It's been a crazy 24 hours.  Former Demand Progress executive director Aaron Swartz was arrested yesterday for allegedly downloading academic research articles from JSTOR. 

More than 35,000 people have already signed a letter of support for Aaron. Will you ask your friends to join them?

The mainstream coverage of Aaron's arrest has turned in his favor -- and the public support he's received is a key part of the story. Here's a sampling of the coverage:

BOSTON GLOBE:  By yesterday afternoon, however, Swartz had received an outpouring of support from colleagues and friends who took to blogs and websites to defend his work and maintain that the charges against him are heavy-handed. More than 15,000 people had signed a letter of support for Swartz on the website Demand Progress.org

HUFFINGTON POST:  JSTOR's the one that should be in prison, man, for locking up knowledge.

NEW YORK TIMES: A respected Harvard researcher who also is an Internet folk hero has been arrested in Boston on charges related to computer hacking, which are based on allegations that he downloaded articles that he was entitled to get free.

AMERICAN PROSPECT: It's easy to forget that there's something at all controversial or oppositional about accessing information, or that some people really, really want data to be free -- and others don't. Open data has been mainstreamed. Whatever hacker-culture roots the free information movement might have are subsumed by the idea that simply everyone agrees that data is meant to be free, and the struggle is over the mechanics of freeing it. That's never really been true, as Swartz's case makes plain.

BOSTON GLOBE: [Attorney Jerry] Cohen said the use of criminal charges here is the latest in what has been a government trend to prosecute such cases, which he described as taking “a sledgehammer to drive a thumb tack.'  'It might be taking too big a weapon,’’ he said. “It’s intended to terrorize the person who’s indicted and others who might be thinking of the same thing.'

As the case proceeds, we remain hopeful that Aaron will be cleared of any wrongdoing -- and as has been proved over the last 24 hours, the more people learn about the case, the more sympathetic they become to Aaron's cause.

Please spread the word about Aaron and ask your friends to sign on too:

Thanks so much for your support as we navigate these choppy waters.

 -- The Demand Progress team

Call for actions June 19th: People of the World, rise up!!!
We are the outraged, the anonymous, the voiceless. We were there, silent but alert, watching. Not gazing upward at the powers that be, but looking from side to side for the right time to unite with each other.

No political party, association or trade union represents us. Nor do we want them to, because each and every one of us speaks for her or himself. Together, we want to design and create a world where people and nature come first, before economic interests. We want to design and build the best possible world. Together we can and we will. Unafraid

The first sparks started to fly in the Arabic countries, where thousands of people took over streets and squares, reminding their governments where the real power lies. The Icelanders followed, taking to the streets to speak their mind and decide their future. And it wasn't long before Spaniards occupied squares in neighborhoods, towns and cities. Now the flame is swiftly spreading through France, Greece, Portugal, Italy and Turkey, and the cries of peaceful demonstrators echo across America and Asia, where new movements are cropping up everywhere. Only a global revolution can confront global problems. The time has come for the woman and man in the street to take back their public spaces to debate and build a new future together.

This is a call to the #Globalrevolution on 19 June. We're calling on people everywhere to peacefully occupy public squares and create spaces for debate, assembly and reflection. It's our duty to reclaim the public arena and together forge the kind of world we want to live in.
People of the World, rise up!!! Take the square!!! Take the streets!!! #Globalrevolution

+ Infos:
https://takethesquare.net/
Contacts: squares@lists.takethesquare.net
#Globalrevolution
@takethesquare
Map of actions: http://www.thetechnoant.info/19j/
http://www.democraciarealya.es

*** Paris, June 3rd 2011 – A report on Internet policy by the UN Special Rapporteur on the protection of freedom of opinion and expression will be presented today. The report's guidelines aimed at protecting fundamental freedoms clash radically with the course set by governments of the G8. This report will be essential to help citizens hold their governments accountable for policies undermining online freedoms. ***

The Report [1] of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Frank La Rue, brilliantly draws the lines governments should not cross in order to protect citizens' fundamental rights and democracy.

Alarmingly, most of the governments harmful policies regarding the Internet adopted lately [2] are in clear contradiction with the report's conclusions:

 * The report states that governments should not make Internet intermediaries liable for their users' activities [3]. Such condemnation of private censorship blatantly conflicts with he G8's conclusions, which called for internet actors to implement measures to “prevent future copyright infringements”.

