---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: La Quadrature du Net <[email protected]> Date: Tue, Jan 14, 2014 at 4:56 PM Subject: [opennetcoalition] SaveTheInternet.eu: Act Now For Net Neutrality! To: [email protected] Themes: NET NEUTRALITY, EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, NEELIE KROES, PILAR DEL CASTILLO VERA JOINT PRESS RELEASE – For immediate release Permanent link: https://www.laquadrature.net/en/savetheinterneteu-act-now-for-net-neutrality SaveTheInternet.eu: Act Now For Net Neutrality! *** Paris, 14 January 2014 — A few weeks before crucial steps on the future European Regulation on the Single Market of telecommunication, a coalition of European organisations released the following joint press calling citizens to make their voices heard and to urge their MEPs to protect Net neutrality. *** ** Net neutrality campaign – SaveTheInternet.eu ** A broad coalition of civil Liberties NGOs launched SaveTheInternet.eu [1], a campaign to protect Net neutrality in upcoming EU legislation. A recent proposal from the European Commission will restrict freedom of speech on the Internet, increase prices and stifle online innovation unless urgent action is taken. Citizens should contact parliamentarians in the European Parliament's Industry Committee and urge them to defend the open Internet. After four years during which no action was taken to protect the open Internet, the Commission's new proposals would achieve the opposite result. The Regulation would allow Internet companies to arbitrarily interfere with Internet traffic, prioritising the services of cash rich online companies to the detriment of innovation and free speech. Some of the worst Net neutrality violations we have seen in Europe over the last years will become legal through loopholes in the proposed rules on so-called “specialised services”. What is more, the Commission's text would allow "voluntary" ad hoc policing and surveillance activities for Internet access providers - in clear breach of the European Union's own legal obligations. There is unanimous criticism from NGOs on this Draft Regulation. Civil society groups are furious that the proposal does not reflect the balance of views presented to the Commission in the consultations held on the subject. Groups are also critical of the fact that the measure is now being rushed through the legislative process. Of biggest concern is the fact that big telecoms operators are being offered the chance to impose old, inefficient, expensive and outdated telephony business models on the currently efficient and cost-effective internet. Citizens now need to weigh in this crucial debate for the future of the Internet. The Regulation is now in the hands of the European Parliament, who has a golden opportunity to correct the text's dangerous loopholes and introduce necessary safeguards to protect the open and neutral Internet. Time is running out. The European Parliament's Industry Committee will adopt amendments to the draft Regulation on February 27th. In the next six weeks each and every European who cares about the Internet should contact members of the European Parliament to make their voices heard. SaveTheInternet.eu is the website that offers all the tools and information one needs to do just that. It provides all necessary information about the Regulation, the process and the arguments against it. Through SaveTheInternet.eu, every citizen can then call their MEPs free of charge or send them an e-mail to urge them to amend the text and bring strong legal protections to fundamental rights and innovation on the Internet. This campaign is carried out by: - Access Now (Brussel) - Digitale Gesellschaft e.V (Germany) - Initiative für Netzfreiheit (Austria) - European Digital Rights (EDRI) (Brussel) - La Quadrature du Net (France) * Reference * 1. http://www.savetheinternet.eu/ ** About La Quadrature du Net ** La Quadrature du Net is an advocacy group that defends the rights and freedoms of citizens on the Internet. More specifically, it advocates for the adaptation of French and European legislations to respect the founding principles of the Internet, most notably the free circulation of knowledge. In addition to its advocacy work, the group also aims to foster a better understanding of legislative processes among citizens. Through specific and pertinent information and tools, La Quadrature du Net hopes to encourage citizens' participation in the public debate on rights and freedoms in the digital age. La Quadrature du Net is supported by French, European and international NGOs including the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Open Society Institute and Privacy International. List of supporting organisations: https://www.laquadrature.net/en/they-support-la-quadrature-du-net ** Press contact and press room ** Jérémie Zimmermann, [email protected], +33 (0)615 940 675 http://www.laquadrature.net/en/press-room _______________________________________________ Opennetcoalition mailing list [email protected] https://laquadrature.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/opennetcoalition -- P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net <http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Updates: http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/