On Saturday, February 11 at 2 PM at Place Masséna, the environmental activists of Nice will join the “defense of a free internet” rally. In the midst of the presidential campaign, Eva Joly and the ecologists are thus calling for the withdrawal of the ACTA treaty and proposing an alternative model of compensation for creativity.
The European Union ratified the ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting) treaty on Thursday, January 26, in Tokyo. This international agreement is presented as a tool to combat counterfeiting and will allow internet service providers to legally access personal information in the name of protecting copyright.
“It is said that under the pretext of protecting artists, laws are created that actually protect the multinational show-business industry.” Eva Joly, the ecologists’ candidate in the presidential election, thus expresses the growing gap between the cultural industry and the stakes of new digital practices.
Primarily wanting to preserve their profits, these industries have obtained, through lobbying activities and in total opacity, that public authorities sacrifice the liberties of internet users.
However, Eva Joly and the ecologists propose another vision of spreading culture through the internet: “We wish to establish the terms of a new social contract that combines rights and responsibilities and is based on two specific political measures: the legalization of sharing among individuals associated with the establishment of a contribution to creation.” Only the guarantee of internet users’ freedom will thus allow for fair support of artists through the establishment of a contribution to creativity, especially for the most precarious cultural actors.
Despite the ratification of ACTA, the treaty still needs to be adopted by the European Parliament during a possible plenary session next June. Until then, in Nice, in France, and in Europe, citizens are mobilizing to refuse this escalation of digital freedom violations. The scale of the mobilization is all the more important as ACTA could have consequences on the free circulation of seeds and generic medicines, due to the abusive application of corporate property rights over them.
In the United States, a significant movement of internet users and companies led to the abandonment of the highly controversial PIPA and SOPA laws, as they could pose a serious threat to individual freedoms and the economic fabric’s capacity for innovation. The civic mobilization against the equally dangerous ACTA treaty can also be stronger than the pursuit of excessive profits at the expense of citizens.
Lucas NÉDÉLEC and Annabelle JAEGGER, spokespersons for Eva Joly’s campaign committee in NICE
