Net neutrality | La Quadrature du Net

Net neutrality

Spanish Presidency: Hostile to Net neutrality

Submitted on 11 March 2010
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The final "Granada Strategy" document by the Spanish Presidency, which lays out Spain's views on the future of European information society policies, has now been circulated.

EU: Digital Inquisition against an open Internet?

Submitted on 05 March 2010
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As Spain holds the rotating Presidency of the EU Council, it is currently defining a European strategy for the "Digital Agenda". A draft document regarding what Spain calls the "Granada Strategy" reveals unacceptable orientations toward handing the control of the Internet to telecoms operators, sacrificing Net neutrality.

[NYTimes] Skype in a Struggle to Be Heard on Mobile Phones

Submitted on 17 February 2010
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BARCELONA, Spain — Josh Silverman, the chief executive of Skype, the voice-over-Internet phone service, could tick off the names of mobile phone operators that block his company’s service. [...]

However, the barriers to Skype and similar Internet calling services, like Google Voice, are coming under increasing scrutiny as the Internet goes mobile. By 2013, the number of Internet-ready mobile phones will surpass the number of computers in the world for the first time, according to Gartner, a research firm.

[ArsTechnica] Move over, Australia: France taking 'Net censorship lead

Submitted on 17 February 2010
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Critics of government-mandated filtering schemes contend that such programs first focus on "child pornography" because it's such an unobjectionable target for censorship—but once the program is in place, it's much easier to extend it to more controversial areas, such as copyright protection. At least the French have the decency to admit that this is what's happening.

The French lower house, the National Assembly, has just passed a security bill known as LOPPSI2, [...]

Iceland to become a model for freedom of communication

Submitted on 15 February 2010
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Paris, February 15th, 2009 - Tomorrow, a parliamentarian resolution will be submitted in Iceland in order to turn the country into a model for freedom of expression on the Internet. Far away from the conservative vision displayed by many confused governments who try to control freedom of communication on the Net through "three strikes", Internet blocking or the ACTA, this would be a historic event. La Quadrature du Net supports this project and congratulates the coalition of Icelandic Parliamentarians at the origin of the initiative.

EU Council Presidency: Spain pushes for flawed Net policies

Submitted on 12 February 2010
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Last week, the Spanish Presidency of the EU Council came up with a new draft resolution1 in response to the Commission's communication on enhancing the enforcement of intellectual property rights (IPR) in the internal market.

[Update - March 5th, 2010: The resolution has been adopted by the Council with no significant changes.]

  1. 1. http://www.laquadrature.net/files/Revised_proposal_for_a_Council_Resolut...

[TheInquirer] France falls under Internet censorship

Submitted on 11 February 2010
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THE FRENCH PARLIAMENT has buckled under pressure and approved the Sarkozy government's authoritarian plans to censor the Internet.

Hillary on Internet freedoms

Submitted on 24 January 2010
in
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« We stand for a single internet where all of humanity has equal access to knowledge and ideas. And we recognize that the world’s information infrastructure will become what we and others make of it. Now, this challenge may be new, but our responsibility to help ensure the free exchange of ideas goes back to the birth of our republic. »

Hillary Clinton, U.S Secretary of State.

[NYTimes] Clinton Urges Global Response to Internet Attacks

Submitted on 22 January 2010
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WASHINGTON — Declaring that an attack on one nation’s computer networks “can be an attack on all,” Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton issued a warning on Thursday that the United States would defend itself from cyberattacks, though she left unclear the means of response. [...]

[guardian.co.uk] Will Google stand up to France and Italy, too?

Submitted on 20 January 2010
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The stand against China will rightly be lauded. But western states also imperil internet freedom

[...]

In the past several years, internet censorship has spread rapidly throughout a range of political systems. According to the Open Net Initiative, a consortium of academics and computer scientists who track censorship trends, the number of countries that censor the internet has gone from a handful a decade ago to almost 40 today – and the censorship club's fastest growing membership segment consists of democracies. [...]

[Arstechnica] Game developers warn FCC of "balkanized" Internet

Submitted on 20 January 2010
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A team of online game developers and boosters told the Federal Communications Commission on Thursday about worries that the big ISPs could fragment the Internet with "pay-for-priority" arrangements, causing economic troubles for the gaming industry similar to those created by mobile access providers.

Commissioner Kroes commits herself to Net neutrality

Submitted on 15 January 2010
in

Paris, January 15th, 2010 - Yesterday, the ITRE committee of the European Parliament led the hearing of Commissioner-designate for the Digital Agenda, Mrs. Neelie Kroes.

Commissioner Kroes addressed a number of issues regarding freedoms in the networked society, expressing a positive opinion regarding amendment 1381 and praising interoperability standards. She also indicated her strong support in favor of Net neutrality.

  1. 1. Amendment 138 of the Telecoms Package, voted twice by an 88% majority of the European Parliament, provided that" no restriction may be imposed on the fundamental rights and freedoms of end-users, without a prior ruling by the judicial authorities". After strong opposition from the Member States, it was eventually replaced by a weaker provision in November 2009.

La Quadrature's response to the EU 2020 consultation

Submitted on 14 January 2010
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La Quadrature du Net submitted its response to the EU 2020 consultation launched by the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso.

To make the knowledge society a reality, La Quadrature calls on the Commission to focus on Internet users' rights regarding access to information commons, particularly by mandating Net neutrality and reforming the European copyright regime.