lambda bulletin. 2.01

4 February, 1996.

Microsoft Network and silly French laws

Some laws are stupid. Especially French rules which oblige all private-sector companies to declare any business-related personal information databases. The Microsoft Network, when it was launched in France on August 24, 1995, has not made his required deposit. The database contains all MSN French subsribers, who are added to the file as they click "ok" on the MSN agreement window.

It turns out that at the end of January, MSN was still out-lawed in France, because the declaration has not been approved yet by the CNIL, the French Commission for Computing and Liberty. Microsoft-France made his official demand for using the database on September 1, 1995, but it still waits for the CNIL approval.

It's the law : without CNIL official approval, the use and treatment of the database's system (MSN) can't be open to the public. But why does it take 5 month to examine MSN's database? Sources at the CNIl and from independent jurists explain : online registration is a new way of entering a database; the fact that all personnal data travels to the US for a couple of weeks, and could then be used for other purposes than MSN's; the case of the strange "Registration Wizzard", a so-called "volontary" program that scans hard drives to find for unlicenced softwares.

Ruban Bleu Join the Blue Ribbon Anti-Censorship Campaign!

CDA shades over France

The French Association of Internet Professionnals (AFPI), an ISP interest group, has decided to ban 18 newsgroups from their servers (obscene, pedophile and neo-nazi ones). AFPI, which has 4 members and claim to represent "more than 50%" of the French market, think ISPs could be held responsible for the content material they transmit. The AFPI didn't want to publish the whole list of newsgroup censored, "because it would have meant that we consider this decision as a solution", Francois Benveniste, president of Calvacom and AFPI's spokesman. He claim this ban could not be called censorship, "because we have to power to enforce it : every subscriber is free to choose another usenet server."

The move could be interpreted as the first politically correct decision in the French on-line world. Yannis Delmas, spokesman for the defense group Gay & Lesbiennes Branchés (Wired G&L), pedophilia could be a pretext for censoring other not-so-smart subjects such as gay speech. "When you begin to censor, you never don't really know where it stops..."

It turns out that the groups banned are subject to be illegal under French law. Unlike the US recent Communications Decency Act (which was overwelmingly approved by Congress on February 2), France, however, doesn't have any law that would penalize ISPs for transmitting indecent speech. The situation is the same in Germany, where two different prosecutors urged CompuServe and Deutsche Telekom to block WWW and Usenet access because of neo-nazi and so called "obscene" material.

AFPI claims ISPs are not "content service providers", but merely an information "relay". Not for a long time : a senior lawyer for the telecom giant, state-owned France Telecom, says every ISP may one day have a legal responsability of what they transmit. CDA shades over France?

CDA may restrict abortion-related speech

Craig Johnson, American Reporter Correspondant and Wired contributor, forwarded in the CPSR's cyber-rights mailing list three interesting stories reviewing dangerous points of the Telco Act concerning abortion related-speech. This may re-criminalyse abortion propaganda, even if such restrictions are unconstitutional (Roe v Wade, 1976).

  • Craig reported in the American Reporter (february 2), http://www.newshare.com/Reporter/archives/;
  • Todd Lappin, from Wired, made an helpful research especially for the list. for further info, see HotWired's column about indecent speech online.
  • The San Jose Mercury News also reported about the case.

    New heads for French Crypto Policy

    France, the most restrictive country for encryption use, has disolved an important government agency which has been widely critisized by Big Industry circles. The DISSI, delegation for information systems' security, has been officially disbanded by decree on January 30th, 1995. The DISSI's mission was to observe a 1990 law which obliged individuals and companies to use Government-approved-only encryption systems. It turns out that all approved systems were easy to break, and thus PGP was de facto out-lawed in this country.
    The encryption policy has passed under the authority of the Prime Minister office for Defense (SGDN, Secrétariat général pour la défense nationale).
    May this change French policy? Insiders made it clear that the actual policy would be eased, especially to allow French businesses to protect their industrial secrets, and to encourage European encryption software industry. France, with the UK, try to impose European GAK systems, where encryption keys would be held by private and supposedly independent notaries (trusted third parties), a system viewed as a copycat policy of the Clipper Chip.

    Independent Author propose the 'Declaration of the Rights of Netizens'

    Michael Hauben accepts critics about his Proposed Declaration of Rights of Netizens. From his self-published book available for everyone.
    " ... In recognition that the net represents a revolution in human communications that was built by a cooperative non-commercial process, the following Declaration of the Rights of the Netizen is presented for Netizen comment.

    As Netizens are those who take responsibility and care for the Net, the following are proposed to be their rights:
    >Universal access at no or low cost; >Freedom of Electronic Expression to promote the exchange of knowledge without fear of reprisal; >Uncensored Expression; >Access to Broad Distribution; >Universal and Equal access to knowledge and information; >Consideration of one's ideas on their merits; >No limitation to access to read, to post and to otherwise contribute; >Equal quality of connection; >Equal time of connection; >No Official Spokesperson; >Uphold the public grassroots purpose and participation; >Volunteer Contribution - no personal profit from the contribution freely given by others; >Protection of the public purpose from those who would use it for their private and money making purposes.
    The Net is not a Service, it is a Right. It is only valuable when it is collective and universal. Volunteer effort protects the intellectual and technological common-wealth that is being created. DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF THE NET and NETIZENS. Inspiration from: RFC 3 (1969), Thomas Paine, Declaration of Independence (1776), Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789), NSF Acceptable Use Policy, Jean Jacques Rousseau, and the current cry for democracy worldwide.

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