Is ACTA a foregone conclusion or will it meet SOPA's fate? With all the furor over SOPA and PIPA in recent months, the signing of the ACTA trade agreement last October by the US, Japan, and a handful of other countries has largely been ignored. […]

A legal analysis of ACTA […] was produced last year by European Parliament's Legal Service, it was handled just as secretively as the treaty's negotiations. A request from the non-profit Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII) requesting the text of that analysis was denied, and FFII's complaint that such secrecy violates EU law ignored.

What has been released is a "fact-sheet" from the European Commission […] expressing support for ACTA. However, a French Internet freedom advocacy group called La Quadrature du Net has published a rebuttal which argues just the opposite. You can find the full text of that document below. […]

http://www.afterdawn.com/news/article.cfm/2012/02/03/is_acta_a_foregone_...

The UK and 21 other European Union member states have signed the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, better known as ACTA. [...]

"In the last few days, we have seen encouraging protests by Polish and other EU citizens, who are rightly concerned with the effect of ACTA on freedom of expression, access to medicines, but also access to culture and knowledge," La Quad spokesman Jérémie Zimmermann said in a statement.

"This important movement will further build up," Zimmermann added, noting the defeat in the US of the SOPA and PIPA copyright enforcement bills. "European citizens must reclaim democracy, against the harmful influence of corporate interests over global policy-making." [...]

http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/networking/2012/01/26/uk-signs-acta-as-activ...

Hactivists have attacked Polish government websites in protest at its intention to sign The Polish protests coincided with calls by advocacy group La Quadrature du Net for opposition to ACTA in the same way that stalled controversial Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA) in the US.to the international Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA)

Opponents of ACTA in Poland say the government has not carried out sufficient public consultation on the issue. But Polish officials say ACTA does not change Polish law or the rights of internet users and internet usage, according to the BBC.

The EU Parliament’s development committee’s first debate on its draft opinion report on ACTA is set to take place this week.

http://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/view/23444/anti-acta-hacktivists-at...

JURIST Guest Columnist Félix Tréguer, Policy and Legal Analyst at La Quadrature du Net, says that the recent ruling blocking the Copwatch website in France is just another instance of censorship under the Sarkozy government which prevents French citizens from learning of police abuse and engaging in democratic governance...

Far from being an isolated instance, the Copwatch case illustrates a pattern. In the past years, we have also seen a former government minister suing a 49-year-old woman for calling the minister a "liar" in the comment section of a video hosting platform [...]

Fortunately, the Internet provides the means for resisting censorship. When Guéant announced that he was going after Copwatch in late September, people were quick to lambaste his decision on social networks. In a matter of days, dozens of mirror websites replicating the original website appeared on other domain names.[...]

http://jurist.org/hotline/2011/11/felix-treguer-copwatch-restrictions.php

Von La Quadrature du Net gibt es ein neues Anti-ACTA-Mobilisierungsvideo, was sehr schön geworden ist

https://netzpolitik.org/2011/video-say-no-to-acta/

Civil liberties groups have broadly welcomed a resolution by the European Parliament's Industry Committee on Thursday that puts pressure on law-makers to come up with tougher rules in favor of net neutrality.

The content of the resolution has been hotly debated by the committee for a number of weeks and the end result is more strongly in favor of net neutrality than first envisioned.

It [...] includes a loophole, which risks being interpreted as accepting restrictions on mobile Internet on the pretext of alleged network congestion, according to La Quadrature du Net.

[...] Kroes must break away from her 'wait and see' approach and take action to effectively protect competition, innovation as well as citizens' freedom of expression and privacy online," said Jérémie Zimmermann, spokesman for La Quadrature du Net, a French online rights group.

http://www.cio.com.au/article/404955/european_parliament_gets_it_right_n...

The European Parliament has unanimously adopted a resolution on net neutrality that will place pressure on the European Commission to regulate ISPs to treat internet traffic equally.

