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Leaked letters have exposed French President Nicolas Sarkozy's plans to potentially derail a conference next week to push his anti-piracy agenda.
The conference, initiated by the French and Dutch governments, is supposed to be a discussion about freedom of speed, and an attempt to draft a code of conduct against Internet censorship, however, Sarkozy plans to use the conference to actually push for Internet censorship, by promoting his "Three-Strikes" Hadopi plan.
In the letter, Sarkozy misleads by saying the EU parliament supports France's Three-Strikes, even though no such support has been given.
"This coarse manipulation of French diplomacy, disregarding our most fundamental values, is one more example of the alliance between the entertainment industries and a few politicians, who seek to control the public space to remain in power. There is now a huge risk that this repressive vision of the Internet spreads out to the rest of the world, " said Jérémie Zimmermann, spokesperson for La Quadrature du Net, a citizens advocacy group.
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The conference, initiated by the French and Dutch governments, is supposed to be a discussion about freedom of speed, and an attempt to draft a code of conduct against Internet censorship, however, Sarkozy plans to use the conference to actually push for Internet censorship, by promoting his "Three-Strikes" Hadopi plan.
In the letter, Sarkozy misleads by saying the EU parliament supports France's Three-Strikes, even though no such support has been given.
"This coarse manipulation of French diplomacy, disregarding our most fundamental values, is one more example of the alliance between the entertainment industries and a few politicians, who seek to control the public space to remain in power. There is now a huge risk that this repressive vision of the Internet spreads out to the rest of the world, " said Jérémie Zimmermann, spokesperson for La Quadrature du Net, a citizens advocacy group.
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