[Upd-discuss] Audionautes : a march in Paris to denounce the new French DADVSI Copyright Bill

[Jean-Baptiste Soufron]

Very nice march in Paris... I guess we'll find videos and pictures =20
soon on flickr and cie.

Here is the link of the press release from Audionautes :

http://audionautes.net/blog/index.php?2006/05/08/90-the-association-=20
of-audionautes-and-the-160-000-signatories-of-the-anti-eucd-petition-=20
successfully-organized-a-march-in-paris-to-denounce-the-new-french-=20
dadvsi-copyright-bill

Jean-Baptiste Soufron
cersa-cnrs paris 2
+33 (0)6 17 96 24 57
http://soufron.typhon.net

---

The French Association of Audionautes (ADA) and the 160 000 =20
signatories of the European Copyright Directive petition organized a =20
march in Paris to denounce the new French DADVSI Copyright Bill that =20
is currently being examined at the Senate.

The ADA protests that this new law will create new civil and criminal =20=

penalties against the circumvention of digital rights management =20
techniques, and against anyone who would help to that circumvention. =20
The ADA wants to point out that this bill is likely to criminalize =20
the writing of compatible softwares to play music, video. The ADA =20
insists that the current draft of the law does not even authorize =20
users to quote protected texts.

The bill is due to be examined in the Senate this week with a fast =20
track procedure requested by the government, Aziz Ridouan, President =20
of the ADA, met with the French Presidential Candidate S=E9gol=E8ne =20
Royal. In this meeting, Ridouan set out to establish that this new =20
Bill is not a sufficient solution for the following reasons:

- it does not offer judicial safety for the public, especially when =20
recent cases have ruled in favor of Internet users downloading =20
content over P2P networks
- it fails to provide a means of compensating the artists of =20
downloaded music and media, while the amendments that the ADA and the =20=

Artist-Public Alliance put forth propose to create a Global Optional =20
License that would enable the redistribution of collected funds to =20
the creators of works.

According to Jean-Baptiste Soufron, Legal Counsel of the ADA, "the =20
current bill is contrary to French case law and would result in the =20
stifling of innovation and judicial uncertainty in the French =20
software industry. Software developers stand be held liable for uses =20
of their technology over which they have no control."

At any case, the ADA who is already helping the defense of more than =20
100 people will not hesitate to mount a constitutional challenge =20
before the Constitutional Council.

AFP Press Release:
http://fr.news.yahoo.com/07052006/202/manifestation-paris-contre-le-=20
projet-de-loi-sur-le-droit.html

About Association of Audionautes:
The Association of Audionautes is a non-for-profit organization =20
founded by French high school and college students in order to react =20
to the abusive threats of the musical industry. They now help more =20
than 100 people to organize their defense, and they regroup more than =20=

6000 members including students, lawyers, artists, etc.

Press contact: +33 671 602 238 (French) / +33 617 962 457 (English) / =20=

english@audionautes.net

A propos de l=92Alliance Public-Artistes : L'Alliance "Public-Artistes" =20=

r=E9unit des organisations repr=E9sentant le public (associations de =20
consommateurs, d'internautes et d'=E9ducation) et les artistes =20
(artistes interpr=E8tes ou auteurs), ayant pour objectif commun =20
d'assurer la mise en place d'un cadre juridique adapt=E9 pour la =20
circulation des oeuvres dans l'univers num=E9rique, respectant les =20
droits, les libert=E9s et les int=E9r=EAts des artistes et du public.

Membres de l=92Alliance Public-Artistes : Associations de consommateurs =20=

et d=92internautes (Association des Audionautes, CLCV, Ligue de =20
l=92enseignement, UFC Que-Choisir, UNAF) ;
Soci=E9t=E9s de gestion collective des droits d=92artistes (ADAMI, =20
SPEDIDAM, SAIF) ;
Syndicats d=92artistes (F=E9d=E9ration nationale SAMUP, SAMUP, SNAP CGT, =
=20
SNEA-UNSA, SNM FO) ;
Associations de photographes (UPC) et de musiciens sp=E9cialis=E9s (UMJ, =
=20
QWARTZ).