[p2p-research] Fwd: [opennetcoalition] Spanish Presidency: Towards digital inquisition?

[Michel Bauwens]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Jérémie Zimmermann <jz at laquadrature.net>
Date: Thu, Feb 25, 2010 at 8:49 PM
Subject: [opennetcoalition] Spanish Presidency: Towards digital inquisition?
To: opennetcoalition at laquadrature.net


La Quadrature du Net - For immediate release

Permanent link:
http://www.laquadrature.net/en/spanish-presidency-towards-digital-inquisition


Spanish Presidency: Towards digital Inquisition?


*** Paris, February 25th 2010 - A disturbing document on Internet policy
written by the Spanish Presidency of the EU Council has
been published. While asking Member States to detail their guidelines for
the repression of illegal activities on the Internet,
the Presidency amalgamates child pornography, xenophobic and racist speech
and copyright infringement. ***


Elaborating on this unacceptable confusion, the document goes as far as
saying that "the Internet becomes an instrument of
social regression". Such a ruthless instrumentalisation of fear in order to
impose regressive policies - like the filtering of
content on the Internet - is not tolerable in the European Union.

These questions (see below) are clearly oriented to justify the imposition
of Internet filtering and blocking and its extension
to a growing number of areas. While being an uneffective enforcement tool,
these measures affect the decentralized architecture
of the Internet and violate the principle of Net neutrality. They also open
the door to censorship, given that the enforcement
of traditional limitations to freedom of expression through Net filtering
exposes Internet users to the collateral blocking of
"innocent" websites (overblocking).

"Such a reactionary instrumentalization of fear by the Spanish presidency is
not tolerable. Our modern societies must consider
Internet as a public space for cultural, economic and social progress, not a
fantasized far-west where no rule apply. Citizens
who love their freedoms and the Internet are endangered by this securitarian
plan to control the networked public sphere.
Citizens of Europe, especially in Spain, must follow the lead of the Red
Sostenible Initiative [1] and oppose this extremist and
dangerous vision", says Jérémie Zimmermann, spokesperson and co-founder of
La Quadrature du Net.


--------------------------------------------------

** Questions asked by the Spanish Presidency to Member States **

 1. How do you combat child pornography, the infringement of intellectual
property rights, and racist and xenophobic content on
the Internet in your country? Are you able to block access to websites with
this type of content in your country?
 2. What do you think should be done to combat this type of activity at
European Union level?
 3. How can we combat this type of content from servers broadcasting from
States outside the European Union?

--------------------------------------------------

In order to be compatible with the democratic principles of the European
Union, answers should point out that:

 * Blocking and filtering measures are uneffective, since they can easily be
circumvented. Moreover, studies show that all
methods lead to overblocking, ie. disabling access to perfectly legitimate
websites thus endangering the freedom of expression
and communication of Internet users.
 * Rather than filtering, the only effective solution when fighting against
crime online is to have content removed from the
servers [2].
 * To guarantee the rule of Law on the Internet, the European Union should
refuse to bypass judicial processes. Only a judge
should be able to declare a given content or activity to be illegal.
 * To enforce statutes and ensure the effectivity of judicial rulings while
preserving the free and open nature of the Internet,
the EU should enhance international cooperation on these issues.





* Références *

1. see: http://red-sostenible.net/index.php/Comunicado

2. The German government recently announced that it will not put the
Internet blocking law into application, preferring to pass
a new law to improve the efforts aimed at removing illegal content from
servers.
See:http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/0,1518,676669,00.html.



** 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



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