[p2p-research] Fwd: [fcf_discussion] European Parliament strongly opposes ACTA's democratic deficit

Wed Mar 10 14:31:32 CET 2010

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: La Quadrature du Net <jz at laquadrature.net>
Date: Wed, Mar 10, 2010 at 8:30 PM
Subject: [fcf_discussion] European Parliament strongly opposes ACTA's
democratic deficit
To: fcforum_discussion at list.fcforum.net

La Quadrature du Net - For immediate release

Permanent link:
http://www.laquadrature.net/en/european-parliament-strongly-opposes-actas-democratic-deficit

European Parliament strongly opposes ACTA's democratic deficit

*** Strasbourg, March 3rd, 2010 - The European Parliament massively approved
a common resolution [1] opposing the current negotiation process regarding
the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). This resolution [2] is an
important call for transparency and the respect of democratic process. In
the coming weeks, the Parliament will have the opportunity to go further by
addressing the content of the negotiated text through the written
declaration 12/2010 [3]. ***

The resolution, supported by the five major political groups of the European
Parliament urges the Commission to establish transparency on the ACTA by
releasing negotiation documents. It strongly asserts the role of the
Parliament in the EU interinstitutional framework and makes a bold
statement, saying that the Parliament will not hesitate to call on the
European Court of Justice to defend its co-legislator powers.

The Parliament's opposition to ACTA is also expressed in a proposed written
declaration [4] that takes issue with the actual content of the current
draft ACTA. The written declaration 12/2010 [5] directly adresses the
fundamental problems of ACTA, such as the possible change of the legal
liability regime of Internet intermediaries. The latter would radically harm
Net neutrality and civil liberties by turning Internet service providers
into a private police and justice auxiliaries to tackle online file-sharing.
The declaration also questions the proposed measures for civil and criminal
enforcement of patents that would severely hinder access to knowledge and
medicine across the world.

"The vote of the resolution by 663 MEPs against 13 is a striking political
signal for EU negotiators and Member States. The European Parliament almost
unanimously(?) states that it won't tolerate ACTA's untransparent
negotiation process. This resolution is an important first step, and the
Parliament now has the opportunity to set clear red lines to the EU
negotiators with the written declaration 12/2010. Building on this milestone
towards democratic transparency, citizens must urge MEPs to sign the written
declaration in order to oppose measures in ACTA that endanger the open
nature of the Internet", concludes Jérémie Zimmermann, spokesperson for
citizen advocacy group La Quadrature du Net.

* Références *

1. resolution RC-B7-0154/2010:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+MOTION+P7-RC-2010-0154+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN

2. Check the European Parliament rules of procedure
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+RULES-EP+20091201+TOC+DOC+XML+V0//EN&language=ENfor
more information about written declarations (rule 123) and oral
questions followed by a statement of the Commission and a motion for
resolution (rules 115, 110, and 120)

3. Participate in getting MEPs to sign the written declaration with the
following campaign page:
http://www.laquadrature.net/wiki/Help_sign_the_Written_Declaration_12/2010_about_ACTA

4. Written declarations are defined by rule 123 of the rules of procedures
of the European Parliament:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+RULES-EP+20091201+RULE-123+DOC+XML+V0//EN

5. http://www.laquadrature.net/wiki/Written_declaration_ACTA_12/2010

** 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/20100310/efb1a4bf/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
-----
+info http://list.fcforum.net/wws/info/fcforum_discussion
----