Blog on Félix Tréguer

Anthropic vs. the Pentagon: An Imperial Marketing Stunt

Tue, 05 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

In the latest issue of Le Monde diplomatique, I revisit the conflict that pitted Anthropic against the Pentagon, in an attempt to analyze this episode and go beyond the dominant media narrative.

The dispute has all the hallmarks of a hit series: a CEO – Dario Amodei – a freedom-loving idealist standing up to the tyrants of the Trump administration. Except that Anthropic’s “ethical” posture appears totally unwarranted, particularly given Claude’s deployments within Palantir’s systems to accelerate the American kill-chain. Anthropic’s focus on the edge case of autonomous weapons in its negotiations with the US military looks more like a distraction from the enormous stakes raised by the integration of LLMs into military operations.

Averting the Digital Sovereignty Trap

Tue, 07 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The following text is based on my “keynote provocation” during a panel discussion on “What Digital Sovereignty Means for Civil Society”, organized by the Swiss chapter of the Internet Society (ISOC) in Zurich on March 27th, 2026.

Today’s debate on digital sovereignty feels like an intense case of déjà vu: For the better part of the past thirty years, Europe’s key policy-makers have kept playing a familiar song to convey a sense of urgency and impose their latest stripe of industrial policy. That song goes something like this:

Odyssey 2.0: Undoing the Machine-World

Wed, 04 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Three years ago Odyssée 2.0 came out. This book (in French) was born from a photographic and literary project freely inspired by Homer’s myth. Together with photographer Alexa Brunet, we traced Ulysses’ wanderings through Technopolis, a fictional and dystopian “Smart City.”

Below is the translation of the introduction I wrote for that occasion —it had never been published online. In it, I explore the didactic virtues of Greek myths for thinking through the tensions between technological progress and emancipation, before touching on various themes addressed in the photographic series and the accompanying tale we created.

The Practical Limits of Algorithmic Transparency: Lessons from France

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This paper draws on a talk given a few months ago at the International Conference “Algorithmic transparency and the digital rule of law”, at the Sciences Po Paris Law School. Thanks to Lucas Anjos and Rebecca Mignot-Mahdavi for the invitation.

Abstract

In the face of concerns raised by AI systems in recent years, transparency has emerged as a central governance principle, enshrined in regulations from France’s Digital Republic Law to the EU AI Act. This talk examines the practical enforcement of algorithmic transparency provisions through action-research conducted by La Quadrature du Net, a French digital rights organization. Drawing on five years of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests targeting surveillance algorithms deployed by French public authorities, we document systematic enforcement failures that render transparency requirements largely symbolic. Our findings suggest that transparency operates primarily as a legitimizing device for algorithmic governance rather than as an effective accountability mechanism.

“Thinking About AI” (edited volume)

Wed, 21 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The edited volume Penser l’intelligence artificielle – Enjeux philosophiques, politiques et culturels de l’automatisation numérique (Thinking About Artificial Intelligence: Philosophical, Political, and Cultural Issues in Digital Automation) is out in French. It is edited by Anne Alombert, Alban Leveau-Vallier, and Baptiste Loreaux, published by Presses du réel. I had the pleasure of contributing to the book through a short chapter, alongside those of Grégory Chatonsky, Yves Citton, Judith Deschamps, Matthieu Garling, Pablo Jensen, Frédéric Kaplan, Jean Lassegue, Sofia Taipa, Pierre Cassou-Noguès and Gwenola Wagon, among others.

Two Post-Marxist Takes on The Political Economy of AI

Tue, 13 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Yesterday, we held the first session of the “AI critique” seminar hosted by the CIS, which I co-organize with my colleagues Marie Garin and Olivier Alexandre. We had the distinct privilege of welcoming two scholars whose work has profoundly shaped critical debates on the political economy of artificial intelligence and its repercussions in international relations: Cecilia Rikap (Associate Professor at University College London.) et Nick Srnicek (Senior Lecturer in Digital Economy at King’s College London).

