Hat tip Vlad Tepes and Gates of Vienna. Translation by Fousesquawk
If you are worried about increasing governmental control over the internet, this proposed bill by the French National Assembly should really get you thinking. I do not pretend to be an expert on this subject, but as a blogger, it could soon affect me. As I understand it from the below translation, the bill would deny access to virtual privacy network providers that are not subject to French or European law.
To me, this raises obvious questions for the French people and their right to have access to different forms of communication. Do they envision preventing the French people from interacting with other parties in other countries who may have opinions that differ from the government?
As the article mentioned, VPNs do a lot to ensure a person's privacy on the internet, but they are also used by people engaged in illegal activities.
Believe it or not, but Europeans do not enjoy the same freedom of speech that we do in America. Several of my contacts in Europe involved in the issues I write about, use VPN because they are worried about what they say being used against them by the government. That includes those Europeans who oppose their governments' (and the EU) policies of allowing millions of migrants to flood into Europe posing as refugees. That includes Europeans who oppose the growing Islamization of Europe.
This proposed bill bears watching. I will keep checking with our French sources.
https://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/dyn/16/amendements/1514/ESPNUM/690
National Assembly
Amendment # CS690 introduced 15 September 2023
Introduced by Vincent Thiebault,, Xavier Albertini and Francois Jolivet
Insert the following article after Article 7
I The providers of virtual network privacy (will) assure that the solutions in matters of access to a private network that they offer, for a fee or for free to users located on French territory, do not permit access to an internal network not subject to French or European legislation or rules.
II When an operator whose activity is to provide a private network service online does not respect the system applicable to (I), the Regulatory Authority for Audiovisual and Digital Communication (ARCOM) will notify the internet access providers or domain name resolution system providers by any appropriate means, upon establishing the date of reception, of the email addresses of the virtual privacy network providers who have not implemented an applicable system to (I). These persons, thus, must prevent access to these addresses within 48 hours.
The users of virtual privacy networks online for whom access is denied will be directed to an information page of the Regulatory Authority for Audiovisual and Digital Communication indicating the reasons for the blocking measure.
- The Regulatory Authority for Audiovisual and Digital Communication (will) notify the email addresses of these providers of virtual privacy networks to search engines or directories which have a period of five days to cease referencing the virtual privacy network service.
-A copy of the notifications to internet access services, providers of domain name resolution systems, and search engines (will be) sent simultaneously to the virtual privacy network provider concerned.
- The measures provided in (II) are for a maximum period of 24 months. Their necessity (will be) reassessed automatically or by request, at least every 12 months. When the facts mentioned in the first paragraph of section II no longer exist, the Regulatory Authority for Audiovisual and Digital Communication (will) advise the addresses without delay of the notifications provided for the lifting of the measures
Summary presentation
For some years, virtual privacy networks (VPN) have been increasingly used by our fellow citizens and businesses.
If this IT solution allows one to use a secure connection to protect oneself from malicious cyber activities, the VPN can also be used for illegal activities like pirating protected content under copyright. The secure and private server that VPNs offer also allows the use of an internet connection located in a foreign country thus, offering the possibility for its users to remove themselves from the French or European framework.
The present amendment is thus, aimed at responding to this problem by making the providers of access to virtual privacy networks responsible. Moreover, this amendment reinforces the powers of ARCOM in terms of restriction and blockage of sites that permit access to an internet network not subject to French and European legislation and regulation.
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