[p2p-research] Fwd: [opennetcoalition] In the ACTA poker, repression is exported

[Michel Bauwens]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: La Quadrature du Net <jz at laquadrature.net>
Date: Sat, Jun 26, 2010 at 11:21 PM
Subject: [opennetcoalition] In the ACTA poker, repression is exported
To: opennetcoalition at laquadrature.net


La Quadrature du Net - For immediate release

Permanent link:
http://www.laquadrature.net/en/in-the-acta-poker-repression-is-exported


In the ACTA poker, repression is exported


*** Paris, June 26th 2010 - Spokespersons for La Quadrature du Net and April
met the French negotiators of ACTA [1] a few days ahead of the next
negotiation round of this anti-counterfeiting agreement. No satisfactory
answer was given on crucial questions of interoperability and provisions
aiming at transforming the technical intermediaries of the Net in a private
copyright police. Do the negotiators of this illegitimate agreement, bound
by the negotiation and power game with the United States, really have
breathing space to protect our freedoms? ***

The 9 civil servants of various ministries representing France at the
European delegation [2] are unanimous: for them, there is nothing dangerous
in this agreement, and nothing going beyond the limits of the French and
European laws.

While the meeting was intended to reassure, it is actually quite the
opposite: according to the negotiators themselves, some provisions, the
criminal sanctions, have been identified as going beyond the perimeter of
current EU legislation.

Moreover, no satisfactory answer has been provided about key points of the
text:

 * The negotiators were unable to guarantee that the policies to be
implemented by the Internet service providers in order to be exonerated from
increased legal liability [3] will have no serious impact on fundamental
freedoms. The scenario of technical intermediaries of the Net getting
transformed in a private copyright police is therefore confirmed.

 * No right to interoperability of "technical protection measures" (DRM).
DRM are a barrier to the development and use of Free software (lien en
anglais). For users of free software, the only way to get legitimate access
to digital works imprisonned in those "digital handcuffs" is the
circumvention. Such a solution has not been guaranteed by the French
negotiators: users and developers of Free software would thus be, during the
transposition of ACTA, subjected to unbearable legal pressure.

 * ACTA incorporates a great number of criticized repressive legislations
will soon be subject to revision at the European level although their impact
studies have still not been made (directives IPRED, EUCD, etc.). The
negotiators implicitly confirmed that ACTA would solidify these laws, making
them difficult if not impossible to modify later on, while insidiously
contributing to export them to countries which do not have their equivalent.

"Confessing being under pressure by the US negotiators, the French
representatives have acknowledged their helplessness by confessing to stick
to preserving existing repressive laws. The French position clearly aims at
continuing obsolete laws and models, while excluding any constructive
alternative tending towards the general interest." declares Tangui Morlier,
president of April.

"The ACTA negotiators play with repressive legislation attacking our
freedoms like others play poker. It is urgent to react and hold them
accountable. Otherwise, we would implicitely accept that the future of the
Internet is negociated behind closed doors rather than democratically
debated." concludes Jérémie Zimmermann, spokesperson of the citizen
initiative La Quadrature du Net.


* Références *

1. http://www.laquadrature.net/ACTA

2.  The 9 civil servants represented the Ministries of Culture, Foreign
Affairs, Justice and Economy

3. legal liability for the storage or transmission of copyrighted material
done by their users in article 2.18


** 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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