An appeal from three European NGOs – La Quadrature du Net, netzpolitik.org and Open Rights Group – reveal some disturbing MEPs amendments to the draft directives to reform the EU framework on electronic communications (telecom package).
The review of the telecom package was merely focusing on
telecom-related issues (except for discussions on the ePrivacy
directive, which is the subject of another EDRi-gram article in the
current issue), but some of the 800 amendments on the 5 directives that
form the current package might go further than just establishing the
rules for a functioning electronic communications market and could
endanger the principle of the neutrality of the Internet.
Some amendments will transform the ISPs from technical intermediaries
that have no obligation to prior surveillance of contents into law
enforcers. Therefore they might be asked to block their users from
lawful activities in the interests of their security or to work with
content producers and rights-holders' organizations, including sending
intimidating messages, with no judicial approval. The amendment meant
to support Intellectual Property Rights owners could open the door to
censorship and might mean in practice the loss on privacy on the
Internet.
"The politicians who engage in these summer manoeuvres dishonour Europe
and their mandate. They rely on the fact that nobody watches them few
days before Parliamentary holiday, to divert the Telecom package from
its primary objectives of consumer protection. They pave the way for
the monitoring and filtering of the Internet by private companies,
exceptional courts and Orwellian technical measures. It is
inconceivable for freedom but also for European economic development.
We call on all MEPs to oppose what they have already rejected." said
Christophe Espern, co-founder of La Quadrature du Net (Squaring the
Net).
The appeal of the three organisations comes just before the 7 July vote
in the ITRE and IMCO Committees of the European Parliament on the
suggested amendments to the telecom package. The plenary discussion and
vote for the whole package will take place in September, but the vote
in the two committees could have a significant impact on the final
result.
Mobilization Package Telecom ( in English, German and French)
Telecom Package warning document for IMCO/ITRE vote (30.06.2008)
The commented amendments in HTML format
Participate: Europe-wide action against the telecom package (only in German, 1.07.2008)
Write to your MEP: say no to "3 strikes" through the backdoor (2.07.2008)
Source: EDRI-gram „Control on Internet users pushed with the new telecom package“ Number 6.13, 2 July 2008
