Few attend Prague rally against ACTA

Prague, Jan 28 (CTK) - About ten people attended a public rally against the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) at Prague's Wenceslas Square Saturday.

The protesters wore masks and waved a flag, while another 20 people watched the rally.

"This is no event in the sense of a demonstration. Rather, it is a meeting of opponents of the ACTA treaty," an activist who declined to disclose his name told CTK.

The public broadcaster Czech Television (CT) said on Friday night that a series of such demonstrations would be held in most major towns across the Czech Republic.

CT said Saturday another protest had been held in Ostrava, north Moravia, where about 50 masked demonstrators met with pirate flags.

"The event is to protest against the treaty that will introduce censorship of the Internet," a masked young man told CTK.

He said another rally was planned for this Thursday and further protests would follow.

The Czech Republic is among the 22 states that signed the ACTA agreement anchoring intellectual property protection rules and vowing to combat the spread of illegal copies and fakes of art, clothes etc.

The agreement's critics view it as an instrument to impose censorship on the Internet and restrict global exchange of information.