Paris, 28 February 2013 — Following an intergovernmental seminar on digital policy [fr], French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault announced a law “on the protection of digital rights and freedoms” for early 2014. While this announcement offers hope for the defense of freedoms online, recent statements made by members of the French government suggest it is not yet ready to break away from the repressive trend initiated by its predecessors.
The law announced by Jean-Marc Ayrault at the end of the intergovernmental seminar on digital policy alludes to a number of improvements regarding the protection of freedoms online, among which the possible legal protection of Net neutrality which is once again delayed (our translation):
If, once the National Digital Council (Conseil national du numérique) has expressed its opinion on Net neutrality, there appears to be a legal loophole in the protection of freedom of expression and communication on the Internet [then] the government will offer legislative dispositions.
After the roundtable organized in January in response to customer access restrictions by Free (French ISP), Fleur Pellerin, the French Minister for the Digital Economy, had committed to announcing at the end of February [fr] the government’s intention to legislate or not on Net neutrality, based on the National Digital Council’s opinion.
Unfortunately, the government seems to be reducing the stakes of freedom of expression online to that of Net neutrality protection. Yet, though the latter is of course crucial to preserve the universal architecture of the Internet, it is not enough in and of itself.
In the meantime, other announcements and statements by the government – such as the return of administrative filtering of websites, which was thought to be dead and buried
Source: http://lelab.europe1.fr/t/une-loi-taubira-sur-les-droits-et-libertes-numeriques-debut-2014-au-plus-tard-7758 [fr]
“The government does as if Net neutrality was the sole issue at stake in the protection of freedom of expression online. In the meantime, we see a resurgence of the sarkozyst rhetoric of considering Internet a dangerous lawless zone
Source: http://wiredpolis.tumblr.com/post/42835169471/liberte-dexpression-un-debat-revelateur-au-senat [fr]
To get more information and discuss this, you can visit our forum.