Press review
The press review catalogues press articles related to la Quadrature's issues, compiled by its volunteers.
See also our French press review.
[Zeit Online] Netzsperren durch die internationale Hintertür
Bestandteile der geheimen Verhandlungen um das Handelsabkommen ACTA sind nach außen gedrungen: Demnach drohen europaweit Netzsperren im Fall von Urheberrechtsverstößen.
Schon seit Anfang 2008 wird hinter verschlossenen Türen über ein Abkommen verhandelt, das dem Fälschen von Produkten, aber auch dem digitalen Datenklau den Garaus machen soll. Derzeit verhandeln Vertreter der USA, der EU, Japans und 8 weiterer Staaten in der südkoreanischen Hauptstadt Seoul den Teil des so genannten Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), den Kritiker bereits als „Schutzabkommen für die US-Entertainment-Branche“ bezeichnen. Kommt mit ACTA europaweit die Internetsperre, wie sie auch die hoch umstrittene französische Hadopi-Regel vorsieht?
http://www.zeit.de/digital/mobil/2009-11/acta-verhandlungen-zugangssperren
[Wired] Copyright Treaty Is Policy Laundering at Its Finest
At issue is the internet section of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement being developed under a cloak of secrecy by dozens of countries. The leaked document is a three-page European Commission memo written by an unnamed EU official, which purports to summarizes a private briefing given in September by U.S. trade officials.
The language in the Sept. 30 memo shows the United States wants ISPs around the world to punish suspected, repeat downloaders with a system of “graduated response” — code for a three-strikes policy that results in the customer eventually being disconnected from the internet with the ISP alone deciding what constitutes infringement and fair use.
While the proposal specifically says that three strikes wouldn’t be mandated, it might as well be. That’s because companies that refused to implement the policy would be ejected from the immunity or “safe harbor” that otherwise protects them from copyright infringement lawsuits over the actions of their customers.
Obama hasn’t asked Congress to implement a three-strike policy, which could anger consumers and watchdog groups. But if the administration gets three strikes written into ACTA, and the United States signs and ratifies the treaty, Congress would be obliged to change the DMCA to comply with it, while the administration throws its hands in the air and says, “It wasn’t our idea! It’s that damn treaty!”
That practice is common enough to have a name: policy laundering.
[Boingboing] Secret copyright treaty leaks. It's bad. Very bad.
The internet chapter of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, a secret copyright treaty whose text Obama's administration refused to disclose due to "national security" concerns, has leaked. It's bad. It says:
* That ISPs have to proactively police copyright on user-contributed material.
* That ISPs have to cut off the Internet access of accused copyright infringers or face liability.
* That the whole world must adopt US-style "notice-and-takedown" rules that require ISPs to remove any material that is accused -- again, without evidence or trial -- of infringing copyright.
* Mandatory prohibitions on breaking DRM
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/11/03/secret-copyright-tre.html
[EuroActiv] Telecoms package to end uncontested
The EU is reportedly on the cusp of undermining Internet users' fundamental freedoms for good as the European Council is putting pressure on MEPs to agree to a watered-down version of the telecoms package tomorrow (4 November), making it possible to cut off the Web connections of suspected illegal downloaders without a fair trial.
According to sources, a conciliation committee, the third and final phase of EU law-making, will run late into tomorrow night (4 November), sparking fears among MEPs that they will be forced to agree to the Council's version of the package, eliminating Internet users' right to a fair trial. [...]
The new wording shows that the Parliament is now willing to agree with the Council, argues Jérémie Zimmermann, from La Quadrature du Net, an Internet advocacy NGO.
The new text, which reads "any measures may only be adopted as a result of a prior, fair and impartial procedure," was tabled by re-elected S&D MEP Catherine Trautmann, who before the June elections had fought hard to keep references to a judicial authority.
'New text not Hadopi-proof' [...]
http://www.euractiv.com/en/infosociety/telecoms-package-uncontested/arti...
[EFF] Leaked ACTA Internet Provisions: Three Strikes and a Global DMCA
Negotiations on the highly controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement start in a few hours in Seoul, South Korea. This week's closed negotiations will focus on "enforcement in the digital environment." Negotiators will be discussing the Internet provisions drafted by the US government. No text has been officially released but as Professor Michael Geist and IDG are reporting, leaks have surfaced. The leaks confirm everything that we feared about the secret ACTA negotiations. The Internet provisions have nothing to do with addressing counterfeit products, but are all about imposing a set of copyright industry demands on the global Internet, including obligations on ISPs to adopt Three Strikes Internet disconnection policies, and a global expansion of DMCA-style TPM laws. [...]
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/11/leaked-acta-internet-provisions-thr...
[The Wall Street Jounal] Net Neutrality: Spur to Entrepreneurship . . .
Last Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) proposed a rule intended to preserve the ability of individuals to access all lawful content or software without interference by their Internet service provider (ISP). This principle often goes by the name "net neutrality," reflecting the idea that the ISP should be neutral as to the content people choose to access over their Internet connection.
The fundamental technologies of the Internet have always been open; the FCC's proposed rules would merely preserve that openness. The principle that any "bit" of information is treated the same as any other bit is a defining characteristic of the Internet; it is a central aspect of the design that has lead to the unprecedented impact of the Internet on our lives.
Our company, Mozilla, which produces the Firefox Web browser, is but one example of the innovation and participation made possible by an open Internet. As a small, unknown start-up we were able to coordinate the actions of people worldwide to build Firefox with access to Internet facilities on the same terms as well-funded entities.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870357360457449044102704951...