Seminar “Critiquing AI: Artificial Intelligence Through the Lens of its Controversies”

Tue, 16 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

After a year-long hiatus, the “AI Critique” seminar returns to the CNRS Center for Internet and Society. For this edition, Marie Garin (postdoctoral researcher at CIS) and I are pleased to be joined by sociologist Olivier Alexandre as co-facilitators of these meetings organized as part of the “Critique of Artificial Intelligence” working group of the GDR Internet, AI and Society.

You can register for sessions here

2026 Season Overview

As critical discourses on AI —whether scholarly, professional, political, or mundane— are increasingly salient, this seminar aims to examine the objects of this critique and what they reveal about the social and political dimensions of new technologies. Through sessions combining two approaches to the same issue, we will identify the grounding, forms, and modes of circulation of AI critiques. Six controversies will be successively addressed: the dominance of major digital companies, AI’s impacts on work, AI-related discrimination, its “ethical” dimension, its place in education, and the “openness” of AI systems.

The Eternal Return of Facial Recognition

Thu, 04 Sep 2025 13:05:02 +0000

This Op-Ed is adapted from a text originally published on AOC.

In May 2025, Gérald Darmanin was getting restless. Overtaken on the right by his successor at the Ministry of Interior, Bruno Retailleau, the new Minister of Justice apparently found it difficult to hang up his apron as “France’s top cop.” So he pulled out of his hat a seemingly novel proposal: the legalization of real-time facial recognition.

The ink on the War on Drugs law, with its array of new police surveillance measures, was not yet dry— the Constitutional Council would rule on it a few days later—but the minister was already on to his next move. After his announcement, his office would confirm to AFP that a working group was about to be launched to “create a legal framework” so as to “introduce this measure into our legislation.” According to the minister, who in 2022 said he opposed facial recognition, “using technology and facial recognition are the solutions to drastically combat insecurity.” A few days later, his rival Retailleau would follow suit, calling for “highly regulated” use of real-time facial recognition in the context of criminal investigations.

AI and the Lessons of Past Labor Struggles

Mon, 01 Sep 2025 13:25:04 +0000

In a new article for Le Monde diplomatique, with researchers Maud Barret Bertelloni and Pauline Gourlet, we look back at the relevance of 1970’s French trade union critiques of computerization to inform contemporary struggles against AI.

The issues were more or less the same as today (loss of skills, worker isolation, amplification of managerial surveillance, etc.), but the analysis and solutions outlined at the time were far more offensive. Food for thought for upcoming mobilizations? Here is an excerpt:

Olympic Surveillance Between Paris and London

Wed, 20 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Thanks to Emma Mc Cluskey and Akos Kopper, a cross-interview with Myrtille Picaud and Pete Fussey has just been published in the journal PARISS (Political Anthropological Research on International Social Sciences). In it, we look back at surveillance during the Paris 2024 and London 2012 Olympic Games.

Abstract

Pete Fussey conducted extensive research on Olympic surveillance in London, and Myrtille Picaud, an urban policy sociologist, carried out fieldwork on the Paris Games.

Predictive Policing in France: Calling for a Ban

Fri, 30 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

As part of a European initiative coordinated by Statewatch, me and my colleague Eda Nano worked with La Quadrature du Net for a report on the state of predictive policing in France. In light of the information gathered, and given the dangers these systems carry when they incorporate socio-demographic data as a basis for their recommendations, we call for their ban.

After documenting back in 2017 the arrival of so-called predictive policing systems, and then being confronted with the lack of up-to-date information and real public debate, we sought to investigate them in more detail. For this report, we have therefore compiled the data available on several predictive policing software systems formerly or currently in use within French police forces. These include:

Systemic Opacity and Black Holes in Surveillance Oversight

Tue, 15 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

My contribution to the recent symposium of the Commission nationale de contrôle des techniques de renseignement took the form of an article (in both French and English) in the journal Études françaises de renseignement et de cyber (French Studies on Intelligence and Cyber). In it, I revisit the systemic opacity that characterizes the surveillance activities of French intelligence services and the “black holes” of oversight in this domain.

The article also questions the limits of institutional reforms in the face of these dynamics and advocates at minimum for compliance with international legal standards and a much more radical approach to transparency.

