[IP] Love those Eurocrats! New advances in censorship and DMCAing [fs]
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Date: Wed, 07 Apr 2004 12:57:06 -0500
From: Declan McCullagh <declan@xxxxxxxx>
The GILC News Alert is the newsletter of the Global Internet Liberty
Campaign, an international coalition of organizations working to protect
and enhance online civil liberties and human rights.
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[2] Showdown looms for controversial French digital economy bill
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The French Senate is expected to start discussions soon on a proposal
that critics say will erode civil liberties online.
The French digital economy bill (known as le projet de loi sur la
confiance dans l'économie numérique or LEN), which is supposed to help
France comply with a June 2000 European Union (EU) directive, includes
language that would make Internet service providers liable for content
on websites that they host. More specifically, they would have to "act
promptly" to take down material "after becoming aware of their unlawful
nature" or face legal retribution-a process that currently requires
judicial approval. The bill also essentially eliminates the doctrine
that email should be treated as "private correspondence," creating the
possibility that such messages can be more easily intercepted by third
parties. The French Senate is expected to debate the proposal on 8 April
2004; the National Assembly has already adopted a version of the bill.
The plan have drawn fire from several quarters for months. Reporters
Sans Frontieres (RSF-a GILC member) has warned: "If the LEN is approved,
excessive Internet censorship is likely to ensue." Similar concerns have
been expressed by Imaginons un Reseau Internet Solidaire (IRIS-a GILC
member), which has started an anti-LEN petition drive.
For an IRIS report on LEN (with in-depth analysis of key LEN provisions
and a proposal for modifications), click
http://www.iris.sgdg.org/info-debat/comm-point-len0304.html
For more about LEN as well as the IRIS petition drive, see
http://www.iris.sgdg.org/actions/len
To read RSF's comments on the plan, click
http://www.rsf.fr/article.php3?id_article=9714
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[7] European Parliament approves EuroDMCA
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The European Parliament has approved a proposal that would dramatically
expand the powers of intellectual property holders.
The European Intellectual Property Enforcement Directive supposedly will
simplify the enforcement of copyrights, patents, and trademarks
throughout the continent. Among other things, the proposal includes
provisions that essentially will give intellectual property holders
broad subpoena powers to collect personal information. The plan also
will increase civil liability for infringements even if done
accidentally, unknowingly or for non-commercial purposes. The proposal's
general outlines have drawn comparisons to the much-maligned United
States Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which contains analogous
language.
The European Parliament approved the Directive last month by a vote of
307 to 185. Many groups blasted the decision; Robin Gross, the executive
director of IP Justice (a GILC member), charged: "Traditional civil
liberties, fairness, balance, and proportionality have all be thrown to
the wind in the over-zealous rush to pass this dangerous directive."
Similar concerns were aired by the European Digital Rights Initiative,
which warned that the plan's broad scope could be abused: "This
directive should be targeted at organised crime, not teenage
file-sharers and their parents." The proposal will now go the European
Council of Ministers, who are expected to adopt the measure soon,
leaving European Union countries about two years to implement
legislation at the national level in order to conform with the Directive.
The IP Justice press release is posted at
http://www.ipjustice.org/CODE/release20040309_en.shtml
An EDRI commentary on the Directive is posted under
http://edri.org/cgi-bin/index?id=000100000139
Read "EU backs tighter laws on piracy," BBC News Online, 9 March 2004 at
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3545839.stm
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[19] International cybercrime treaty enters into force
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A controversial new cybercrime treaty has come into force, albeit in
just a few countries.
The Council of Europe's Convention on Cybercrime, would, among other
things, require countries to authorize government agents to install
spytools on the servers of Internet service providers (ISPs) and thereby
intercept all Internet transmissions that come through their servers.
The treaty requires signatory nations to comply with foreign
investigators, even when they are investigating activities that are not
crimes on domestic soil. The Convention, however, does not require
countries to enact any specific procedural protections. Many groups have
severely criticized the treaty for years as a serious threat to online
privacy.
While representatives from several dozen nations have signed the
Convention in 2001, few of those countries have actually ratified the
pact since then. Several weeks ago, Lithuania became only the fifth
country to ratify the Convention (joining Hungary, Croatia, Estonia and
Albania), thereby at least fulfilling the treaty's requirement that five
nations must ratify the treaty before it can become effective. However,
the Convention still does not have the force of law beyond those 5
countries. Despite a letter from United States President George W. Bush
late last year urging the U.S. Senate to "give its advice and consent to
ratification," the Senate has yet to take action. Moreover, there is no
word as to whether other signatories (notably Great Britain, France and
Germany) will ratify the Convention any time soon.
A Council of Europe press release on this subject is posted at
http://press.coe.int/cp/2004/135a(2004).htm
Read Estelle Dumout, "Council of Europe ratifies cybercrime treaty,"
ZDNet France, 22 March 2004 at
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/0,39020330,39149470,00.htm
The text of the treaty is available via
http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/EN/WhatYouWant.asp?NT=185
To read the text of President Bush's message, click
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/11/20031117-11.html
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