The resolution calls on the commission to "guard that ISPs do not block, discriminate against, impair or degrade the ability of any person to use a service to access, use, send, post, receive or offer any content application or service of their choice, irrespective of source or target".

Jeremie Zimmermann, co-founder of La Quadrature du Net, an influential lobby group that framed parts of the text that has been issued to the commission, argues that although the wording of the text is weak, it will place pressure where it is needed.

"What is important is that it adds pressure to Neelie Kroes and her ‘wait and see' approach," he added.

http://www.computing.co.uk/ctg/news/2118875/european-commission-pressure...

A court here has ruled that French Internet service providers must block access to a Web site that shows pictures and videos of police officers arresting suspects, taunting protesters and allegedly committing acts of violence against members of ethnic minorities.

[...] free speech advocates reacted with alarm, saying the ruling, issued Friday, reflected a French tendency to restrict Internet freedoms.

“This court order illustrates an obvious will by the French government to control and censor citizens’ new online public sphere,” said Jérémie Zimmermann, spokesman for La Quadrature du Net, a Paris-based organization that campaigns against restrictions on the Internet.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/17/technology/court-orders-french-cop-wat...

The French national assembly [...] approved an article allowing fraud prevention authority DGCCRF to seek a judge's approval to require ISPs to block a website which breaks consumer protection law. [...] Internet users' association Quadrature du Net deplored that too many deputies still fail to understand the "great dangers" involved with website blocking, despite strong criticisms of web filtering.

http://www.telecompaper.com/news/assembly-votes-to-allow-courts-to-block...

Net neutrality should be here to stay, that’s why it’s a good idea to keep an eye on any violations and report those, thought two civil society groups.

In more detail, La Quadrature du Net (based in France) and Bits of Freedom (in Holland) have put together a website which would serve as a log for absolutely anyone who noticed a violation of the principal of net neutrality and wanted to report it. […]

http://www.broadbandwatcher.co.uk/european-activists-join-forces-to-keep...

Respect My Net é a nova plataforma online lançada por várias organizações para controlar as restrições de operadores aos seus serviços de Internet, na Europa. Os grupos pedem aos cidadãos para “nomear e envergonhar” as empresas de telecomunicações cuja política impõe restrições de acesso à Internet. […]

“A RespectMyNet.eu é uma plataforma online capaz de permitir aos cidadãos tornarem-se sentinelas da Internet”, explicou Jérémie Zimmermann, porta-voz do La Quadrature du Net. “Todos estão convidados a revelar qualquer bloqueio indevido ou limitação do seu acesso à Internet, e ajudar a identificar os operadores dedicados a essas práticas nocivas”, afirmou.

http://www.computerworld.com.pt/2011/09/23/organizacoes-querem-monitoriz...

A major Internet conference ended today in Paris with the publication of an official "Communiqué on Principles for Internet Policy-Making" (PDF). A key piece of these principles involves deputizing Internet providers to become Internet cops—cops that would act on the basis of "voluntary agreements" with content owners and other groups, not on national laws.

The resulting document has plenty of noncontroversial material about freedom of speech on the Internet and letting users run applications of their choice, but a key theme is that ISPs need to saddle up and slap on a badge; they're part of the posse now.

French group La Quadrature du Net went even further, saying that "the text's good opening principles are deeply undermined by copyright-related provisions calling for Internet actors to participate in an endless 'war on sharing' and granting them private police and justice missions."

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/06/civilized-high-level-glo...

Groups including La Quadrature du Net and the Electronic Frontier Foundation said they could not endorse the plan because it calls for private policing of the internet and would lead to censorship in the name of copyright protection.

“Under the pressure of the entertainment industries, the OECD is undermining the good principles laid in its framework for Internet policy-making,” said Jérémie Zimmermann, co-founder of the La Quadrature du Net.

