Brussels, January 29th, 2010 - The draft1 of the Gallo2 report on strengthening the enforcement of "intellectual property rights" (IPR) in the Internal Market has been presented in the JURI commission of the European Parliament. This initiative report3 is a response to a communication of the Commission on the same topic, which La Quadrature has already strongly condemned4. The document has only one merit: it provides a perfect example of the worst kind of IPR dogmatism.

1. 1. http://www.laquadrature.net/files/GalloReport-20100128.pdf
2. 2. Marielle Gallo, rapporteur of this "IPR enforcement" report, is a French EPP Member of the European Parliament.
3. 3. A non-legislative position of the European Parliament preparing or encouraging legislative initiative
4. 4. http://www.laquadrature.net/en/dogmatic-ipr-enforcement-fails-to-address...

La Quadrature du Net sent this letter to the members of the ITRE and CULT committees of the European Parliament to urge them to ask the following questions to Mrs. Kroes, Commissioner-designate for the Digital Agenda, during her hearing on Thursday, January 14th.

La Quadrature du Net sent this letter to the members of the LIBE and JURI committees of the European Parliament to urge them to ask the following questions to Mrs. Viviane Reding, Commissioner-designate for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship, during her hearing on Tuesday, January 12th, at 1PM.

La Quadrature du Net has submitted its response to the European Commission's consultation regarding "Online Creative Content". La Quadrature calls on the Commission to reconsider the EU's coercive and repressive copyright policies, while encouraging it to match words to deeds by fostering the rights of the public in the digital creative ecosystem.

Download "Creative Content in the Digital Age: Reasserting the Rights of the Public" in PDF.

Paris, December 10th 2009 - A worldwide coalition of Non-Governmental Organizations, consumers unions and online service providers associations publish an open letter to the European institutions regarding the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) currently under negotiation. They call on the European Parliament and the EU negotiators to oppose any provision that would undermine the fundamental rights and freedoms of citizens in Europe and across the world.

Paris, November 26th 2009 - La Quadrature is calling on European citizens to submit questions aimed at finding out where the next European Commission (2010-2014) stands on EU citizens' fundamental freedoms on the Internet.

The Council of the European Union and the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, just agreed1 on a college of Commissioners designate. The Parliament will now conduct hearings2 before appointing the full college.

1. 1. http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/09/522&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=fr
2. 2. More infos about the Commissionners hearings: http://www.laquadrature.net/wiki/Hearings_Commissioners

Paris, November 24th, 2009 - There is no reason to celebrate the general outcome of the Telecoms Package. The final text voted today is far from satisfactory: while it includes some consumer protections, they fall short of compensating for the various loopholes and threats to fundamental rights contained in the rest of the text.

Paris, November 12th, 2009 - Since Spring 2008, The European Union, the United States, Japan, Canada, South Korea, Australia as well as a few other countries have been negotiating a trade treaty aimed at enforcing copyright and tackling counterfeited goods (Anti-Counterfeinting Trade Agreement or ACTA). The last round of negotiations, held in much secrecy last week in South Korea, was focused on the enforcement of so-called “intellectual property rights” on the Internet. La Quadrature puts together a web-dossier on ACTA and sends a letter1 to Christine Lagarde, French minister of the Economy, to ask that she publicly oppose the proposal regarding Internet regulation.

1. 1. http://www.laquadrature.net/files/LaQuadratureduNet-20091112-Lettre_au_M...

Brussels, November 5th, 2009 - An agreement has been reached on the Telecoms Package. The new text1 aimed at protecting Internet access includes positive elements such as a reference to the right to a "prior fair and impartial procedure" as well as the presumption of innocence. It also contains ambiguous language and potential loopholes. This rather unambitious provision will now be up for interpretation, and it remains to be seen whether it will invalidate Net access restrictions such as "three strikes" policies.

1. 1. http://www.laquadrature.net/wiki/Telecoms_Package_Amendment138_compromis...

Brussels, November 4th 2009 - On the eve of a crucial conciliation meeting that will decide on the fate of the "Telecoms Package", the European Parliament must decide whether it will keep its promise to protect citizens rights online. Will the European Parliament send a dangerous message to Member States by assenting to extrajudicial restrictions of Internet access? Should fundamental rights be sacrificed in an attempt to finish Telecoms Package at any cost?

Paris, November 2nd, 2009 - The negotiations on the Telecoms Package might come to a close on Wednesday. The Council of the European Union is still pushing for "three strikes" policies in Europe but is also attempting to allow private corporations to restrict citizens' Internet access. Will the European Parliament continue to hide behind a disputable legal argumentation provided by the rapporteur Catherine Trautmann, and accept the unacceptable for the future of Internet access in Europe?

1. 1. Campaign page: http://www.laquadrature.net/wiki/URGENT_action_Parliament_about_to_autho...

The European Parliament delegation led by Catherine Trautmann recently gave up on protecting EU citizens against arbitrary restrictions of their Internet access. In order to reach an agreement and avoid a clash with Member States, the Parliament retracted its support to the core element of notorious "amendment 138" : prior judicial decision before restrictions to access and usage of the Internet. This protection of citizens' fundamental rights against arbitrary restrictions of their Internet access came a long way. Here is a little restrospective on the "stations of the cross" of amendement 138.

(See also the rewording of amendment 138, preserving its core principles while adressing legal uncertainty, that was transmitted to MEPs last week)

Paris, October 24th, 2009. On Thursday, the Constitutional Council gave its decision1 on HADOPI 2, the legislative patch proposed by the French government in order to cricumvent the Council's refusal of the core provisions of HADOPI 1. La Quadrature du Net deplores a weak decision that does not correspond to the progressive protection granted in the decision on HADOPI 1, which recognized the Internet as instrumental to the freedom of expression and communication. It is a sad news for democracy and the rule of law, and the beginning of the failure of this new attempt to enforce a copyright regime that is fundamentally unadapted to the digital age.

1. 1. Read the decision: Voir la décision sur le site du Conseil constitutionnel : http://www.conseil-constitutionnel.fr/conseil-constitutionnel/root/bank_...

Strasbourg, October 21st, 2009 - Yesterday, representatives of the European Parliament, an institution that ordinarily prides itself for protecting human rights at home and abroad, decided to surrender to the pressure exerted by Member States. The Parliament gave up on amendment 138, a provision adopted on two occasions by an 88% majority of the plenary assembly, and which aims at protecting citizens' freedom in the online world. Instead of ensuring that no restriction to Internet access would be imposed without the prior ruling of a judge, amendment 138 will instead be replaced by a weak provision1, that does not carry any new important safeguard for citizen's freedoms.

1. 1. See the exact wording: http://www.laquadrature.net/wiki/EP_Flawed_Proposal_20091020#This_wordin...

Strasburg, October 20th, 2009 – Rapporteur on the Telecoms Package, Catherine Trautmann will try once again to push a replacement for amendment 138. Her proposal replaces the effective protection of freedom of expression thanks to a prior judicial decision before three-strike types of sanctions can take place by "the right to an effective and timely judicial review". But can the right to a fair trial be a reality for someone who is deprived of the access to the Internet, the essential means of expression and communication in todays' world ?