From the Warsaw Voice.......................................
Thousands take to streets in protests at internet censorship
Protests in Kielce
Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Polish cities Wednesday, some of them hurling stones at police, in protestat an international copyright treaty criticized as a clampdown on freedom of speech on the internet.
In the city of Kielce around 700 people protested. Some of them threw bottles and stones at police, damaged cars and partially blocked traffic, Polish media reported. Police arrested 24 people. One police officer was taken to hospital for treatment.
In the largest demonstration, in Cracow, 15,000 people took to the streets in a largely peaceful protest.
Demonstrators chanted "Down with censorship" while some had a piece of tape inscribed with "ACTA" glued over their lips.
ACTA is the acronym for the international Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, which Poland was to sign in Tokyo on Thursday.
Opponents of the treaty, which aims to protect international intellectual property rights and fight online piracy, launched a string of attacks on Polish government websites earlier this week, jamming the websites of the Polish parliament, the prime minister’s office and the Ministry of Culture.
Tysi膮ce na ulice w protestach na cenzur臋 w Internecie
Protesty w Kielcach
Tysi膮ce demonstrant贸w wysz艂o na ulice polskich miast 艢roda, niekt贸re z nich rzucaj膮c kamieniami w policjant贸w, na znak protestu
na mi臋dzynarodowy traktat praw autorskich krytykowane jako skutkiem jest ograniczenie wolno艣ci s艂owa w Internecie.
W Kielcach oko艂o 700 os贸b protestowa艂o. Niekt贸re z nich rzuci艂 butelki i kamienie w stron臋 policji, samochody uszkodzone i ruch cz臋艣ciowo zablokowana, Polskie media poinformowa艂y. Policja aresztowa艂a 24 os贸b. Jeden policjant zosta艂 przewieziony do szpitala na leczenie.
W najwi臋kszej demonstracji, w Krakowie, 15.000 os贸b wysz艂o na ulice w prote艣cie w du偶ej mierze pokojowego.
Demonstranci skandowali: "Precz z cenzur膮", a niekt贸rzy mieli kawa艂ek ta艣my z napisem "ACTA" przyklejone na ustach.
ACTA jest skr贸tem od mi臋dzynarodowej walki z podrabianiem umowy handlowej, w kt贸rej Polska by艂a do podpisania w Tokio w czwartek.
Przeciwnicy traktatu, kt贸ry ma na celu ochron臋 mi臋dzynarodowego prawa w艂asno艣ci intelektualnej i zwalczania internetowego piractwa, uruchomi艂a ci膮g atak贸w na polskich stronach internetowych rz膮du na pocz膮tku tego tygodnia, zag艂uszania strony polskiego parlamentu, kancelarii premiera i Ministerstwa Kultury.
