[p2p-research] Fwd: [fcf_discussion] ACTA: Partial transparency isn't legitimacy

[Michel Bauwens]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: La Quadrature du Net <jz at laquadrature.net>
Date: Wed, Apr 21, 2010 at 2:45 PM
Subject: [fcf_discussion] ACTA: Partial transparency isn't legitimacy
To: fcforum_discussion at list.fcforum.net


La Quadrature du Net - For immediate release

Permanent link:
http://www.laquadrature.net/en/acta-partial-transparency-isnt-legitimacy


ACTA: Partial transparency isn't legitimacy


*** Strasbourg, April 21st, 2010 - The release of the public draft of ACTA
[1] is a milestone in the long opposition to this illegitimate agreement,
which aims at tackling trademark, copyright and patent infringements. Now,
citizens, NGOs and parliaments all around the world must continue to act
together to expose ACTA and its dangers. This whole policy laundering is
incompatible with democracy and the ideals of preserving fundamental rights,
Internet, public health and innovation at large. ***


After more than two years of opaque elaboration, ACTA negotiators have
finally bowed to the pressure of NGOs and citizens worldwide. The European
Parliament, as well as various institutions and industries have also opposed
the negotiating process and the potential consequences of this non-amendable
plurilateral agreement.

Today's release of the text does not legitimize the content of ACTA, as
transparency is no excuse for political laundering [2] and the circumvention
of democratic processes.

"This release of the text shows how effective the massive mobilization of
citizens around the world can be. All the leaks have shown that ACTA could
dangerously hinder freedom of expression, access to medicines and innovation
in the global knowledge society. This official release suggests that it is
still the case [3]. We must firmly refuse that unelected officials on their
own devise policies that have an impact on such critical societal issues.",
concludes Jérémie Zimmermann, co-founder of citizen advocacy group La
Quadrature du Net.

Everyone is invited to comment on parts of the released document [4] in
order to analyse it.


* Références *

1. http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/html/146029.htm

2. ACTA and political laundering:
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/11/policy-laundering/

3. Civil injuction, statutory damages, intermediates liability, criminal
sanctions for inciting and aiding infringement, etc. All these items seem to
still be in the released text.

4. The co-ment web application allows anyone to comment and discuss selected
parts of the text: https://lqdn.co-ment.com/text/ZUEwpvJ9mmd/view/



** About la Quadrature du Net **


La Quadrature du Net is an advocacy group that promotes the rights and
freedoms of citizens on the Internet. More specifically, it advocates for
the adaptation of French and European legislations to respect the founding
principles of the Internet, most notably the free circulation of knowledge.

In addition to its advocacy work, the group also aims to foster a better
understanding of legislative processes among citizens. Through specific and
pertinent information and tools, La Quadrature du Net hopes to encourage
citizens' participation in the public debate on rights and freedoms in the
digital age.

La Quadrature du Net is supported by French, European and international NGOs
including the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Open Society Institute and
Privacy International.

List of supporting organisations :
http://www.laquadrature.net/en/they-support-squaring-net-la-quadrature-du-net


** Press contact and press room **

Jérémie Zimmermann, jz at laquadrature.net, +33 (0)615 940 675

http://www.laquadrature.net/en/press-room


-----
+info http://list.fcforum.net/wws/info/fcforum_discussion
----




-- 
Work: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhurakij_Pundit_University - Think thank:
http://www.asianforesightinstitute.org/index.php/eng/The-AFI

P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net  - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net

Connect: http://p2pfoundation.ning.com; Discuss:
http://listcultures.org/mailman/listinfo/p2presearch_listcultures.org

Updates: http://del.icio.us/mbauwens; http://friendfeed.com/mbauwens;
http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listcultures.org/pipermail/p2presearch_listcultures.org/attachments/20100421/19d8f3ba/attachment.html>