Written by Andrew Rens on April 15th, 2009
La Quadrature du Net reports that the French National Assembly has rejected a draconian draft law sought by corporations whose business models are threatened by the Internet. La Quadrature explains:
“The voice of the people and the innumerable criticisms raised against the nonsensical, dangerous bill ended in being heard. This law planned to give the entertainment industries the power to police the Internet by themselves, as well as creating an administrative body that would sanction internet users with no opposable or verifiable proofs.”
However, as in New Zealand, the supporters of the these measures, part of a global campaign, have not responded with a public debate about the merits of the proposed legislation but continue to push for the laws outside of the public gaze.
Posted in A2K, Freedom of Expression | Comments Off on The French Parliament rejects anti-democratic Internet law
Tags: 3 strikes, Freedom of Expression, liberty
Written by Andrew Rens on March 23rd, 2009
Widespread protest in New Zealand including the internet blackout has forced the scrapping of the proposed draconian law…at least for the meantime. A few weeks ago I blogged about the internet blackout, a protest at a proposed ammendment to New Zealand law: “Thousands of websites in New Zealand have blacked themselves out today to protest the imposition of a law which requires Internet Services Providers to disconnect subscribers who are accused of copyright infringement, regardless of proof.”
Creative Freedom which organised the protest has announced that:
“Prime Minister John Key has announced that the government will throw out the controversial Section 92A of the Copyright Amendment Act and start again.
It seems that the protests, which many people across the world supported were successful. However the government version is that the”government will begin a review to amend the section immediately to address areas of concern.”
While its clear that the New Zealand government cannot impose such draconian legislation without paying a heavy political price it is not clear that the New Zealand government has realised the destructive nature of the proposed law.
Posted in A2K | Comments Off on Victory in New Zealand?
