Bulgarian Right-Wingers Rise Against Controversial ACTA

Domestic | January 31, 2012, Tuesday // 17:04|  views

Martin Dimitrov, chair of the Union of Democratic Forces. Photo by dnevnik.bg

The right-wing Bulgarian Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) party has demanded that the county's Prime Minister and his government retract their signature under the international ACTA agreement.

ACTA has been created due to requests on behalf of the entertainment industry and aims to introduce an increased international cooperation implement legislative standards on intellectual property rights, the right-wing party has reminded.

However, the agreement is controversial, since it forces Internet providers to share information about their users' Internet activity, regardless whether movies, music, books or other data are concerned, according to UDF leader Martin Dimitrov.

Dimitrov has expressed his party's concerns that ACTA may lead to a total Internet censorship, the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency has informed. The party's worries are fueled by what they perceive as excessive use of police force by the Bulgarian Interior Ministry.

"They accept (the agreement) in order to use it against freedom of speech on the Internet," Dimitrov has stated, referring to the ruling centrist-right GERB.

UDF wants an assessment to be made on ACTA's potential impact in the country.

ACTA has already raised an outcry internationally, as it is expected to make downloading content similar to forgery of brands.

22 out of the 27 EU member states have signed ACTA, along with countries such as the USA, Japan, Canada, Australia, South Korea and Switzerland.

Among EU Member States, Germany, Cyprus, Estonia, Slovakia and the Netherlands have postponed their signing.

In order to become effective in Bulgaria, ACTA must first be ratified by the European Parliament and then by the Bulgarian Parliament, which is expected to happen no earlier than June.

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Tags: Martin Dimitrov, Union of Democratic Forces, ACTA, Internet, users, internet providers, agreement

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