The rallies across the continent underline how opposition to the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, or ACTA, has spread quickly since a first groundswell of opposition emerged last month in Poland.

"We have the protests in Poland to thank above all for what is happening in Europe and worldwide at the moment," said Tillmann Mueller-Kuckelberg, an organizer at a protest in Berlin.

"A lot of people in other European countries woke up then, and we hope worldwide that the protests will lead to the ACTA agreement being stopped."

ACTA has been under negotiation for years and has already been signed by a number of industrialized countries, including the United States, South Korea and Japan. Its drafters say it is needed to harmonize international standards to protect the rights of those who produce music, movies, pharmaceuticals, fashion, and a range of other products that often fall victim to piracy and intellectual property theft.

Several European countries recently signed ACTA but ratification remains in question in some countries as contempt builds toward it, mostly from young people who fear it will lead to censorship online and block their access to information.

The Polish and Czech governments have signed, but put ratification plans on hold, while Germany said Friday that it would delay signing to give time for discussions.

ACTA shares some similarities with the hotly debated Stop Online Piracy Act in the U.S., which was shelved weeks ago by lawmakers after a swell of opposition that included Wikipedia and Google blacking out or partially obscuring their websites for a day in protest.

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