News

The European chapters of the Internet Society have issued a press release that develops an strong argumented stand against the three-strikes approach proposed by the French Olivennes law. Various amendments to the telecom package in the European Parliament try to pave the way for the introduction of this law and similar European regulation.

Read the text of ISOC's press release

"I want to see everything and know everything." - Nicolas Sarkozy, 2006, on video-surveillance

Paris May 13, 2007 - La Quadrature du Net (Squaring the Net) is worried about amendments endangering privacy tabled by the rapporteurs of the Culture Committee of the European Parliament. They fit into the consideration of two proposals framework directives known as "Telecoms Package" [1].

Paris, May 6, 2008. La Quadrature du Net (Squaring the Net) has obtained the latest version of the French Olivennes bill about "flexible response" against internet users, which is currently being studied by the State Council. [1] Its content is further evidence for the extremism of its drafters.

Paris, April 30th, 2008. Hervé Rony, spokesperson for the SNEP (french syndicate of the record industry), declared yesterday that « it would not be acceptable » that the "flexible response" would not be examined before summer by the French Parliament. He added that it would be «  a bit late  if the Olivennes law was voted before the end of July.

La Quadrature du Net (Squaring the net) reminds the french government and SNEP that one does not make laws in a rush about such important subjects as the regulation of civil liberties on the Internet and the development of digital economy... and that « the coffers are empty » as the french president Nicolas Sarkozy said.

Specifically, the Olivennes law, through which families and companies would be banned from the Internet without any trial, was judged in contradiction with the Human Rights by the European Parliament.

In Spain, the project of Nicolas Sarkozy to extend at European level flexible response (three strikes approach) make a noise.

The spanish press informs the public about the emergence of an international opposition. El Pais, 20minutos, and others published articles about La Quadrature du Net.

Ever since DADVSI, the French implementation of the European Copyright Directive, Internet users in France have faced increasingly disproportionate threats of punishment for claims of copyright infringement. The latest scheme promoted by the content industry against unauthorized sharing of music and films on Internet is called "flexible response" or "three strikes, you're dead".

After studying the votes of the french MEPs, Squaring the Net analyzed the vote of the April 10, 2008 by country, crossed with the NRI index. It is obvious that the french graduated response project, initiated by Nicolas Sarkozy, was rejected by the countries the most able to adapt to the digital economy.

Paris, Thursday, April 10. The European Parliament adopted a resolution this morning which commits the member states - therefore France - "to avoid adopting measures conflicting with civil liberties and human rights and with the principles of proportionality, effectiveness and dissuasiveness, such as the interruption of Internet access."[1] This vote proves that the system of graduated response that Nicolas Sarkozy wants France to adopt quickly and to extend to Europe during the French Presidency of the EU, is seen as contrary to human rights by a majority of MEPs.

Reproduced by permission of Warren Communications News, Inc., 800-771-9202, www.warren-news.com

A new French citizens' lobbying group wants public debate on Internet-related regulation affecting human rights and freedoms, one of its organizers told us Friday. "Squaring the Net" (La quadrature du net) hopes to help spur a "societal movement which we feel is ready to develop," said Philippe Aigrain, director of the Society for Public Information Spaces.