UPDATE: Euro MPs vote against ACTA piracy treaty

By
published

Anti-piracy treaty is rejected by the European Parliament

Update 04.07.12

The European Parliament has rejected ACTA, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, by 478 to 39 votes, effectively killing off the proposed legislation – at least in its current state.

Last month a group of MEPs on the key European parliamentary committee rejected the agreement (see story below).

Published 21.06.12

The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), inrtended to tighten the rules on online and offline piracy, has been rejected by a group of MEPs on a key European parliamentary committee, the BBC reports.

Members of the committee voted 19 votes to 12 against the proposal. This is likely to spell the end for the controversial treaty, as the committee formally recommends how the wider European Parliament should vote on the issue.

"In the end it came down to a vote on intellectual property or civil liberties and I'm glad that civil liberties won over," says UK MEP David Martin, the lead member of the committee.

The final vote is due to take place in the European Parliament in July.

Follow whathifi.com on Twitter

Join whathifi.com on Facebook

Andy Clough
Andy Clough

Andy is Global Brand Director of What Hi-Fi? and has been a technology journalist for 30 years. During that time he has covered everything from VHS and Betamax, MiniDisc and DCC to CDi, Laserdisc and 3D TV, and any number of other formats that have come and gone. He loves nothing better than a good old format war. Andy edited several hi-fi and home cinema magazines before relaunching whathifi.com in 2008 and helping turn it into the global success it is today. When not listening to music or watching TV, he spends far too much of his time reading about cars he can't afford to buy.