Freedom of expression online

A seminar in the European Parliament May 5:th 2011 hosted by Greens/EFA.

Part 1: Jörg Polakiewicz (Council of Europe), Erich Möchel (Austrian investigative journalist), Rafik Dammak (internet activist and blogger via Skype from Tunisia) & Caroline de Cock (N-square consulting).

Freedom of expression online, Part 1 by Henrik Alexandersson

Part 2: Petter Ericson (Telecomix), Gerard de Graaf (EC DG Information Society and Media), Susan Morgan (Global Network Initiative) & Smari McCarthy (Icelandic Modern Media Institute).

Freedom of expression online, Part 2 by Henrik Alexandersson

All is intresting. End of part one extra god. Part 2 = Hot, with interventions by Joe McNamee (EDRi).

Enjoy!

[Direct link] Downloadable. CC=0.

Orwellian

A soceity built on a supicious mindset...

ACTA: Do they really want to risk their brands?

There is a lot of buzz about ACTA. This international trade agreement was ment to stop counterfeit handbags, jeans, watches and other goods. I have no objections to that.

Then the film- and music industry got envolved. File sharing became an issue. And suddenly there are leaks suggesting that ACTA will contain copyright focused measures related to the internet.

Apparently there are discussions about disconnecting filesharers from the internet, internet cable operators having to inspect and filter traffic etc. – in these secret negosiations.

Rumors even suggests that customs officers will have to inspect laptops, smartphones and MP3-players in the hunt for copyright protected material. All of this is simply bad, as it is in conflict with citizens rights and an open internet for all.

Now, this should be food for thought for all the companies whos' products originally was going to be protected by ACTA – before it expanded to filesharing and copyright related issues.

Do the owners of Nike, Boss, Diesel, Camel, Swatch and all other trendy brands really want to be associated with internet censorship, limitations of freedom of information and measures that infringes on peoples privacy?

Imagine the harm that will be done to brands like Adidas, Marlboro and Prada if they where to be considered responsible for hunting down a generation of young people on the internet!

If I where in their shoes – I would use all my influense to get all references to file sharing, internet filtering etc. out of the ACTA trade agreement. Anti counterfeit, yes! Hunting file sharers, no!

EU Telecoms Package: We might have won...

Press Release from the Swedish Pirate Party

EU negotiations on Telecoms Package completed

Earlier this night there was an agreement in the negotiations on the EU Telecoms Package.

First of all, it is notable that the European Parliament delegation stod up and managed to maintain support for the principle that Member States should not be allowed to disconnect people from the internet without prior judicial procedure. This is more than most people expected when the meetings began Wednesday evening.

"It is a plesant surprise that the European Parliament stod firm on this principle. This is a direct result of the hard work by thousands upon thousands of Internet users. They have contacted their politicians, networked on blogs and raised media attention on this issue. Without them, there would have been no progress on this in political circles" Cristian Engström, Swedish Pirate MEP, says.

Until the very last minutes of the negotiations in the EP delegation, there was a discussion about Member States possibility to cut people of from the Internet without prior judicial procedure. This will only be possible in situations of extreme national emergency (European Convention, article 15). There hould be no possibility to use this legal framework to disconnect e.g. file sharers from the net.

If a Member State wants to cut citizens of from the net in other cases (like in France), this must be under strict rules respecting citizens rights. The judicial procedure shall be prior to the measures taken. It should respect the principle of presumption of innocence and the right to privacy. This must be done with respect for general principles of Community law, including effective judicial protection, due process and the right to be heard of the person or persons concerned. All measures must respect the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

"I think it would have been very difficult to get a text with a wider protection of citizens rights. It is possible that the text now at hand is more far reaching in this respect than any other that have been discussed. But still, I must stress that we think it is wrong for governments to cut people of from the Internet at all" Christian Engström concludes.

The European Parliament will confirm this agreement in a vote at its' November session.

More information:

The final text is to be found on Christian Engströms blog.

There you can also find the different proposals and posts about the negotiation process this autumn.

More information:

Christian Engström (PP), MEP, The Swedish Pirate Party
+46 706 633 780

Rick Falkvinge (PP), leader of the Swedish Pirate Party
+46 708 303 600

Henrik Alexandersson at MEP Engströms office in the EP
+32 484 088 770 (mobile) or +32 228 47368

[In Swedish]

(Please excuse any misspellings and / or half-baked language, as this is translated at 4.30 in the morning from a material that is partly in legal English written by people from many different countries.)

EU Telecoms Package: The week ahead

Wednesday (Nov 4:th) there will be another round of negosiations on the EU Telecoms Package.

Some seems to expect this to be a speedy affair. Swedens minister of infrastructure Åsa Torstensson (representing the Swedish EU Presidency) and EU Commissioner Vivian Reding have anounced their presense. And thursday morning the leaders of the European Parliaments delegation to the Conciliation Committee on the EU Telecoms Package will hold a press conference to 9 a.m. The boot in our face?

Wednesday afternoon begins with strategy talks in the political groups in the EP. 7 p.m. the EP delegation will meet. 8 p.m. there will be a trialogue meeting (leaders of the EP and Council delegations + the Commission). And at 9 p.m. there will either be a new trialogue or a meeting with the full Consoliation Committee (27 from the EP and 27 from the Council). (This might take a while. Make some sandwiches and put the kettle on.)

I suspect that the European Council expects this whole affair to be wraped up this week. But there is no reason for the parliament to rush things. The consiliation rules give us until the end of the year to handle this matter.

[In Swedish]