czechs join ACTA protests worldwide

People in twenty Czech cities have joined the international protests against the controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Agreement ACTA. Critics say the treaty, which aims to establish international standards to enforce intellectual property rights, amounts to internet censorship and is in violation of privacy laws. Government websites in many countries have been hacked in protest. Although the Czech Republic signed the agreement in Tokyo in late January, its ratification in this country will not be easy. The Czech Office for Personal Data Protection has described it as problematic with regard to existing legal guarantees of individual rights and Prime Minister Petr Nečas said last week the government would suspend ratification until it had analyzed the possible impacts of the treaty.