Will the New ACTA Rapporteur Stand For Citizens Freedoms?

Submitted on 7 Feb 2012 - 15:04

Paris, February 7th, 2012 – Member of the EU Parliament David Martin, from the Socialist & Democrats group, has been appointed new rapporteur for the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) in the “International Trade” committee (INTA). Unfortunately, his record on protecting freedoms online is worryingly poor and should prompt EU citizens to act against ACTA and ensure that the EU Parliament will defend their rights by rejecting this dangerous agreement.

The EU Commission's Repressive Plans Beyond ACTA

Submitted on 6 Feb 2012 - 09:45

Paris, February 6th, 2012 – The EU Commission is relentlessly defending ACTA, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, which faces widespread opposition in Europe and beyond. Falsely portraying ACTA as an acceptable agreement, the Commission is paving the way for its ultra-repressive copyright enforcement agenda, as revealed in documents just released. Citizens and their elected representatives across Europe must denounce this dangerous drift of the policy-making process, which is bound to undermine freedoms online and the very architecture of the Internet, and instead require a thorough reform of copyright.

Sharing: Culture and the Economy in the Internet Age - By Philippe Aigrain

Submitted on 3 Feb 2012 - 12:04

Paris, February 3rd, 2012 – Sharing: Culture and the Economy in the Internet Age is out! Philippe Aigrain, co-founder of La Quadrature du Net, in collaboration with Suzanne Aigrain, describes the creative contribution, a financial model designed to sustain an expanding creative economy in a context where sharing is recognized as a right.

ACTA: Commissioner De Gucht Lies to the EU Parliament

Submitted on 1 Feb 2012 - 11:11

Paris, February 1st 2012 – The EU Commission “Trade” Directorate-General is lobbying the EU Parliament, presenting a one-sided and plainly distorted view of ACTA to face the growing citizen opposition. The EU's executive branch, which negotiated ACTA behind citizens' backs, is now shamelessly relaying the copyright industries' lobbying pitch, in yet another sign of its collusion with business interests.

Debunking the EU Commission's Lies About ACTA

Submitted on 30 Jan 2012 - 13:21

Paris, January 30th, 2012 – The EU Commission is engaging in an all-out offensive to portray ACTA as normal trade agreement harmless to fundamental rights or access to knowledge. In several published documents, the Commission's attempts to impose ACTA onto the EU Parliament while silencing legitimate criticism. But these misrepresentations don't resist scrutiny.

ACTA Signed by the EU. Let's Defeat it Together!

Submitted on 26 Jan 2012 - 10:53

Paris, January 26th 2012 – Today in Tokyo, the EU and 22 of its Member States officially signed ACTA1, the anti-counterfeiting trade agreement. The worldwide citizen movement initiated against SOPA and PIPA must now focus on defeating their global counterpart ACTA in the European Parliament.

ACTA: Letter to the EU Parliament Development Committee

Submitted on 24 Jan 2012 - 10:44

Today, La Quadrature du Net sent a letter to the Members of the Development committee of the European Parliament. All citizens should also call on the committee to carefully consider the many serious issues raised by ACTA, the anti-counterfeiting trade agreement aimed at establishing extremist standards in copyright, patent and trademarks worldwide.

After SOPA/PIPA in the US, ACTA Makes Its Way to the EU Parliament

Submitted on 23 Jan 2012 - 09:23

Paris, January 23rd, 2012 – After the huge online protests against the extremist SOPA and PIPA copyright bills discussed in the United States, the EU Parliament starts working on their global counterpart: ACTA, the anti-counterfeiting trade agreement. Citizens across Europe must push back against this illegitimate agreement bound to undermine free speech online, access to knowledge and innovation worldwide.

More than Half of the EU with Restrictions to Net access. What will Neelie Kroes Do?

Submitted on 20 Jan 2012 - 13:48

Paris, January 20th, 2012 – La Quadrature du Net sent EU regulators evidence from the platform Respect My Net that in more than 14 EU Member States, telecoms operators engage in illegitimate restrictions of their customers' Internet access. Such evidence shows that EU Commissioner Neelie Kroes' “laisser-faire” approach on Net neutrality amounts to allowing operators to blatantly violate their users' freedom of communication. Now is the time for the EU Commission to start working on stringent measures to enforce Net neutrality all across Europe.

MegaUpload: Copyright Industry At War Against Monsters of its Own Making

Submitted on 20 Jan 2012 - 09:05

Paris, January 20th 2012 – The takedown1 of MegaUpload from the Internet shows a global attempt to control and censor the Internet, as illustrated by PIPA2 in the US, and the ACTA3 agreement worldwide. Conducted outside of the US territory and without even a court ruling, this case makes clear how disproportionate and violent is the war waged in the name of an obsolete copyright regime.