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List:       dmca-discuss
Subject:    [DMCA_Discuss] French Government Lobbied to Ban Free Software
From:       Jei <jei () cc ! hut ! fi>
Date:       2005-12-03 3:57:46
Message-ID: Pine.GSO.4.61.0512030557320.21162 () vipunen ! hut ! fi
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http://www.fsffrance.org/news/article2005-11-25.en.html

November 25, 2005, for immediate release

Friday November 18th, 2005, French Department of Culture. SNEP and SCPP have 
told Free Software authors: "You will be required to change your licenses." 
SACEM add: "You shall stop publishing free software," and warn they are ready 
"to sue free software authors who will keep on publishing source code" should 
the "VU/SACEM/BSA/FA Contents Department"[1] bill proposal pass in the 
Parliament.

It appears that publishing Free Software giving access to culture is about to 
become a counterfeiting criminal offence. Will SACEM sue France Télécom R&D 
research labs for having published Maay and Solipsis (P2P pieces of software 
used to exchange data)[2]?

Up to this point, the rather technical debate surrounding the issues addressed 
by DADVSI bill (copyright and neighbouring rights in the information society) 
makes one ask: Just how much control do the Big Players in the field of culture 
want to seize? It now looks like years of quibbling have put an end to 
compromises.

What should have been the last meeting of CSPLA[2] Sirinelli Commission turned 
into an arranged battle dealing with the "VU/SACEM/BSA/FA Contents Department" 
bill. EUCD.INFO[4] cofounder Christophe Espern, representing Creative Commons 
France, had to argue for 13 hours to defend the right of Free Software to 
exist, but he lost the argument. The preliminary conclusions seem to regret 
that the bill "cannot be proposed by CSPLA in before the deadline." Maybe the 
new meeting scheduled today, November 25th, 2005, at 6:30pm, in the offices of 
the French Department of Culture, aims to impose the text ? [*]

"Havoc is breaking loose," says Christophe Espern. "How can people possibly 
both pretend to defend culture and then want to ban the only software giving 
universal access to it? Actually, the contradiction may be only superficial: I 
think what they are truly after is the control of the public... culture is just 
a excuse."

Absurd as it may seem, the DADVSI bill will bring an indifferent public a 
surprise gift [5] for Christmas nothing less than complete Orwellian control of 
digital culture.

We could avoid this disaster if the cabinet of Prime Minister started by 
declaring the DADVSI bill a non emergency issue. This would give the democratic 
debate a chance.
[*] The Sirinelli Commission adopted the bill proposal. This one will be 
examined during the next plenary session of the CSPLA (December the 7th).

[...]

_______________________________________________

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