The OECD draft Communiqué on Principles for Internet Policy-Making would make search engines and internet service providers play a more active role in monitoring copyright abuse, potentially becoming responsible for filtering and blocking access to websites that house copyright-infringing material.

http://www.computing.co.uk/ctg/news/2082311/online-rights-savage-oecds-c...

MPs in the Netherlands approved a bill on Wednesday that will make the country the first in Europe to enshrine net neutrality in law.

If the bill is approved by the Dutch senate, as is expected to occur, it will mean telecoms operators cannot, for example, charge customers an extra fee if they want to use VoIP services such as Skype. [...]

The law would also force operators to provide a minimum level of quality for their internet services. They are, however, allowed to offer different tiers of bandwidth at varying prices.

The French digital rights group La Quadrature du Net responded to the news of the law's approval by saying it was "excellent news and an example for all of Europe", while Dutch equivalent Bits of Freedom said it was "a crucial foundation for Internet freedom".

http://www.zdnet.co.uk/blogs/communication-breakdown-10000030/dutch-mps-...

French President Nicolas Sarkozy sparked fury among internet rights groups after he called for increased state internet control at last month's e-G8 forum.

However critics who were watching the two-day conference on the future of the internet, which preceded the official G8, argued that this was just another way for more government interference.

A joint statement from rights groups La Quadrature du Net and Access Now said: "The world's most developed economies are poised to impose strict copyright enforcement and heavy-handed government regulation of the internet.

http://www.computeractive.co.uk/ca/news/2075650/sarkozy-angers-privacy-p...

At the the inaugural eG8 Forum, President Nicolas Sarkozy would deliver a grand speech extolling the virtues of the Internet while cautioning against its excesses, making a case to the world that the dynamism of the online world should be civilized to respect privacy, security and intellectual property rights.

In an impromptu press conference held on the ground of the eG8 Forum, Jérémie Zimmermann, co-founder of La Quadrature du Net, Jarvis, Lessig, Benkler, former ICANN board member Susan P. Crawford, and Jean-François Julliard, director of Reporter Sans Frontières, all made it clear that there was not a consensus about the principles or rules of the road for the Internet.

Benkler was baffled that opposition to the open model of innovation persists after 15 years, as if "we've learned nothing," calling the assumptions made on the intellectual property panel on the first day of the eG8 laughable. "Whether liberty, equality or fraternity, we all have to be on the same page about retaining an open Net," he said.

http://radar.oreilly.com/2011/05/eg8-2011-internet-freedom-ip-copyright....

PARIS: French President Nicolas Sarkozy's "e-G 8" summit on the power of the internet suffered a technical hiccup when cyber-attacks disrupted the forum's wireless connection, organisers said on Wednesday. […]

Web freedom campaign group La Quadrature du Net rejected rumours […] "That shows that some people are ill at ease with our presence at the e-G 8," Jeremie Zimmermann , head of the group, which has fiercely criticised the stance of major delegates on online regulation, said. […]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/europe/Blow-to-Sarko-as-cyber-a...

The European Commission has published a policy blueprint for dealing with intellectual property rights, promising among other things to focus on service providers in the fight against online copyright infringement. […]

"All service providers concerned have to respect an appropriate level of care in their commercial operations," the Commission added, while stressing that the approach did not mean changing the safe harbour provisions of the e-Commerce Directive, which broadly protect service providers from liability for what goes on over their networks.

Nonetheless, the digital rights group La Quadrature du Net responded to the IPR Strategy by saying it was intended to force providers to police their users.

"The goal of EU authorities is to use technical means to block communications and restrict users' access in the name of enforcing an obsolete vision of copyright. "
– Jérémie Zimmermann, La Quadrature du Net

http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/intellectual-property/2011/05/25/eu-looks-to...

