[P2P-F] Fwd: EU Court of Justice: Censorship in Name of Copyright Violates Fundamental Rights

Thu Nov 24 12:02:43 CET 2011

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: La Quadrature du Net <jz at laquadrature.net>
Date: Thu, Nov 24, 2011 at 10:53 AM
Subject: [fcf_discussion] EU Court of Justice: Censorship in Name of
Copyright Violates Fundamental Rights
To: fcforum_discussion at list.fcforum.net

La Quadrature du Net - For immediate release

Permanent link:
https://www.laquadrature.net/en/eu-court-of-justice-censorship-in-name-of-copyright-violates-fundamental-rights

EU Court of Justice: Censorship in Name of Copyright Violates Fundamental
Rights

*** Paris, November 24th, 2011 — The European Court of Justice just
rendered a historic decision in the Scarlet Extended case, which is crucial
for the future of rights and freedoms on the Internet. The Court ruled that
forcing Internet service providers to monitor and censor their users'
communications violated EU law, and in particular the right to freedom of
communication. At a time of all-out offensive in the war against culture
sharing online, this decision suggests that censorship measures requested
by the entertainment industry are disproportionate means to enforce an
outdated copyright regime. Policy-makers across Europe must take this
decision into account by refusing new repressive schemes, such as the
Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), and engage in a much needed
reform of copyright. ***

* Context: * In this very important case, Belgian collecting society SABAM
had asked Belgian Courts in 2004 to mandate broad censorship mechanisms to
block all unauthorised transmissions of copyrighted works by ISP Scarlet's
subscribers [1]. The Belgian judge devolved the matter to the European
Court of Justice (ECJ), asking EU judges the following question: “Does EU
law allow a national judge to give an injunction for an ISP to filter all
the electronic communications passing through its network?”

* Analysis: * In its final ruling [2], the ECJ agrees to the advocate
general's conclusions and stresses that such filtering measures have
drastic consequences on freedom of expression and privacy, and that they
should only be possible if they are explicitly prescribed by law. EU judges
also suggest that these measures disrespect the eCommerce directive's
prohibition of any obligation imposed on ISPs to engage in general
monitoring of their users communications.

* Consequence: * The ECJ ruling will have crucial consequence on Internet
related law in all of the EU, especially now that the EU Parliament is
starting to work on its consent vote on ACTA and as the Commission is
working on the Copyright Enforcement Directive (IPRED).

“As the war on culture sharing is fiercer than ever, this ECJ ruling comes
at a timely moment. After the Promusicae ruling [3], it is a blow for the
European Commission, which has implicitly supported the broad filtering
schemes that the entertainment industries are pushing for [4]. The ruling
stresses once again that instead of keeping on pushing for more repression
EU policy maker should work towards a much needed reform of copyright that
would protect citizens' freedoms. Rejecting ACTA and other extremist
measures imposed in the name of copyright would be a first step.”, said
Jérémie Zimmermann, co-founder and spokesperson of citizen advocacy group
La Quadrature du Net.

Beyond copyright, this decision also underlines the dangers of Net
filtering and calls for an important democratic debate regarding their
disproportionate nature.

“After the report of the UN Special Rapporteur for freedom of expression
pointing out the dangers of Net censorship, this ruling is another wake-up
call. The relentless extension of filtering to new fields must be stopped,
and lawmakers across Europe must commit to repealing any law enforcement
measure that disrespects fundamental rights.”, concluded Jérémie Zimmermann.

* References *

1.
http://www.timelex.eu/en/blog/p/detail/the-sabam-vs-scarlet-case-will-be-continued-before-the-european-court-of-justice

2. http://curia.europa.eu/jcms/jcms/P_82982/

3. http://jolt.law.harvard.edu/digest/copyright/promusicae-v-telefonica

4. See our analysis of the Commission's working document on the revision of
IPRED:
http://www.laquadrature.net/en/lqdns-response-to-the-ipred-consultation
According to the Commission, “injunctions often tend to be ‘title
specific’. Rightsholders therefore have to provide a full list of titles
when asking for an injunction and the injunction will normally relate only
to the indicated titles, while infringements with a view to titles not
contained in the list can continue.” Thus, the Commission is proposing to
generalize the wide censorship scheme ordered by the first instance judge
in the SABAM case by eroding the liability exemptions enjoyed by technical
intermediary.

** About la Quadrature du Net **

La Quadrature du Net is an advocacy group that promotes 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, jz at laquadrature.net, +33 (0)615 940 675

http://www.laquadrature.net/en/press-room

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