Tomorrow, March 18th, 9h00, the ITRE committee1The ITRE committee is in charge of Industry, Research and Energy of the European Parliament will vote on amendments2The tabled amendments are available here: http://www.laquadrature.net/wiki/Del_Castillo_%22digital_agenda%22_report_amendments The “compromise amendments” are available in the same document as our voting recommendations to the report on the future of Internet-related EU policies. The report, drafted by rapporteur Pilar Del Castillo is entitled “Defining a New Digital Agenda for Europe: from i2010 to digital.eu“. It touches upon Net neutrality, Internet users’ rights, spectrum policies, cybercrime and copyright enforcement on the Internet.
La Quadrature du Net sent a letter as well as voting recommendations to the Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) sitting in the ITRE committee to urge them to protect a free and open Internet as well as citizens’ rights in the digital society. After tomorrow’s vote on amendments, the report will be subject to a final vote in plenary in the coming weeks.
La Quadrature du Net calls on its support to contact MEPs in the ITRE committe3All their contact infos are available on http://www.laquadrature.net/wiki/MEPs_ITRE to advise them with voting recommendations.
Dear [MEP member of the ITRE committee]
During the revision of the “Telecoms Package”, the European Parliament showed on multiple occasions its commitment to protecting citizen fundamental rights and freedoms online.
Access to an open and free, therefore neutral Internet is a key to the development of an inclusive digital society.
As stated by Commissioner Neelie Kroes, during her hearing “at the core issue is whether network operators should be able to exercise control or limit users access to content. When it is done for commercially motivated reasons, it is a no-go.” Commercial models based on restricting Internet access can only lead to lesser innovation, competition, and social benefits.
With your vote on the “Digital Agenda” Del Castillo report, you now have an opportunity to restate your dedication to the protection of an open Internet, and therefore EU citizen rights.
We advise you to do so by:
* Voting in favour of amendments 13, 17, 44, 187, 198, 200, which guarantee that citizen rights and the open nature of Internet and the fundamental rights of end-users will duly be taken into account within the “digital agenda”.
* Rejecting the compromise amendements 22 and 274pages 61 and 67 in the voting recommendations document: http://www.laquadrature.net/files/20100317_LQDN_Voting_List_Digital_DelCastillo.pdf, which put the commercial interests of content producers in opposition with citizens’ fundamental freedom of expression and communication.
* Rejecting the compromise amendement 14, 16, and 175pages 52, 54, 55 of the aforementioned document, which replace a clear and effective wording by a complicated and weaker defense of network neutrality and users’ rights.
Please find attached our complete voting recommendations.
We remain at your disposal for further exchanges on the subject and to answer your questions.
Feel free to call Jérémie Zimmermann (+33 615 940 675), our co-founder and spokesperson, who will be available in the Parliament today.
References
| ↑1 | The ITRE committee is in charge of Industry, Research and Energy |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | The tabled amendments are available here: http://www.laquadrature.net/wiki/Del_Castillo_%22digital_agenda%22_report_amendments The “compromise amendments” are available in the same document as our voting recommendations |
| ↑3 | All their contact infos are available on http://www.laquadrature.net/wiki/MEPs_ITRE |
| ↑4 | pages 61 and 67 in the voting recommendations document: http://www.laquadrature.net/files/20100317_LQDN_Voting_List_Digital_DelCastillo.pdf |
| ↑5 | pages 52, 54, 55 of the aforementioned document |