Introduces new “blueprint” for Intellectual Property Rights to “boost creativity and innovation.” Strategy involves preventing access to counterfeit goods and services online while at the same increasing and simplifying access to legitimate alternatives. […]

On the enforcement side the leading cause for concern is discussion of ISP “cooperation” in the fight against online infringement. […]

“Like the United States with the PROTECT IP Act, the goal of EU authorities is to use technical means to block communications and restrict users’ access in the name of enforcing an obsolete vision of copyright,” says Jérémie Zimmermann, spokesperson for La Quadrature du Net. “Such a scheme would lead to the establishment of a censorship infrastructure by online actors, technically similar to those currently used in authoritarian states. In the process, freedom of communication, privacy as well as the right to a fair trial would inevitably be undermined.” […]

The proposed changes include:

• creating a unitary patent-protection system so inventors would need to register only one patent covering most EU countries – reducing costs and red tape
• protecting brands more effectively through a modernised trademark system that is simpler, faster, more effective, efficient and consistent
• easing access to copyright-protected works, particularly online and including Europe’s cultural heritage

http://www.zeropaid.com/news/93526/european-commission-wants-isp-coopera...

The EU is on a downward path to endorsing Internet censorship as it will ask Internet service providers to help stop online piracy, argue lobbyists and digital rights campaigners on the eve of new copyright regulation. […]

Digital rights campaigners argue that the EU is about to weaken citizens' fundamental rights and give way to an already growing trend of censorship across the EU. […]

"On the pretext of giving up on sanctioning the users directly - such as in the 'three strikes' schemes, the Commission's plan would place the burden of enforcement and sanctioning on the Internet companies [...] so they will be policing and judging their users themselves. This is even more dangerous!" reads a statement from the open Internet NGO, La Quadrature du Net.

http://www.euractiv.com/en/infosociety/eu-copyright-policy-smacks-censor...

With blogs and Tweets oiling the wheels of revolutions in some countries and scans and downloads sparking trade disputes in others, the stakes are high for leaders seeking to promote and profit from the web but also to regulate it.

"Under the guise of a pseudo-consultative process, it is the governments' desire to control the Internet a bit more that is becoming apparent," French Internet freedom campaign group Le Quadrature du Net wrote on its website.
"Behind the smokescreen of this 'forum', citizens must hold world leaders more responsible for their actions and denounce the many continual breaches of their liberties."

Media freedom campaigners including Reporters Without Borders have criticised moves by some European countries, such as a recent French law making web users liable to prosecution if they illegally download films and music.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110522/ts_afp/g8franceinternetmediaindustry

Sarkozy's French government is hosting an "EG8" summit on Internet policy and have invited lots of technical people [...] the Sarkozy agenda is control and censorship. Jeremie from La Quadrature du Net sez :

"The Elysee (French Presidency) does not want to hear anything about cyberdissidents or freedom of expression, it wants 'control'." [...] (about the reasons behind the cancellation of a pre-G8 international conference on freedom of expression online)

This policy directly originated from the French presidency, and was imposed on the Foreign Affairs Ministry.[...]

http://www.boingboing.net/2011/05/20/france-lobbies-g8-fo.html

Members of the European Parliament have overwhelmingly backed plans to co-ordinate mobile broadband spectrum across the continent, in a move that could increase the spread of online connectivity.

Digital rights organisation La Quadrature du Net offered an enthusiastic reaction to the passed bill, noting that it supports shared and unlicensed use of spectrum, and therefore "paves the way for the development of the next generations of free wireless internet communications".

Amendments included in the adopted text encourage the use of the unused 'white spaces' between frequencies allocated to industries, as well as wireless mesh network technology, the group noted.

http://www.zdnet.co.uk/blogs/communication-breakdown-10000030/meps-back-...

High-speed Internet for all - including on mobile phones - and lower consumer prices are the main highlights of the European Commission's digital agenda, a five-year plan to ensure higher connectivity for EU citizens and business.

In an interview with EurActiv, EU Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes said interoperability would be at the centre of the Commission's efforts. Her plans, she explained, were designed to prevent dominant market players from locking consumers in to their technologies.

