Document May 12, 1996
Repression of communication freedom in U.S., France, Germany are we “immune” in Italy?
The repressive and censoring activities, perverse and useless, against BBS and Internet sites in U.S., France and Germany are a very worrisome phenomenon. It is necessary to inform and incite the public opinion before the epidemy hits also Italy or the European Community.
ALCEI (the association for freedom in interactive electronic communication) has kept for long time signalling the danger represented by those repression attempts against BBS and Internet and of the risk that the infamous american “Decency Act”might get imitated also in Europe.
Now, the recent news from France confirm our worst suspicions and the protests for the Francà©s “Black Monday” are increasing.
“Article 227-23 of penal code”. This is the secret weapon the french authorities have utilized for the heaviest repressive action against Internet in France. Damage report of Monday 6 May”™s “rafle”: almost 48 hours of imprisonment for the presidents of two famous ISPs; hard disks and other computer material sequestered by a section of Paris”™s Gendarmerie.
The article 227-23 punishes the crimes related to child pornography. This is what the two ISPs, FranceNet and WorldNet are accused of. Not of producing “pornographic” material. But of simply giving their users the access to the Usenet hierarchies, which include also the newsgroups “alt.binaries.pictures.erotica”.
The french “Lundi Noir” is on the same path of the american “Decency Act” and of the intervention in Germany against american sites, still under the pretext of “pornography”.
The Decency Act (which may make any sentence deemed “indecent” unlawful, thus gravely limiting the freedom of speech) has already been subject to very vehement protests and will be probably declared uncostitutional. But, just as we feared, the infection is expanding into Europe and could hit the European Community very soon.
It would take too long to discuss here in depth the reasons (half commercial, half political) that lie behind those repressive actions, and that use as pretext sometimes the pornography, sometimes the (often wrong) hypothesis of illicit access or of possession or the commerce of unregistered software or other “illegal” activities.
The relevant fact is one: those operations are totally useless against “pornography” (whose diffusion in the Net is anyway inferior to that in all other media, including any newsstand) and against any other abuse. These operations have as consequence exclusively a repression of freedom.
It has been demonstrated that the only possible defense of “minors” against dangers are families and educators watching over them. Also because the concept of “not suited for minors” varies widely among different cultures. Some families or cultural groups might consider “obscene” any exposure of human skin, other might accept the nudity but reject the violence.
There are symptomatic cases, like the so-said “liability”, in U.S., of discussion groups about abortion (including the anti-abortion groups) and the comical case of the White House web site being classified as obscene because it contained the word “couples”, which referred to the President and the Vice-President and their spouses.
Nobody has ever thought of shutting down schools or putting a cop in every classroom, just because there are cases of abuse of minors. Or to put under surveillance the public transports, the public parks or the parochial oratories. Instead, when the Net is the objective, any pretext is good for trying to introduce repression and censorship.
Italy is “immune”? Not at all. There have been serious instances, in Italy, of arbitrary, useless and illegal sequesters, even if their pretext wasn”™t the pornography, but the presumed presence of unregistered software or the (even more serious) hypothesis of “opinion crimes” or the imaginary dangers of “terrorism”.
What would be comical, if this menace of censure wouldn”™t be so real, is that these actions don”™t have much efficacity because of the Net”™s structure. Anyone really involved in illicit or dishonest activities would still be able to hide in any country offering complacent hospitality. The repression hits only innocent citizen”™s freedom of speech and opinion.
On the other side, it must be remembered that the Net, for its “transparency”, is a place ill-suited for illegal or covert activities. It is not a secret that for years, in Italy, the Net has always been under the careful surveillance of the police forces. In a recent interview, Alessandro Pansa, Director of the state policà©s Central Department Criminality Economy and Computer, has declared:
“We cannod exclude that the Net may have been used for illicit aims, but our investigative activities haven”™t yet been focused on particularly serious cases.”
It is a comforting thought that, if there will be someone pushing toward repression, it won”™t be the police.
We already have seen some improvements in the methods of investigation. In some instances, unfortunately, the useless and illegal sequesters are still continuing; in other instances, instead, the judge and the police adopt methods more efficacious and more adherent to law (like the copying of hard disks, a method that doesn”™t damage neither the indagations nor the citizens”™rights).
But it isn”™t enough of a reason to relax. It will be necessary to keep a continuous surveillance on probable repressions in Italy and on eventual attempts at censorship from the European Community.
For information on the american “Decency Act”:
http://www.eff.org
For information on the “Black Monday” in France:
http://www.worldnet.fr/~giusal [1]
