European Parliament rejects internet regulation proposal

The European Parliament has voted against signing up to the controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).

The Parliament voted by 478 to 39 to reject the treaty, which aimed to prevent copyright infringement in both digital and real objects but became mired in controversy after secret negotiations. There were, however, 165 abstentions.

Jim Killock, of the Open Rights Group, hailed the move as "a tremendous victory for the movement, for democracy and for every European citizen that has demanded that their rights be respected. ACTA must be abandoned. The Commission must drop its calls to try again."

Earlier, a 19-12 Committee vote against the treaty had effectively ensured the full European Parliament would vote it down. Rapporteur David Martin MEP had previously told the Telegraph that ACTA was 'dead in the water'.

ACTA aims to protect the intellectual property in both digital and physical goods, and has proved divisive because it was negotiated largely in secret and had originally proposed criminal sanctions for those who used the internet to break copyright. It would tighten up the enforcement and definition of copyright theft, which is particularly controversial for web users who routinely share digital versions of music, films and software.

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