The Philippine Online Chronicles

Kader Arif, the European Parliament appointee assigned to investigate the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), resigned Friday over the treaty.

Arif told the BBC that he had witnessed “never-before seen manoeuvres” by officials preparing the treaty.

22 European Union member states signed the treaty on 26 January.

“I condemn the whole process which led to the signature of this agreement: no consultation of the civil society, lack of transparency since the beginning of negotiations, repeated delays of the signature of the text without any explanation given, reject of Parliament's recommendations as given in several resolutions of our assembly,” Arif said.

Arif's resignation follows ACTA protests across Poland, from civilians taking to the streets in front of the Presidential Palace to members of parliament donning Guy Fawkes masks in session. Hackers also attempted to attack the European Parliament's website, but to no avail.

ACTA is an plurilateral agreement between 39 countries—including the United States, the EU, and Japan—aiming to combat the proliferation of counterfeit goods, but notably also targets copyright infringement on the internet. It was put into motion in 2006, with no documentation available to the public, without significant input from national parliaments and representatives, and revealed publicly in 2010.

The treaty aims to unify countries under a universal intellectual property rights law, incorporating elements of the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

ACTA has caused controversy since early discussions on the act leaked in 2008.