20091013 Telcoms Package: Netzneutralität in Gefahr

13.10.2009: Telecoms Package: Does the EU Council hate Freedom?

As the negotiations of the conciliation committee on the Telecoms Package unfold, the Council of the European Union came up with a new, alarming proposal. Member States offered to replace the notorious "amendment 138" 1, an essential safeguard for citizen's freedom, with a dangerous "knock-off" 2. But the new version is not only neutralizing citizens' protections adopted twice by 88% of the European Parliament; it reduces legal protections for online activites in an attempt to implement what looks like an open door to a repressive nightmare.

For the Council, the right to a due process, which is crucial to preserve justice in a democracy, could be limited "in order to assure national security, defence, public security, and the prevention, investigation, detection, and prosecution of criminal offences. ".

Restricting Internet access without a prior ruling by the judicial authorities in order to detect and prevent crime? Is this the Council's vision for the future of European societies? It sounds like for them the right to a fair trial shoud only be an option.

Yesterday, La Quadrature sent to the Members of the European Parliament a letter to urge them to defend amendment 138, along with a memo debunking the Council's arguments about this fundamental provision.

More than ever, the Parliament must remain firm in its commitment to protecting the freedoms of EU citizens.

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