Poland Signs ACTA Amid Popular Youth Protests

Poland has signed the controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement in Japan, despite huge demonstrations in Warsaw Street and the hacking of governmental websites since the weekend.

Poland's Prime Minister Tusk insisted that his government would not "succumb to blackmail". But over 10,000 have taken the streets Wednesday across the nation to protest against censorship.

Young people held banners with slogans such as "no to censorship" and "a free internet".

Demonstrators fear that Acta, which is to be ratified by the European Union, will be as pernicious as Sopa, the Stop Online Privacy Act which was withdrawn by the White House and the US Senate after a mass protest by hundreds of major user-generated content websites.

According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the bill will deal primarily with counterfeit physical goods such as medicine. But experts claim it will have broader scope and will deal with new tools targeting "internet distribution and information technology". It spans all the countries in the developed world, including the EU, US, Switzerland and Japan.

The Polish branch of hacker collective Anonymous has attacked Polish government websites, including the prime minister's office, leaving several paralysed.

Anonymous released a statement on Pastebin warning: "Polish government - we are more powerful than you. We have a lot of your files and personal information. We warn you to exercise caution."

Tusk posted a '10 myths about ACTA' article on its web site. PO says that ACTA is not a "secret agreement" as critics have suggested. PM Tusk's party also say the agreement is in line with international trade law, particularly the so-called TRIPS agreement (Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights).

According to Thenews.pl website, Liberal Dutch Marietje Schaake Member of the European Parliament has posted a statement on Reddit, where she argues: "As a Member of the European Parliament (EP), I am concerned about the ACTA treaty in the international trade committee... The internet blackouts by thousands of websites last week in protest of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA) have raised lively discussions."

Anonymous is poised to attack Polish government again, reports suggest. Acta already has the support of the US, Australia, Canada, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore and South Korea.

"ALERT: #ACTA Will Be Signed by UE & US tomorrow - EXPECT US! Are you going to stay quiet? Say NO to #ACTA!" reads a tweet from the @Anonops Twitter account,