Press review
The press review catalogues press articles related to la Quadrature's issues, compiled by its volunteers.
See also our French press review.
[TheInquirer] Digital liberties group wants to shine a light on all ACTA and TAFTA discussions
There are move afoot in Sweden that could shine a light on the murky dealings that surround anti-counterfeiting trade agreements.
Linus Nordberg, a Swedish advocate and developer for Tor, and representative of the Föreningen för digitala froch rättigheter (DFRI), or the Association for Digital Liberties, has sent a letter to the president of the European Parliament in which he asks for clarity over ACTA treaties and a full release of documents. [...]
The timing is perhaps key. The request follows movements towards the Trans-Atlantic Free Trade Agreement, or TAFTA, a joint American and European legislative initiative that US President Obama announced in his State of the Union address. [...]
"[ACTA] was a wake up call for many of us in the European Union member states, that the European Parliament lacked the will or the power, whichever would be the worst I don't know, to let the people ultimately affected by the upcoming legislation learn what was at stake," he said. [...]
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2251585/digital-liberties-group...
[PuntoInformatico] HADOPI, assalto a quel che non è P2P
L'Autorità francese è pronta a far calare la sua ghigliottina sulle piattaforme che ospitano contenuti in streaming o in modalità direct download. Rischierebbero il sequestro dei domini, come previsto dalla contestata SOPA [...]
Vibranti proteste da parte dei responsabili del gruppo La Quadrature du Net: HADOPI metterebbe a repentaglio la libera espressione sul web con un regime anti-pirateria basato sul ricatto. Nel nuovo report dell'Autorità, tutte quelle piattaforme non intenzionate a collaborare rischierebbero le punizioni più severe, da eventuali sanzioni pecuniarie al blocco o al sequestro di domini e indirizzi IP. [...]
http://punto-informatico.it/3730864/PI/News/hadopi-assalto-quel-che-non-...
[EuropaQuotidiano] Facebook, i Big Data e la fine della privacy
Anticipiamo un articolo di James Fontanella, editorialista del Financial Times, tratto dal numero di "East" in uscita domani. Il Grande fratello nell'epoca dello smartphone [...]
Secondo Jérémie Zimmermann di La Quadrature Du Net, un gruppo di tutela dei diritti degli utenti Internet, il Parlamento europeo è facilmente influenzabile dalle grandi corporation statunitensi contrarie all’inasprimento delle norme sulla privacy. [...]
Le grandi imprese attive sul Web dovranno dar prova di moderazione e disponibilità a sacrificare parte dei loro utili per tenersi stretti i clienti. Se non lo capiscono, i politici di Bruxelles dovranno fare il possibile per difendere i loro netizen. In caso contrario, assisteremo forse alla nostra prima rivoluzione internet: «Liberté, égalité, fraternité 2.0». [...]
http://www.europaquotidiano.it/2013/02/28/facebook-i-big-data-e-la-fine-...
[ArsTechnica] France’s “Three Strikes” anti-piracy regime may target streaming sites
Here in the United States, five major ISPs nationwide are rolling out the Copyright Alert System, aka the “six strikes” plan. Verizon became the latest to join the fun, alerting its customers on Wednesday of the new rules. [...]
The French tech news site Numérama summed up the proposal in one word: blackmail. The Paris-based Internet advocacy organization, La Quadrature du Net, has compared this new proposal to the defeated ACTA and SOPA measures.
“Currently confined to the fight against file sharing between individuals, Hadopi now wants to extend its control to Internet intermediaries such as hosting services, search engines, Internet service providers, or online payment services,” the organization wrote in a statement on Wednesday. [...]
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/02/frances-three-strikes-anti-pi...
[SPIEGEL ] European Activists Could Thwart US-EU Trade Deal
Consumer watchdogs, Internet activists and European farmers are gearing up to fight the planned trade agreement between Europe and the United States. Many in Europe are worried that politicians will make backroom deals at the expense of consumers. [...]
Jérémie Zimmermann, one of the organizers of the anti-ACTA movement, believes the time will soon come for new protests. The spokesman for the Paris-based organization La Quadrature du Net can prove that old paragraphs from the failed ACTA were inserted into a preliminary version of the proposed Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), which the European Commission is currently negotiating with the Canadians and whch could serve as a blueprint for the treaty with the Americans. [...]