[EurActiv] L’UE s’attaquera aux droits d’auteurs sur les livres numériques en 2010
La Commission européenne va établir des systèmes d’autorisation de droits multimédias simples et efficaces en termes de coûts concernant la numérisation d’œuvres publiées et leur disponibilité sur Internet, a-t-elle annoncé cette semaine (19 octobre). [...]
The legal implications of digitisation en masse and the potential costs for rights clearance are the two main issues that emerged from a consultation with libraries, publishers and other stakeholders.
The Commission says it will deal with the copyright aspects of digital publishing in the context of a new strategy on intellectual property rights in 2010. [...]
Internal Market [...]
Rights clearance too expensive [...]
Orphan works still undefined [...]
Creating a European solution [...]
http://www.euractiv.com/fr/societe-information/ue-attaquera-droits-auteu...
[Arstechnica] EFF opens the "Takedown Hall of Shame"
Missing that wonderful surge of anger that comes from hearing about some bogus attempt at shutting down free speech with a DMCA takedown notice? The EFF has you covered, opening a new "Hall of Shame" to highlight the worst of the worst.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is a big fan of naming and shaming. When it launched its patent-busting project a few years back, the activist group put up a "Wanted by EFF marshals" poster; eight of the ten patents on the list have already been narrowed, invalidated, or reexamined
A careful look at the list is instructive. The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) is on the list because gay-marriage supporters somehow got hold of the audition tapes for NOM's best-known ad, tapes that were then aired on the Rachel Maddow show on MSNBC. NOM sent a takedown notice.
One other item of interest: Big Content is represented less than one might think. The complete list does mention NBC, NPR, Warner Music, CBS News, and Universal Music, but it's dominated by smaller, non-media players like Union Square Partnership, Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, Uri Geller, Diebold, and DeBeers.
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/10/eff-opens-the-takedown-h...
[euobserver] European parliament abandons internet cut-off struggle
On 6 October, telecoms ministers formally rejected the parliament's key amendment - the now infamous Amendment 138.
France-France-based internet freedom pressure group La Quadrature du Net calls the compromise text "useless legalese" that essentially only restates existing rights protections and does nothing to explicitly rule out internet blocking.
"Amendment 138 will instead be replaced by a weak provision that does not carry any new important safeguard for citizen's freedoms," said spokesman for the group, Jeremie Zimmerman.
"This decision was taken consciously by rapporteur Catherine Trautmann, in order not to risk a confrontation with the Council [representing the member states] and to quickly finish with the telecoms package."
Mr Zimmerman said pressure from France and other member states has been fierce.
"Ministers of member states, who want to be able to regulate the net without interference from the judiciary, were rushing to kill amendment 138 and put an end to the negotiations."
[sueddeutsche.de] Der Einfluss der Lobby
Am Donnerstag hat der französische Verfassungsrat Internetsperren für Raubkopierer gebilligt. Nach dem sogenannten Hadopi-Gesetz können Richter illegales Herunterladen von Software, Musik oder Filmen mit einer Sperre des Internetanschlusses sanktionieren.
Jérémie Zimmermann ist Mitbegründer von La Quadrature, einer Bürgerrechtsorganisation, die gegen das Gesetz kämpft (eine Liste ihrer Geldgeber finden Sie hier).
sueddeutsche.de: Monsieur Zimmermann, was halten Sie von diesem Urteil?
Jérémie Zimmermann : Der Tag der Urteilsverkündung war ein trauriger Tag für die Internetfreiheit in Frankreich. Jérémie Zimmermann: The day the verdict was a sad day for Internet freedom in France. Immerhin: Das erste Gesetz war ein Albtraum, weil sie der neuen Regierungsbehörde Hadopi das Recht gegeben hätte, eigenhändig über die Sperre von Internetzugängen entscheiden. Nevertheless: The first law was a nightmare because they had the new government authority Hadopi given the right to decide his own hand on the lock of Internet access. Diese Entscheidung liegt künftig beim Richter. This decision is in future to judge. Aber das ändert nichts daran, dass es ein gefährliches Gesetz ist. But the fact remains that it is a dangerous law.
sueddeutsche.de: Der Kulturminister hat das Urteil begrüßt ...
Zimmermann: Frankreich ist das einzige Land, in dem das Internet von einem Kulturminister geregelt wird. Jeder weiß, dass dort die Musik- und Filmindustrie oder Verwertungsorganisationen wie die französische Variante der Gema einen ungeheuren Einfluss besitzen, zumal sie Staatspräsident Nicolas Sarkozy im Wahlkampf ja unterstützt haben. Ich saß einmal mit dem Cheflobbyisten der französischen Filmindustrie zusammen, und der hat mir ins Gesicht gesagt: "Ich bin im Kulturministerium zu Hause."
sueddeutsche.de: Aber vom EU-Parlament gab es Gegenwind.
Zimmermann: Den gab es zu Anfang, das Parlament hat zwischenzeitlich sogar das Telekom-Paket blockiert, das das Telekommunikationswesen in Europa neu regeln sollte. Die Parlamentarier wollten einen Passus, der sicherstellt, dass Nutzern der Internetzugang nur nach einer richterlichen Anordnung gesperrt werden kann. Doch Sarkozy hat einen Brief an Baroso geschrieben, er werde das nicht akzeptieren, da wurde dann von französischer Seite sehr starker Druck aufgebaut. Im neuen Kompromissvorschlag, den das Parlament dem EU-Rat vorlegen wird, ist von der richterlichen Einschränkung keine Rede mehr.
