[p2p-research] Fwd: [opennetcoalition] Gallo report: Copyright dogmatism wins a battle, not the war

[Michel Bauwens]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: La Quadrature du Net <jz at laquadrature.net>
Date: Tue, Jun 1, 2010 at 4:05 PM
Subject: [opennetcoalition] Gallo report: Copyright dogmatism wins a battle,
not the war
To: opennetcoalition at laquadrature.net


La Quadrature du Net - For immediate release

Permanent link:
http://www.laquadrature.net/en/gallo-report-copyright-dogmatism-wins-a-battle-not-the-war


Gallo report: Copyright dogmatism wins a battle, not the war


*** Brussels, June 1st 2010 - The vote, in JURI committee of the European
Parliament on the Gallo report "Enforcement of intellectual property",
including the rapporteur's repressive amendments, reflects the asphyxiating
influence of corporate lobbies on EU policy-making. The ALDE group, which
had stood for fundamental freedoms on several occasions, this time sided
with the entertainment industries. This vote should make EU citizens react
and convince MEPs about the stakes of our evolving digital societies. Beyond
the vote of the Gallo report in plenary session, there are other upcoming
legislative battles where the public interest of creativity and access to
knowledge can be upheld against an obsolete vision of copyright. ***


This time, the ultra-repressive, dogmatic approach of a continued war
against the sharing of cultural works over the Internet has prevailed in the
JURI committee of the European Parliament.

The ALDE group, which had in recent occasions valued the defense of
fundamental freedoms over private interests, has sided with the sarkozyst
rapporteur Marielle Gallo. This is a disappointing regression, when the
recently elected liberal-democrat deputy Prime-Minister of the UK government
just expressed a strong rejection of such policies. The acceptation of this
repressive stance, confusing online filesharing with industrial
counterfeiting, was adopted after a locked-down vote of amendments crafted
to circumvent an open debate on possible alternatives.

Though the Gallo report is a non-legislative text, it shows that the
Parliament may be unable to appreciate the need to reform copyright and its
enforcement in a direction that serves the development of a creative economy
and society. Whether or not the final report is adopted in its present form,
citizens will express their views on the upcoming legislative projects and
value policy makers who demonstrate their independence and forward thinking.

"The Gallo report shows how powerful the lobbying of a few anachronic
industries can be on the European Parliament. Their influence on
policy-making runs counter to the general interest and prevents the EP from
exploring paths to a new creative economy. It must be offset in the next
fights: the upcoming discussion of the ACTA agreement, the discussions on
new criminal sanctions with the future revival of the IPRED2 directive, etc.
Measures designed to enforce obsolete business models at the expense of
fundamental freedoms won't bring any good to authors or to their public and
must be continuously opposed" concludes Jérémie Zimmermann, spokesperson for
citizen initiative La Quadrature du Net.




** 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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