Tens of thousands of people marched in protests in more than a dozen European cities Saturday against a controversial anti-online piracy pact that critics say could curtail Internet freedom. Some 41,000 people rallied in Germany, including 16,000 in Munich and 10,000 in Berlin, against the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), which was negotiated between the 27-nation European Union and 10 other countries.
Many brandishing "Stop ACTA" banners and wearing Guy Fawkes masks - a symbol of hacker-led rallies - the mostly young protestors also braved subzero temperatures to mass in cities such as Budapest, Bucharest, Sofia, Tallinn, Vilnius, Vienna and Paris.
ACTA is awaiting ratification from several governments, but sharp opposition led by Internet users has forced some EU states including Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia to freeze their ratification process. In Sofia, more than 3,000 demonstrators marched along major downtown boulevards, booing at the buildings of government and parliament.
Shouting "No to ACTA!" and "Mafia!", they accused the government of signing the agreement secretly and without consulting the public. In Tallinn, where about 1,500 turned out, lawmakers widened their criticism of ACTA to an attack on the country's leadership.
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