theocrite writes:
For the fifth time[1], the European Parliament has rejected "the graduated response" (aka "three strikes [and you're out] approach").
This is a (good) surprise considering that the rapporteurs betrayed the European citizens :Both rapporteurs of the main directives of the Telecoms Package, Malcolm Harbour (IMCO report) and Catherine Trautmann (ITRE report) sacrificed the effective protection of citizens fundamental rights. [...] In the ITRE report by C. Trautmann, amendment 138/46, adopted by 88% of the EP in first reading, and by 40 to 4 in committee last week, was abandoned. This article was crucial for protecting EU citizens against parallel arbitrary justice. Three-strike schemes against filesharers such as the HADOPI law proposal in France are not clearly forbidden by the new compromise. Even though these schemes remain contrary to the due process of law, one will wait years to have it confirmed in front of a court. In this clear attempt to please to N. Sarkozy, C. Trautmann agreed to a major step back in citizens' rights protection.
3 days later, la Quadrature du Net alerted the citizen about a last minute trick :
In the Harbour report, amendment 166 was replaced by an empty version that has no more protective value. [...] In the Trautmann report, amendment 138/46 was turned down into a weaker version (yet still a clear political sign and legal reminder against the French "three strikes" HADOPI bill), that may require interpretation from an EU court of justice, and years of challenge, to counter "graduated response"/"three strikes" schemes.
In the end, Jérémie Zimmermann, co-founder of La Quadrature du Net welcomes this adoption
A formidable campaign from the citizens put the issues of freedoms on the Internet at the center of the debates of the Telecoms Package. This is a victory by itself. It started with the declaration of commissioner Viviane Reding considering access to Internet as a fundamental right1. The massive re-adoption of amendment 138/462 rather than the softer compromise negotiated by rapporteur Trautmann with the Council is an even stronger statement. These two elements alone confirm that the French 'three strikes' scheme, HADOPI, is dead already.
Viviane Reding, the EU Telecoms Commissioner, requests that the Council, and especially France, cease to block the package :
Now the ball is in the court of the Council of Telecoms Ministers to decide whether or not to accept this package of reforms. There was one amendment voted by the Parliament today that was not included in the initial deal agreed between the three EU institutions. This amendment is an important restatement of the fundamental rights of EU citizens. For many, it is of very high symbolic and political value. I call on the Council of Ministers to assess the situation very carefully, also in the light of the importance of the telecoms reform for the sector and for the recovery of our European economy
See also :
[1] Previously rejected on April 10th, 2008, September 26th, 2008, March 26th, 2009 and April 21th, 2009
