Europe tries to fence off cyberspace

In Computer Weekly

By Ian Grant 

1 May 2009 

"Monica Horten, who runs the IPtegrity website, said the Package again opens the door to three-strikes measures, the "graduated response" that would see ISPs warning persistent file sharers to stop. "

Cognitive dissonance from EU over telecom reform  

by Ian Grant 

5 August 2009 

"... a commission opinion released last week could harden the barriers, slow the introduction of new services and open the way to internet censorship, said Monica Horten, the iptegrity blogger and intellectual property researcher."

"According to Horten, the text to be considered by the lawmakers next month creates a right for governments to implement "measures regarding end-users' access to or use of services and applications through electronic communications networks", whatever that means.

Horten said this should be read with Amendment 1.2a of the Universal Services and Users Rights directive, which will permit broadband providers to block or impose "conditions limiting access to and/or use of services and applications". "Decoded, (this) calls for the package to seal in the right of governments and broadband providers to restrict the internet," she said.

They are already doing it. Recent incidents where ISPs disrupted users' access to to the internet include T-Mobile blocking Skype, BT throttling peer-to-peer services, and Karoo, a small UK ISP, cutting off users. "It should now be abundantly clear what this text means," Horten said.

Horten said the package will guarantee that users had a right to a contract, and to switch providers. "What it does not say publicly, but is being actively debated by civil servants behind the scenes, is how far the text permits governments to go with copyright enforcement measures," she said.

She said the new text fell short of earlier language which required judicial review before broadband providers could block peer-to-peer or other services. "The user could (now) appeal to an administrative body, which is not the same thing," she said."