 * These conclusions regarding the role of intermediaries are also in total contradiction with the new EU Copyright Policy and the ACTA agreement – soon to be signed and put to vote before the European Parliament. Through the imposition of broad new criminal sanctions, ACTA would force Internet companies to police their networks and their services' users [4].

 * Among other recommendations, the report requests that the French government withdraw its infamous Hadopi “three strikes” legislation [5] and that the UK governments withdraw the Digital Economy Act.

 * The report condemns censorship of content as a dangerous and inefficient measure [6]. It opposes the kind of administrative censorship currently being implemented in France, or proposed at the EU level.

“The UN report on Freedom of Expression online is a blow to the G8 governments, the European Commissioner Michel Barnier, and the governments involved in negotiating the ACTA agreement, as they all plan to turn Internet companies into a private copyright police. The UN Special Rapporteur Frank La Rue affirms that Freedom of Expression is more important than copyright, and should be protected at all cost, in authoritarian regimes as well as in democracies. Citizens of the world should be inspired by this report and hold their governments accountable for their policies that undermine the Internet and our freedoms.” concludes Jérémie Zimmermann, spokesperson for citizen organization La Quadrature du Net.

* Références *

1. see the report at: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/14session/A.HRC.14.23.pdf

2. Governmental attempts to control the Internet are multiplying in all geographical areas: the US Governments' reaction to WikiLeaks and takedowns of domain names in the name of copyright; the Egyptian black-out of the Net; censorship of web content happening all over Europe; the talks of creating a “Great European firewall”, the ACTA agreement turning Internet service providers into a private copyright police, etc.

3. 40. [...] Holding intermediaries liable for the content disseminated or created by their users severely undermines the enjoyment of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, because it leads to self-protective and over-broad private censorship, often without transparency and the due process of the law.
 42. [...] Furthermore, intermediaries, as private entities, are not best placed to make the determination of whether a particular content is illegal, which requires careful balancing of competing interests and consideration of defences.
 47. [...] To avoid infringing the right to freedom of expression and the right to privacy of Internet users, the Special Rapporteur recommends intermediaries to: only implement restrictions to these rights after judicial intervention; be transparent to the user involved about measures taken, and where applicable to the wider public; provide, if possible, forewarning to users before the implementation of restrictive measures; and minimize the impact of restrictions strictly to the content involved. Finally, there must be effective remedies for affected users, including the possibility of appeal through the procedures provided by the intermediary and by a competent judicial authority.

4. The Special Rapporteur says that he “remains watchful about the treaty’s eventual implications for intermediary liability and the right to freedom of expression”.

5. 79. [...] the Special Rapporteur urges States to repeal or amend existing intellectual copyright laws which permit users to be disconnected from Internet access, and to refrain from adopting such laws.

6. 70. The Special Rapporteur is deeply concerned by increasingly sophisticated blocking or filtering mechanisms used by States for censorship. The lack of transparency surrounding these measures also makes it difficult to ascertain whether blocking or filtering is really necessary for the purported aims put forward by States. As such, the Special Rapporteur calls upon States that currently block websites to provide lists of blocked websites and full details regarding the necessity and justification for blocking each individual website. An explanation should also be provided on the affected websites as to why they have been blocked. Any determination on what content should be blocked must be undertaken by a competent judicial authority or a body which is independent of any political, commercial, or other unwarranted influences.

** About la Quadrature du Net **

La Quadrature du Net is an advocacy group that promotes the rights and freedoms of citizens on the Internet. More specifically, it advocates for the adaptation of French and European legislations to respect the founding principles of the Internet, most notably the free circulation of knowledge.

In addition to its advocacy work, the group also aims to foster a better understanding of legislative processes among citizens. Through specific and pertinent information and tools, La Quadrature du Net hopes to encourage citizens' participation in the public debate on rights and freedoms in the digital age.

La Quadrature du Net is supported by French, European and international NGOs including the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Open Society Institute and Privacy International.