AI Action Summit: Accelerating, Whatever The Cost

Sun, 16 Feb 2025 13:05:00 +0000

This Op-Ed was first published in the newspaper La Croix.

The Paris summit on artificial intelligence (AI) organized by France was held on February 10 and 11, 2025. It will go down in history as a great moment of acceleration. While French civil society is organizing, particularly through the Hiatus coalition launched on the initiative of La Quadrature du Net, to resist the surge of artificial intelligence, Europe is engaging in a headlong rush which, in the current context, could precipitate us towards a kind of techno-fascism.

The Startup Privilege

Wed, 15 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I have just published an article (in French, Spanish and Portuguese) in Le Monde diplomatique analyzing how technological innovation is used to justify increasing exemptions from fundamental rights, particularly in the field of digital surveillance.

Summary

This article examines how the discourse of innovation and the rhetoric of disruption are used to justify regulatory exemptions (aka “regulatory sandboxes”) and legal experiments that primarily benefit technology companies.

The analysis shows how this privilege of experimentation is part of a deliberate strategy of fait accompli: by rapidly deploying their services and building up a user base (including public users) before any real public debate, these companies and public authorities seek to impose these technologies in order to then legalize controversial practices a posteriori. This asymmetry between entrepreneurial timing and legal timing profoundly transforms the relationship between the market and the law, echoing some of the legal theories advocated by Carl Schmitt.

My new book "Technopolice" is out!

Fri, 11 Oct 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The book Technopolice (in French only) is out! Get it from Éditions Divergences.

Here is the summary:

“Drones, predictive software, algorithmic video-surveillance, facial recognition: the use of the latest technologies of control is becoming commonplace within the police. Far from curbing crime, all these innovations are actually amplifying state violence. They place the city under siege and close up our political imaginations. This is what this book shows by drawing on experiences and knowledge forged during recent struggles against police surveillance. From the security industry to the Ministry of the Interior, from the CNIL to the officer’s vehicle on patrol, it connects the dots between the growing techno-solutionist hegemony contributed and the current authoritarian drift.”

How State Surveillance Was Fought

Sat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000

In this month’s edition of Le Monde diplomatique, I have an article in French tracing the history of struggles against state surveillance in the United States in the sixties and seventies.

Abstract

Based on a longer study published earlier this month as a chapter, this article offers a historical perspective on resistance to state surveillance in the United States. It highlights strategies of resistance, but also transformations in the repertoires of actions deployed by the New Left to challenge political surveillance conducted by intelligence agencies (CIA, FBI, military). In particular, it emphasizes the crucial role of alliances between social movements, technical experts, and legal actors in repelling certain surveillance projects and obtaining certain legal guarantees, even if the latter also had a depoliticizing effect.

Promises & Pitfalls of Activist-Researcher Collaborations

Mon, 05 Feb 2024 00:00:00 +0000

In late January, I took a train up North to attend a conference on predictive policing organized at the IT University of Copenhagen. This international gathering brought together researchers working on the transformation of police surveillance in the digital age, with a particular focus on predictive policing.

Predictive policing in France

Together with Edlira Nano (who sadly could not make the trip), we presented an overview of predictive policing in France titled “From Myth-Making to Quiet Dereliction”.

New Book: Intelligence Oversight in Times of Transnational Impunity

Fri, 15 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

We are pleased to announce the publication of our collective volume Intelligence Oversight in Times of Transnational Impunity: Who Will Watch the Watchers?, co-edited with Didier Bigo and Emma Mc Cluskey, published by Routledge.

Abstract

This volume, derived from the GUARDINT project, examines contemporary challenges in intelligence oversight within a context of growing transnationalization of intelligence activities. Drawing on empirical case studies and theoretical analyses, the contributions question the effectiveness of democratic surveillance mechanisms in the face of mass surveillance scandals revealed since 2013. The book explores structural limitations of national oversight institutions confronted with surveillance practices that largely transcend state borders, while proposing avenues for rethinking forms of accountability in this domain.

From Free Internet to Techno-Authoritarian Drift

Mon, 20 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

My interview (in French) with judge Judith Allenbach of the journal Délibérée has just been published. It provides an analysis of the the Internet’s trajectory, from initial emancipation promises to contemporary techno-authoritarian drift.

