ACTA is anti-democratic  This has been a secret stich-up between a handful of, mostly Western, governments and massive corporations or their representative trade organisations. It has notably failed to receive democratic support and poses a genuine threat to freedom and equality offered by the Internet. So far it has been signed by fewer than 40 nations and has failed to receive democratic approval [i] in any of them; it is the child of national and business elites but has failed at every hurdle where the public was watching hence it has not been ratified by any legislatures and in some cases such as in Mexico been thrown out almost unanimously. [ii] [iii] Where it has been signed, it has mostly been met with protests from politicians and public alike. If the proponents of this measure are so sure of its virtues, the obvious solution would seem apparent; put it to a vote.  It proposes the creation of an international body with no democratic accountability [iv] at all as it just has representatives from each party to the treaty but no accountability to any other body and seeks to undermine public involvement in both formal and informal ways with the management of information in the modern world. Opposition to this agreement has been at least as ferocious as previous attempts to remove the democratic input of the inhabitants of the planet into decisions that affect their lives – such as the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). The Agreement has run into issues of constitutionality in the EU, US and elsewhere with legislatures questioning whether national executives have the right – let alone the capacity – to implement the measures of the Agreement. Any government that attempted to ratify the agreement would be likely to face stiff opposition from both parliamentarians and the public – to date that has been insurmountable [v] .  [i] Various articles from around the world  [ii] ‘Dictámenes a Discusión y Votación‘, Senado de la Republica LXI Legislatura, 22 June 2011.  [iii] Hernandez, Daniel, ‘Mexico signs anti-piracy treaty, setting up battle with activists’, Latimes blog, 13 July 2012.  [iv] Chapters four and five, Council of the European Union, ‘Anti Counterfeiting Trade Agreement’, 23 August 2011.  [v] Mason, Daniel, ‘European Opposition to ACTA grows’, Public Service Europe, 13 February 2012.