Jérémie Zimmermann [...] commented: "The whole Digital Agenda is the partly equivocal result of ongoing tensions within the Commission, but it also reveals intense pressure coming from corporate lobbies. While parts of the agenda are somewhat disappointing for open standards and Free Software users, the proposals are quite encouraging overall."

http://www.euractiv.com/en/innovation-enterprise/digital-agenda-connecti...

Despite claiming to support net neutrality, the European Commission has been criticized for not going far enough in its latest report released Tuesday. [...]

However, advocacy group, La Quadrature du Net, which promotes the rights and freedoms of citizens on the Internet, described the Commission's report as "extremely disappointing" and said Kroes was "hiding behind false liberal arguments that could undermine the freedom of communication and innovation in the digital environment."

"This report fails to offer a policy protecting the free, open and neutral Internet," said Felix Tréguer, records management officer at Quadrature du Net.

http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/225559/eus_net_neutrality_...

Neelie Kroes, the EU's telecom commissioner, explains changes in level of service and competition. The new directive will ensure that mobile phone and Internet providers will allow customers to switch within one day. [...]

"In practice, millions of users can only chose one operator to connect to the Internet, either because of geographical or commercial constraints," wrote La Quadrature du Net, a French Internet advocacy group, in a statement posted to its website on Tuesday.

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15001249,00.html

The European Commission will unveil proposals to foster a neutral and competitive Internet on Tuesday (19 April), drawing praise from big industry for its cautiousness while consumer groups and activists lament its lack of substance.

The EU paper admits that problems have been detected such as blocking of Internet telephony and anticompetitive traffic management, but also claims these have so far been dealt with by a national regulator or negative media coverage.

According to Jérémie Zimmermann, the founder of the Internet advocacy group, Bouygues, SFR and Orange [...] are already infringing net neutrality by banning VOIP, peer-to-peer file sharing and discussion forum newsgroups on their mobile connections.

http://www.euractiv.com/en/infosociety/eu-set-unveil-neutral-net-neutral...

La Quadrature du Net has welcomed the publishing of a cross party report that it said could serve as a benchmark for wider reaching European rules.

The group has published its own translation of the report, which calls for the preservation of the Internet's universality and would preserve end users' "fundamental freedoms".

"The report reveals a deep understanding of the technical, social, economic and political realities of the Internet, and of the huge importance of preserving its universality. The rapporteurs stress the importance of protecting Net neutrality, which is the guarantee of online freedom, refusing to sacrifice it in the name of telecoms operators' economic interest", said Jérémie Zimmerman, co-founder and spokesperson for La Quadrature du Net.

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2043672/europe-adopt-french-net...

THE EUROPEAN UNION PARLIAMENT has adopted amendments to the European Union Spectrum Policy that allows free use of airwaves by citizens.

[...] Internet freedom advocacy group La Quadrature du Net said the move would "lead to the development of the next generations of free wireless Internet communications".

Zimmermann added that he expects telecom companies to battle hard against it, saying, "We can be sure that the telecoms and broadcasting industries will lobby hard in order to remain in control of airwaves. For the sake of innovation and freedom of communication, it is crucial that wireless Internet become more open [...]

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2042935/eu-parliament-decides-r...

US negotiators wanted to make the Anti-counterfeiting Trade Agreement (Acta) a "freestanding agreement" to avoid scrutiny from international groupings such as the G-8 or OECD, according to diplomatic cables revealed by Wikileaks.

Wikileaks made available a number of Acta-related cables to the French digital rights campaign group La Quadrature du Net.

La Quadrature du Net said: "The history of Acta, as exposed by these US diplomatic cables, shows how an opaque and illegitimate process has led to ill-founded and unbalanced repressive provisions. As democratic representatives start debating over the ratification of Acta, they should reject Acta so as to protect democratic values and the rule of law."

http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2011/02/04/245222/Wikileaks-cable...