List of supporting organisations : http://www.laquadrature.net/en/they-support-squaring-net-la-quadrature-du-net

** Press contact and press room **

Jérémie Zimmermann, jz@laquadrature.net, +33 (0)615 940 675

http://www.laquadrature.net/en/press-room

Permanent link: http://www.laquadrature.net/en/eu-parliament-adopts-open-wireless-communications-policy

*** Paris, May 11th, 2011 – Today, the European Parliament adopted a bill planning out EU spectrum policy for the years to come, including very important amendments in favor of an open access to airwaves. By supporting shared and unlicensed use of spectrum, the Parliament paves the way for the development of the next generations of free wireless Internet communications (“next generation WiFi”). This strong stance in favor of a communications policy promoting innovation and democracy now needs to be approved by EU Member States (via the EU Council) and the Commission. ***

For years, policy-makers have given licenses that grant only a few operators access to the radio electric resource. Now, advances in radio technologies allow us to envision major evolutions in wireless communications, where access to the spectrum can be shared between all users, without risk of harmful interference. This is what the great success of WiFi networks demonstrate. And this is what can now be pushed further thanks to the first EU radio spectrum policy programme (RSPP) adopted today by the EU Parliament, which opens the door for an open spectrum policy [1].

Today, members of the Parliament adopted amendments encouraging unlicensed uses of spectrum, and in particular of so-called “white spaces” (bands of frequencies located between frequencies allocated to industries and left unused) [2]. Other amendments open the door to the use small antennas [3] that can be used by citizens and businesses in conjunction with land-line broadband networks to build wireless mesh networks [4]. These technologies can expand mobile broadband coverage in less populated or remote areas, thus bridging the digital divide, in particular when they are used in conjunction with shared and unlicensed uses of the airwaves [5].

"This vote suggests a growing understanding that the way we grant access to airwaves for wireless communications, and to whom, is of prime importance for both democracy and innovation. By turning parts of the airwaves into a shared resource once again, we can lower the cost of broadband roll-out, help bridge the digital divide and kick-start the new wave of innovation in mobile communications. This vote is a first step in this direction", explains Félix Tréguer, policy and legal analyst for La Quadrature du Net.

“The EU Parliament cast a very encouraging vote in favor of free and open wireless communications, and successfully resisted the pressure of telecoms and broadcasting industries who want to remain in control of airwaves. We now need to make sure that the Member States and the Commission will actually and promptly follows the opinion of the Parliament towards an open spectrum policy,” concludes Jérémie Zimmermann, co-founder and spokesperson of the citizen organization.

* Références *

1. See "The Spectrum Of Our Freedom". Address: http://www.laquadrature.net/en/the-spectrum-of-our-freedoms

2. See in particular the following amendment: Member States shall foster, in cooperation with the Commission, the collective use of spectrum as well as shared and unlicensed use of spectrum, and foster current and new technologies such as geolocation database and cognitive radio to develop for example in white spaces after proper impact assessment is made. Such impact assessment shall be released no later than twelve months after the adoption of this decision.
See also amendments 44 and 121 of ITRE committee:

http://www.laquadrature.net/wiki/Spectrum_Policy_Programme_Amendments#Amendment_44_.2B.2B
http://www.laquadrature.net/wiki/Spectrum_Policy_Programme_Amendments#Amendment_121_.2B

3. Such as so-called picocells and femtocells.

4. https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Mesh_networking

5. The Parliament adopted the following paragraph: Member-States, in cooperation with the Commission, shall examine the possibility to spread the availability and use of picocells and femtocells. They shall take full account of the potential of these cellular basestations and of shared and unlicensed use of spectrum to provide the basis for wireless mesh networks, which can play a key role in bridging the digital divide.

** About la Quadrature du Net **

La Quadrature du Net is an advocacy group that promotes the rights and freedoms of citizens on the Internet. More specifically, it advocates for the adaptation of French and European legislations to respect the founding principles of the Internet, most notably the free circulation of knowledge.

In addition to its advocacy work, the group also aims to foster a better understanding of legislative processes among citizens. Through specific and pertinent information and tools, La Quadrature du Net hopes to encourage citizens' participation in the public debate on rights and freedoms in the digital age.

La Quadrature du Net is supported by French, European and international NGOs including the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Open Society Institute and Privacy International.

