[P2P-F] Fwd: [opennetcoalition] Will The Canada-EU Trade Agreement Harm Our Freedoms Online?

[Michel Bauwens]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: La Quadrature du Net <jz at laquadrature.net>
Date: Mon, Oct 21, 2013 at 10:30 AM
Subject: [opennetcoalition] Will The Canada-EU Trade Agreement Harm Our
Freedoms Online?
To: opennetcoalition at laquadrature.net


Themes: CETA, CANADA-EUROPE TRADE AGREEMENT, COPYRIGHT, FREEDOMS ONLINE,
ACTA, EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

La Quadrature du Net – For immediate release

Permanent link:
https://www.laquadrature.net/en/will-the-canada-eu-trade-agreement-harm-our-freedoms-online


Will The Canada-EU Trade Agreement Harm Our Freedoms Online?



*** Paris, 21 October 2013 — After more than four years of secret
negotiations, the text of the Canada-Europe trade agreement, CETA, reached
agreement in principle [1] during a meeting between José Barroso, the
President of the European Commission, and Stefen Harper, the Canadian Prime
Minister. While waiting for evidence to ensure that CETA does not contain
measures endangering our freedoms online, citizens and MEPs should be ready
to reject this trade agreement. ***

As was the case in the negotiations of ACTA and today in those of TAFTA,
the negotiations of CETA, the Canada-Europe trade agreement, were conducted
behind closed doors, between 2009 and 2013, by a small group of individuals
[2] led by Karel De Gucht [3] for Europe and Ed Fast [4] for Canada.
Despite repeated requests from both European and Canadian citizens,
organizations and elected representatives, no official version of CETA has
been made public up to date. This opacity is all the more worrying as the
last leaked version of the agreement, in July 2012, contained ACTA-like
provisions [5], and documents [6] issued by both Canadians and European
institutions continue to refer to measures related to the protection of
“intellectual property” (in particular patents and copyright).

These documents still refer to a “reinforcement” of the copyright
protection. Until the text has been published, one cannot exclude the
possible return of measures already rejected with ACTA. Even if it is not
the case, the agreement provisions could limit in practice the benefits of
the Canadian approach to copyright. Canada has a more extensive definition
of the public domain, and has also introduced a pioneering law for positive
user rights [7] (for example regarding the education exception). Though the
Canadian government has stated that it would not have to revise the C-11
law because of the agreement, this remain to be checked – let's remember
similar statements regarding the compatibility of ACTA with the Community
acquis that proved completely wrong. Even if the law is not revised, the de
facto access to many public domain works could be threatened by changes
regarding the enforcement of copyright.

Reflecting TAFTA, the situation demonstrates that CETA negotiators have
failed to, or could not, learn from the ACTA fiasco and hear the calls from
citizens. Rather than negotiated in opacity, these issues must be discussed
in democratic and open debates. Continue to circumvent the legitimate
processes to impose repressive measures, on the pretext of trade
agreements, can only contribute to feed the citizens mistrust for
representatives and European institutions. Thus, La Quadrature du Net joins
requests calling for immediate publication of documents relating to CETA
and urges citizens and MEPs to be ready to reject this new trade agreement.

“Now that an agreement in principle was reached, CETA will enter into the
legislative process of the European Parliament, which will ultimately lead
the MEPs to vote for adopt or reject the agreement as a whole. A few months
before the 2013 European elections, there is an urgent need for the
European institutions to hear the citizen rejection of these illegitimate
practices, and to finally opt for transparent and democratic processes.”
concluded Jérémie Zimmermann, spokesperson for citizen advocacy group La
Quadrature du Net





* References *

1. http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/press/index.cfm?id=973

2. https://www.laquadrature.net/wiki/CETA_negotiators

3. Karel De Gucht is the European Commissioner for Trade, also in charge of
ACTA and TAFTA, who did not hesitate to lie to the European Parliament in
his effort to convince the Parliament to adopt these dispositions. (
https://www.laquadrature.net/en/acta-commissioner-de-gucht-lies-to-the-eu-parliament
)

4. Ed Fast is the Canadian Trade Minister.

5.
https://www.laquadrature.net/en/acta-ceta-tafta-is-de-gucht-again-trying-to-impose-anti-democratic-repression

6. See:
http://actionplan.gc.ca/sites/default/files/pdfs/v4_final_ceta_-_summary_doc_v_10_ed_pgodon.pdfand
http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/press/index.cfm?id=974

7. See the C-11 law:
http://copyright.ubc.ca/copyright-legislation/bill-c-11-the-copyright-modernization-act/






** 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, jz at laquadrature.net, +33 (0)615 940 675

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



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