European Parliament Says No to Internet Ban

With 314 votes against 297, the European Parliament decided that it’s wrong to cut someone’s internet connection, even if that someone is a file sharer. This is a clear signal that the parliament rejects the French plan to fight illegal file sharing by banning citizens’ from the internet.

The proposal was tabled by Christofer Fjellner, Swedish MEP for the Moderate Party. Fjellner’s proposal was put forward as an amendment to the Bono report. Guy Bono, responsible for the report, has himself played a major role in forming the pro-Internet coalition that won majority in today’s vote.

The European Parliament’s file-sharer friendly statement is well timed. France will soon get the opportunity to chair the EU, and one priority will be to force European ISPs to cut the Internet connection of anyone illegally downloading a song or a movie. If insisting on his plans, Sarkozy now faces an uphill battle.

Sweden Rejects Sarkozy’s War on File Sharing

French President Nicolas Sarkozy wants to disconnect European file sharers from the Internet. The idea is already in the process of being realized in France, and will according to Sarkozy be a step toward “a civilized Internet” where ISPs watch the information that their customers exchange.

A couple of weeks ago, the Swedish government rejected the French model, but if France gets its way Sweden could be forced to implement these laws against the will of the parliament. It’s therefore of great significance that my party colleague Christofer Fjellner has tabled a proposal to stop Sarkozy’s internet ban and preserve file sharers’ online integrity.

What Fjellner has done formally is proposing an amendment to the so called Bono Report. Representatives for all parties that are included in the Swedish parliamentary majority alliance have signed the amendment, worded like this:

“Calls on the Commission and the Member States to recognise that the Internet is a vast platform for cultural expression, access to knowledge, and democratic participation in European creativity, bringing generations together through the information society; calls on the Commission and the Member States, therefore, to avoid adopting measures conflicting with civil liberties and human rights and with the principles of proportionality, effectiveness and dissuasiveness, such as the interruption of Internet access.”

The European Parliament votes on the proposal on April 9, which is this Wednesday. The decision will not be legally binding, but is important for positioning purposes.