Telecoms: the next civil liberties platform?

Following the compromise reached with the Council on the Telecoms Package, the emphasis in the debate is now shifting from consumer to civil rights following the Parliament gaining new powers under the Lisbon Treaty.

The compromise, which is set to pave the way for a single telecoms market, saw bitter disagreements emerge between all parties.

Following the agreement, it has being cautiously welcomed as “a step in the right direction” and also a “victory” for consumers, depending on who you ask. Interestingly, the Greens, who have been the most vocal group on the subject of the Package, are attempting to place it within the realm of civil liberties rather than consumer rights. Under Lisbon, the Parliament gets for the first time co-decision rights in this area.

While Greens co-President Rebecca Harms is opting for a more cautious interpretation of the outcome, others are keen to play up the role of the “Internet community” in achieving a satisfactory outcome in negotiations.

“This has been presented a victory for the Parliament”, said Belgian MEP Philippe Lamberts, “but really it is a victory for citizens. We now know that citizen's power works”.

The main fight was for the prevention of the “three strikes rule” and the possible criminalisation of Internet file-sharers, such as happened in France, and which the UK is reportedly keen to see introduced there. Whether or not domestic legislation will have to be amended in light of the deal reached between Council and Parliament is still up in the air, with no one keen to venture a definitive opinion right now. “There's a lot of hypocrisy still around” noted Lamberts. “Will France still try and stand in its way. I would say, yes, definitely”. Transposition into national law may prove to be another battleground.

Swedish Pirate MEP Christian Engström, whose party has made Internet rights a key platform area, has also hailed the compromise a “victory for civil society”, and insists it goes a long way towards offering protection against the three strikes rule. But this, he says, is not the end. “Ideally, we still need formal recognition that the Internet is an essential part of society, it is part of being a proper citizen”.

With people being able to vote and use banking facilities online, the desire to treat the Internet as an essential part of citizenry may not be so far-fetched.  It it is to be seen in this light, Says Engström, then issues such as privacy, and the adoption of minimum legal standards for computer crime need to be fought for. He will “definitely” be pushing to ensure EU legislation in these areas.

But despite the ubiquity of the Internet in our everyday lives, proving it is an essential part of human existence may prove difficult to establish. Lamberts, like Engström, will be pushing for the protection of user's rights in the lifetime of this Parliament. But how far can this concept go? Lamberts has likened it to water and energy, utilities that cannot be wholly disconnected through non-payment of bills. This principal, he says, should be given serious reflection.

Will Internet operators ever be bound by law in the same way? If the civil liberties case can be firmly established, then Philippe Lamberts, for one, believes it is a serious possibility.