Abstract

This interview traces my own journey from the Internet’s early utopias to contemporary forms of control and surveillance characterizing cyberspace. By articulating historical analysis and critical reflection, I stress how emancipatory aspirations accompanying Internet development progressively collided with commercial and security logics that profoundly transformed its nature.

New Edition: Counter-History of the Internet

Sun, 15 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

I’m really glad to announced a revised and updated French edition of Counter-History of the Internet: From the 15^th Century to Today, published by Agone, an independent publisher based in Marseille.¹ The book is adapted from my PhD in Political Studies at EHESS and offers a foucaldian reinterpretation of Jürgen Habermas’ history of the public sphere.

Publisher’s presentation

“The state control of public sphere — particularly the media — is based on centuries-old strategies that have been constantly renewed and adapted to the new reality brought about by the Internet. This technology has thus rapidly evolved from an instrument with emancipatory potential to an instrument of unprecedented state and economic power. Understanding the thread of this change requires placing this technology in a long history: that of the conflicts that have arisen each time new means of communication have been invented.

Towards Democratic Intelligence Oversight

Wed, 20 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

With my GUARDINT colleagues, we just published in the Review of International Studies of a collective article on the limits, practices and struggles around democratic control of intelligence services.

Abstract

“Despite its common usage, the meaning of ‘democratic’ in democratic intelligence oversight has rarely been spelled out. In this article, we situate questions regarding intelligence oversight within broader debates about the meanings and practices of democracy. We argue that the literature on intelligence oversight has tended to implicitly or explicitly follow liberal and technocratic ideas of democracy, which have limited the understanding of oversight both in academia and in practice. Thus, oversight is mostly understood as an expert, institutional and partially exclusive arrangement that is supposed to strike a balance between individual freedom and collective security, with the goal of establishing the legitimacy of and trust in intelligence work in a national setting. ‘Healthy’ or ‘efficient’ democratic oversight then becomes a matter of technical expertise, non-partisanship, and the ability to guard secrets. By analysing three moments of struggle around what counts as intelligence oversight across Germany, the UK, and the US, this article elucidates their democratic stakes. Through a practice-based approach, we argue that oversight takes much more agonistic, contentious, transnational, and public forms. However, these democratic practices reconfiguring oversight remain contested or contained by dominant views on what constitutes legitimate and effective intelligence oversight.”

A visit at the gala of AN2V, the French video-surveillance lobby

Tue, 11 Jul 2023 11:58:00 +0000

In French only.

Il a fallu débourser 180€ et s’arracher à la torpeur de ce début d’été pour gagner le droit de s’attabler incognito au beau milieu du « milieu » français de la vidéosurveillance policière. L’AN2V, ou association nationale de la vidéoprotection, tenait l’une de ses « nuits de l’AN2V » à Paris le 27 juin dernier.

Événement biennal, les « nuits » sont le moment le plus people de cette association de fabricants, de distributeurs, d’intégrateurs, bref de marchands des milliers de caméras de surveillance installées à grands frais dans nos villes et villages.

Timeline of Intelligence Surveillance Scandals

Thu, 15 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Together with my colleagues from the GUARDINT project, we are publishing a report on surveillance scandals involving the US, British, German, and French intelligence services.

Summary

This timeline lists and documents the main surveillance scandals that have come to light in recent decades, from the first revelations about the NSA in the 1960s to Edward Snowden’s disclosures and more recent scandals. It provides an empirical resource for analyzing changes in intelligence services’ surveillance practices in light of the challenges they face.

AI and Government Reform: Towards Humanless Bureaucracies?

Mon, 14 Feb 2022 08:04:00 +0000

Text originally published in French in November 2021 on AOC media.

In recent years, with extensive use of vocabulary borrowed from the “start-up” world, we have witnessed the consolidation of a new iteration of neoliberal state reform. Through concepts such as “platform state” or “state start-up”¹, new reformers have been counting on “corporate hackers” and disruptive innovation to transform public bureaucracies from within, unleash creativity, restore transparency, deploy “agile” methods, and adapt to a constantly changing environment—all at lower cost. The “digital state”—a concept praised in June 2017 by Emmanuel Macron during his famous ode to the “startup nation”—is also and above all a state undergoing automation: to accompany the objective of not replacing nearly 50,000 civil servants by 2022, the Public Action 2022 plan launched in October 2018 relied on “technologies such as artificial intelligence and RPA (’robotic process automation’),” in order to “automate repetitive and low value-added tasks”².