List of supporting organisations : http://www.laquadrature.net/en/they-support-squaring-net-la-quadrature-du-net

** Press contact and press room **

Jérémie Zimmermann, jz@laquadrature.net, +33 (0)615 940 675

http://www.laquadrature.net/en/press-room

Pale Blue Dot - Animation from Ehdubya on Vimeo.

“You can vote against us, you can try to defeat us. Go ahead and oppose a legally binding treaty for our right to read. But, remember, we shall not accept anything less than a new international legal norm.” clearly stated  Rodolfo Cattani,  leader of Italian Blind Union and secretary general of the European Disability Forum in response to  the disturbing European Commission and EU member state opposition to the WIPO Treaty for the Visually Impaired.  As another NGO representative added: “The technology exists for blind persons to access most books; it seems the political will does not.” The Commission and many European Governments, while paying lip service to the “book famine” suffered by blind persons, simply reflect the result of years of heavy industry lobbying against any international exception to copyright, even if it would have negligible or no economic impact on the publishing trade.

Over a hundred people participated in the conference “Fair Access to Culture and the Right to Read of Visually Impaired Persons” sponsored by MEPs Luigi Berlinguer, Eva Lichtenberger and Francisco Sosa Wagner from Italy, Austria and Spain, respectively. The organization of the conference was supported by the European Blind Union and the TransAtlantic Consumer Dialogue.  Approximately half of the participants were members of visually impaired organizations who travelled to Brussels from Italy, Germany, UK, Spain, Belgium and France. Also attending this event were European publishers and authors organizations,  internet server provider representatives, digital rights NGOs, consumer organizations, dyslexic  groups and associations of librarians. A number of other Members of the European Parliament, such as Patricica Toia, Christian Engstrom, Malika Ben Arab and Helga Truppel, also participated.

It has become evident that in any open debate the moral and legal logic of the Treaty for the Visually Impaired will prevail and convince.  The problem resides in the opaque, dishonest European Union  decision making process for common positions at UN institutions like the World Intellectual Property Organization that will make a decision on the Treaty in June. For the past few years there has been a EU Council working group on this issue that has brought together representatives from the 27 EU member states. Unfortunately, these meetings are secretive and there is no way of knowing what is the position of each government.  This lack of democratic transparency prevents any accountability for the EU opposition to the Treaty and permits the cynical contradictory spectacle of the European Commission fighting against the Treaty behind closed doors while most European politicians publicly support it! While copyright fundamentalists rule the back rooms of Brussels power brokers,  no ones seems to want to openly assume the responsibility of slamming the door in the face of millions of visually impaired persons around the world.

According to some sources, France is leading the hard-line position against the Treaty.  Last Monday the French Minister of Culture Mitterrand was handed a letter in favor of a legally binding Treaty at WIPO that was signed by French MEPs from all the major political parties, including Sarkozy´s UMP.

It should be obvious to all that fair copyright laws must be built upon social credibility and legitimacy.  If present copyright laws prevent millions of disadvantaged citizens around the world from gaining and sharing access to culture and knowledge, new international norms are needed.  Our political institutions must be sensitive and responsive to this growing demand.

Original source

We are trying to base the digital business models emulating the physical ones because it's the way it has traditionally worked; but as Carl Sagan said, we have to be able to avoid the traditions related to accidents of a past time. The only physical component here is the hability, of authors , to create new original valuable works. If we stop associating for a while value with price we might see things clearer and in a new context.

But if we are able to link digital consumption, without price and other artificial barriers, to analog consumption and from there reward digital content creators, we might have a better formula to really pay for the attention valuable works attract.

Safe Creative in 5 minutes

https://www.safecreative.org/work/1103198762541

Having fun with spammers, and the best way to never know about somebody who annoys you!

This is a very interesting video highlightning some of the facts around unauthorized copies of digital content and experiments around: Some questions still remain though. For instance: will this work for any author, publisher or content? There are different ways to make money out of different type of contents. Books relate to physical and nonphysical, and music to concerts, recording studies and movies to merchandising when possible. There's no a single answer and that what people will be able to do, and will do in the future remains uncertain. There is a need to link the digital experience of contents with analogic behaviour in such way content creators and producers find at least small slices of revenue.