"It's a favorite game of the entertainment industry to hijack free trade agreements for their own purposes," says Zimmermann. He sees democracy at risk when negotiations concerning the future of all people are conducted behind closed doors. "Millions of citizens can be mobilized if their freedoms are threatened," he says. [...]
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/plan-for-trans-atlantic-trade-...
[TorrentFreak] “Six Strikes” Anti-Piracy Scheme Starts Monday
The much-discussed U.S. six strikes anti-piracy scheme is expected to go live on Monday. The start date hasn’t been announced officially by the CCI but a source close to the scheme confirmed the plans. During the coming months millions of BitTorrent users will be actively monitored by copyright holders. After repeated warnings, Internet subscribers risk a heavy reduction in download speeds and temporary browsing restrictions. [...]
We previously learned that AT&T will block users’ access to some of the most frequently visited websites on the Internet, until they complete a copyright course. Verizon will slow down the connection speeds of repeated pirates, and Time Warner Cable will temporarily interrupt people’s ability to browse the Internet. [...]
Also, those who download through Usenet, cyberlockers or other non-P2P services can not be monitored by the copyright alert system at all. [...]
https://torrentfreak.com/six-strikes-anti-piracy-scheme-starts-monday-13...
[EuObserver] Euro-deputies weaken data protection law
A handful of euro-deputies in the industry committee (Itre) have introduced industry-backed amendments that weaken a draft EU regulation on protecting people's private data on the Internet. [...]
“The effect of the adopted text would be to effectively rip up decades of privacy legislation in Europe, undermining trust and confidence - to the detriment of both citizens and business,” said the Brussels-based NGO, European Digital Rights (EDRi), in a statement following the vote earlier this week. [...]
Pro-privacy advocates argue that all the data, pseudonymous or not, should come under the data protection regulation. [...]
[TheRegister] Privacy warriors slam MEPs over 'corporate-friendly' data law rewrite
Privacy campaigners are up in arms about a European Parliament committee's decision to adopt a drafted opinion on data protection that some have argued further waters down Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding's proposed rewrite of DP law. [...]
Digital activists at La Quadrature Du Net agreed that the decision was a disaster for privacy law in Europe and urged EU citizens to lobby their MEPs hard and to complain about big corporations influencing the rewrite of data protection law. [...]
Among proposals understood to have been adopted, personal data would be processed by third parties without a legal requirement to inform consumers if they can prove "legitimate interest" about such action. The EDRi argued that such a "bizarre" move would completely freeze out a citizen's control of their own data, thereby rendering the "entire legislative measure close to meaningless". [...]
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/02/22/european_parliament_industry_com...
[V3] Outrage as MEPs accused of amending data law proposals after Google and Amazon lobbying
A vote by Members of European Parliament (MEP) on new data protection laws has drawn outrage after they were accused of watering down the proposals to appease large corporations like Amazon, Google and BT. [...]
However, others were less than impressed, with advocacy group La Quadrature du Net saying the vote jeopardized citizens' privacy at the expense of big business.
[They] "have voted to water down the safeguards protecting our privacy, as corporate lobbies had hoped," it said in a statement.
"The lobbying pressure in the European Parliament from industrial actors has reached a state of unique intensity." [...]
http://www.v3.co.uk/v3-uk/news/2249727/outrage-as-meps-accused-of-amendi...
[CSOOnline] EU Parliament makes more than 900 changes to data privacy law
IDG News Service — The European Parliament's industry committee has approved more than 900 amendments to proposed new data protection laws. [...]
But according to Jeremie Zimmermann of La Quadrature Du Net, "Most of the compromise amendments attempt to modify the report by relaxing the obligations made to actors collecting personal data."
Digital activists are concerned about text that would allow companies that control data and third parties to process personal data without informing consumers, on grounds of "legitimate interest" except where such interests are overridden by the interests or fundamental rights and freedoms of the data subject. [...]
http://www.csoonline.com/article/729165/eu-parliament-makes-more-than-90...