Surveillance State of Play in France

Fri, 01 Oct 2021 12:18:30 +0000

I wrote a short chapter on digital surveillance for a collective work entitled Le Nouveau Monde, which has just been published by Amsterdam Editions. Over 1,000 pages and nearly 100 authors paint a “picture of neoliberal France”.

For my part, I have attempted in a few pages to describe the expansion of digital surveillance in recent years, its promoters, its methods, and its effects, while trying to place it within the longer history of information technology.

Action-Research on Algorithmic Policing

Sun, 15 Aug 2021 00:00:00 +0000

In June, during the European Workshops in International Studies, I presented of a draft paper regarding ongoing action-research concerning algorithmic urban policing, analyzing methodological and political challenges of fieldwork on AI-powered surveillance systems.

Abstract

This paper examines methodological and epistemological issues of action-research on algorithmic policing, based on empirical investigation of AI-powered surveillance system experiments in the French urban context. It questions conditions for producing critical knowledge about technical objects surrounded by opacity and protected by both commercial and security secrecy.

Hacktivists as Heirs of the New Left

Tue, 27 Jul 2021 11:03:10 +0000

The issue of Quaderni journal dedicated to hacking has just been published. In it, I published an article on hacker action repertoires and their connection to the New Left of the 1960s and 1970s.

Here is the abstract:

After recalling the connection between the pioneers of hacker activism and the anti-technocratic tactics employed by the New Left, this article proposes to interpret the wave of repression that hit hackers in the late 1980s as one of the power strategies designed to end the crisis of governmentality that began in the 1960s — a strategy that has since been reactivated whenever a “hacker front” has seemed on the verge of reconstituting itself. In doing so, it invites us to see this episode of securing cyberspace and repressing transgressive repertoires of action as a critical moment in the genealogy of authoritarian liberalism.

Health Crisis, Amplified Digital Surveillance

Wed, 14 Jul 2021 11:10:00 +0000

At a time when the extension of the health pass is being debated in France, my article on the health crisis and its effects on digital surveillance has just been published in the journal Political Anthropological Research on International Social Sciences (PARISS). It is the continuation of work begun in spring 2020 with an article published in French in Le Monde diplomatique and a [note]((https://www.felixtreguer.fr/2020/05/health-security-crisis/) published on the CERI website.

The PARISS article is available on HAL-SHS.

In France, Intelligence Agencies Remain Without Sufficient Checks & Balances

Mon, 28 Jun 2021 07:17:48 +0000

Article first published in French on [The Conversation FR]((https://theconversation.com/en-france-des-services-de-renseignement-sans-vrais-contre-pouvoirs-163040).

Eight years after the revelations by whistleblower Edward Snowden, the National Assembly has just adopted, amid a certain degree of indifference, the bill on the prevention of terrorist acts and intelligence. The text is now being examined by the Senate.

This is the first major revision of the intelligence law adopted in 2015. At the time, the Manuel Valls government defended the text by explaining that France was “one of the last Western democracies without a coherent and comprehensive legal framework for intelligence activities.”

France’s police bill: surveillance for the long haul

Thu, 08 Apr 2021 14:47:30 +0000

First published on about:intel.

The French government seems not to be interested in tackling systemic police violence. Instead, one of the most defining features of Macron’s presidency lies in the fast-paced expansion of state surveillance powers. A case in point is Parliament’s impending adoption of the “Bill on Global Security”, which shows the current administration is a leading representative of the rising wave of authoritarian-liberalism currently sweeping Europe.

On 4 December 2020, French President Emmanuel Macron gave a rare interview on police violence. It was less than two weeks after music producer Michel Zecler, a 41 year-old black man, was arrested by police officers after being brutally evicted from his own studio and assaulted. It was about two weeks after the Paris police ruthlessly dismantled a camp-ground of migrants in the French capital, and a mere few days after more than 130,000 people took to the streets across the country to march against the Global Security Bill – a piece of legislation intending to ramp up police powers and legalise new surveillance technologies.

