[p2p-research] Fwd: [fcforum] EU: Digital Inquisition against an open Internet?

Sun Mar 7 11:08:18 CET 2010

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From: Jérémie ZIMMERMANN - La Quadrature du Net <jz at laquadrature.net>
Date: Fri, Mar 5, 2010 at 11:51 PM
Subject: [fcforum] EU: Digital Inquisition against an open Internet?
To: fcforum at list.fcforum.net

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As Spain holds the rotating Presidency of the EU Council, it is
currently defining a European for the "Digital Agenda". A draft document
regarding Spain's "Granada Strategy" reveals unacceptable orientations
toward handing the control of the Internet to telecoms operators,
sacrificing Net neutrality.

http://www.laquadrature.net/files/Spanish_Presidency-Granada_Strategy.pdf

Overall, the document seems crafted to please big telecoms operators
like Telefónica. If carried on, the plan would represent a severe
setback for the Internet ecosystem and users' rights all across Europe.

** How to put an end to Net Neutrality in two lessons?

The text confusely tries to jusitify for telecoms operators to put an
end to the principle of Net neutrality1. In a splendid trick of
"newspeak", the text depicts online service providers, i.e all the
ecosystem of actors that create and disseminate content, services and
applications, "Internet intermediaries".

It then argues that online service providers benefit from an
illegitimate free access to "consumers", and goes on to say that
telecoms operators should be able to benefit from similar
"cross-subsidies" to fund the deployment of very high-speed networks.

The aim of this trick is to turn telecoms operators into gatekeepers,
and allow them to make content providers pay to avoid being slowed down.
Such discrimination would amount to the end of the Internet's openness,
allowing operators to control and differentiate access to online
services by making business deals with specific content or service
providers.

** What about further privatizing public airwaves?

Under the term of "flexibility", the document calls for the actual
privatization of the electro-magnetic spectrum, which is a limited
public resource. It is proposed to lift restrictions imposed by public
authorities to the telecoms operators using the spectrum, and to allow
them to sell their licenses to third parties2.

Whereas new technologies now gives the opportunity to use the digital
dividend to develop a truly free, open and shared wireless network3 the
Spanish proposal would abandon the economic and social benefits of an
open internet infrastructure for the sole interest of a few private actors.

** Fake "user rights" confusing citizens with consumers

While most of the proposals would undermine citizens rights, the Spanish
Presidency claims to protect them through a "European charter of rights
for users of electronic communications service"4.

Ironically, this so-called "charter of rights" merely outlines contract
protections: it is limited to transparency of information in contracts,
cancellation of subscriptions, customer services, control over expenses,
and other usual consumer rights protections.

This smokescreen tries to hide a blatant denial of the protections
needed to guarantee the effectivity of the fundamental rights and
freedoms of citizens, such as freedom of communication or the protection
of privacy.

** A plan for IPR enforcement

Although the draft contains sensible remarks regarding limitations and
exceptions to copyright or collective licensing5, the text also makes a
vague but worrying reference to IPR enforcement and the filtering of
websites "that make possible the massive infringement of intellectual
property rights".

This seems coherent with a project for a Council resolution calling for
the continuation of the absurd "war on sharing" through the filtering of
Internet content.

Even though the English translation from Spanish is not very good, parts
of the draft are worth reading since they provide a glimpse of the
Spanish Presidency's mindset regarding the future of the Internet
infrastructure. But one thing is for sure: although the deployment of
better broadband communications requires significant investments, the
upgrade of our communications infrastructure should not be completed at
the expense of a potentially enhanced citizenship, effective competition
or innovation allowed by the network society.

"Such a conservative vision, driven by dominant special interests, will
only lead Europe away from an innovative, competitive and inclusive
knowledge society. It must absolutely be opposed by the Commission and
the European Parliament as the EU moves forward with its Digital
Agenda", concludes Jérémie Zimmermann, spokesperson for La Quadrature du
Net.

1. Page 13-14: "The services employing the capacities of [next
generation access networks] are expected to be major contributors to
improve the economy and citizens welfare, so the rapid and extensive
rollout of NGAs become an important policy objective in order to
anticipate these benefits and to reduce the risks of digital divide,
justifying the involvement of public administrations in the promotion of
NGAs, including by means of public funds, to complement and accelerate
rollouts in areas which are not commercially attractive for operators.

 This justifies an analysis of possible changes in the regulatory
framework allowing service operators, in specific circumstances, to
deploy business models based on two-sided markets, so they can
internalize part of the revenues coming information services to finance
the rollouts of new networks, and reducing the need for public aids."

2. Page 6: "The measures proposed in this plan include:
     - The introduction of greater flexibility in the use of the spectrum.
     - The provision to electronic communications operators with
largest amount of available spectrum and with the least possible restrictive
     technical conditions.
     - Securing the implementation in the EU of the secondary trading
of rights to use radio spectrum."

3. Vinton Cerf, one of the Internet's main developers, is a big advocate
of open spectrum. See:
http://connectedplanetonline.com/connectedplanet/news/google-open-access...

4. See page 24.

5. Page 31-32: it goes as far as mentioning "new solutions for easier,
more affordable and user-friendly rights clearance for amateur users and
the development of a new limitation for transformative uses which should
be flexible, future-proof while consistent with the three-step test
applicable to copyright limitations under the Berne Convention".

- --
- ---  La Quadrature du Net --- http://www.laquadrature.net
- ---  twitter: j_zim --- identi.ca: jzim

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