Papers and Articles on Internet Policy

ACTA, SOPA & the EU - essential background

The Copyright Enforcement Enigma jacket

SOPA and PIPA have put Internet copyright into the mainstream news agenda. The Copyright Enforcement Enigma introduces you to this topic. It explains the history of copyright sanctions. It puts 3-strikes and blocking policies into context. And it unravels the strange story of how it all got mixed up in the Telecoms Package and Amendment 138. When you finish it, you will understand why the ISPs and fundamental rights are under attack! Click here to get it!

France

The French government brought in a law for measures to enforce copyright, which is officially called the Creation and Internet law, but colloquially referred to as the Hdaopi law ( loi Hadopi), and which have been dubbed " 3 strikes and you're out!" Warnings will be sent to thousands of users accused of copyright infringement (delivered by ISPs to their customers on behalf of the copyright owners) and penalties will include termination of Internet access. The proposals were first put forward by the 'Mission Olivennes', and commission headed by Denis Olivennes, former head of the French retail chain called the Fnac. The law passed through the French legislature in 2009.

The French law is supervised by a government body known as the Hadopi. It is mandating changes to computer security software which effectively entail mass surveillance of Internet users. Those behind the measures are the private corporations (entertainment and music companies who own large libraries of copyright material), who will look for users alleged to be downloading files without payment or permission.

The progress of the Hadopi measures is of interest to other EU Member States, some of whom are thinking about implementing similar copyright enforcement provisions.

My paper The French law on Creation and Internet – using contract law to squash file-sharing is available here.

France puts copyright in ISP contract

Monica Horten

Published on 30 August 2011

An update to French telecoms law mandates non-neutral, pro-copyright regulation of ISPs. And it’s based on the Telecoms Package.

Over the summer, the French government has published its transposition of the Telecoms Package. The Sarkozy regime has used a controversial manipulation of the legislative process to get the transposition into law without going through the French Parliament. It includes provisions which

France proposes industrial-scale content filtering

Monica Horten

Published on 17 June 2011

The most far-reaching web blocking proposals yet seen.

Today a French government committee is expected to pronounce an opinion on a new proposal to filter and block web content.

The French media are suggesting that it represents industrial-scale filtering. Indeed, the proposal is the most far-reaching one we've seen to date. It is certainly over-broad and puts at risk both freedom of expression and free trade.

The French government proposes to give various ministries the power to order ISPs and web hosts to block content. Blocking orders could apply to commercial and non-commercial content, and potentially also to advertising and search engines.

It is all set out in a Decree which amends the existing law on electronic commerce. The Decree has been sent to the Conseil

Sarkozy wants Internet (blocking) talks at G8

Monica Horten

Published on 12 January 2011

'Paris in the Spring' gains a new and unromantic meaning as President Sarkozy plots Internet blocking discussions with other G8 heads of government.

France's President Sarkozy, in Washington for talks this week with Barack Obama, has said he wants to put an extra item on the agenda of the next G8 economic talks, which he will host in Paris this Spring. That extra item is the Internet, and the meeting is being dubbed the ‘G8 du Web'.

The idea is to have private,