The State and Digital Surveillance in Times of the Covid-19 Pandemic

Thu, 07 May 2020 13:01:46 +0000

First published for the CERI’s series on the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last February, as the COVID-19 epidemic was in full swing in China, the world watched in amazement Chinese public authorities enforce drastic measures to curb the spread of the epidemic. In parallel with the generalised containment measures implemented in Hubei province, the Chinese government set up an impressive techno-police apparatus. Designed in partnership with the country’s major digital platforms such as Alibaba, Tencent and Baidu—and although its actual effectiveness is questionable—, it was presented as a key cog in China’s strategy to fight the virus.

Release of netCommons' Hands-On Guide on Community Networks

Sun, 15 Dec 2019 00:00:00 +0000

The netCommons project is proud to announce the release of “Telecommunications Reclaimed: A Hands-On Guide to Networking Communities”!

Download it from HAL-SHS

This book is a guide on how to build a community network, a shared local telecommunications infrastructure, managed as a commons, to access the internet and other digital communications services. It was written collectively by a group of community network pioneers in Europe, activists and researchers during a writing residency week held in Vic, Catalonia in October 2018. It was a time of hard work and fast writing, but also of discussions in a friendly environment.

Government & Industry Working Hand in Hand to Impose Facial Recognition

Mon, 28 Oct 2019 10:39:54 +0000

Op-Ed in French written with Martin Drago, lawyer at La Quadrature du Net, and published in Le Monde on October 25, 2019.

L’inévitable débat sur la reconnaissance faciale arrive enfin en France, et le gouvernement esquisse sa réponse. Dans un entretien paru dans Le Monde du 15 octobre, le secrétaire d’Etat au numérique Cédric O, ancien cadre du groupe Safran, a notamment estimé qu’« expérimenter » la reconnaissance faciale était « nécessaire pour que nos industriels progressent ».

‘Direct Action Against Computerization (1960-1990)’

Fri, 14 Jun 2019 18:59:38 +0000

In the political genealogy of computers, and even more so in the dominant historiography of the Internet, [neo-Luddite] opposition has been largely overlooked.

Among the actors who contributed in one way or another to shaping these technologies and the discourse surrounding them before the 1990s, postwar humanist scientists and technophile hippies of the 1960s are often mentioned (see, for example, the works of Fred Turner). Together, they helped to remove computers from large bureaucracies by promoting smaller machines, designed as tools for individual liberation, with all the unthoughts that were theirs (and ours, one might say, since their hopes and utopias also greatly influenced the dominant discourse on the Internet…). In the history of the right to personal data protection, we also sometimes refer to computer scientists, researchers, and lawyers who, as early as the 1960s, alerted public opinion and legislators to the risks of these technologies for privacy.

Data Politics is out

Wed, 27 Mar 2019 11:51:32 +0000

A new book on « Data Politics » is fresh out. Edited by professor Didier Bigo, Engin Isin and Evelyn Ruppert, it is part of Routledge Serie in International Political Sociology.

I contributed a chapter titled « Seeing Like Big Tech: Security assemblages, technology, and the future of state bureaucracy ». Here is the abstract:

This chapter looks at post-Snowden contention between US technology companies – firms like Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Apple – and the security field to reflect on the evolution of state arrangements monitoring and controlling communications. Modern statecraft has always depended on measures and metrics that could make the world legible and governable. In the age of Big Data, the infrastructures, data-processing techniques and abstractions produced by large, public-facing technology firms are now seen as the most suited to govern the digitalised world. Through negotiations processes and power struggles involving states, technology companies and other actors, security assemblages tasked with surveillance and censorship evolve towards privatisation and automation, and away from the rule of law. While pointing to the growing influence of Big Data governmentality across the security and wider bureaucratic fields, we conclude by taking stock of the failures of strategies aimed at decoupling the growing sophistication of computing and the intensification of power relationships.

Towards the Automation of Political Censorship

Fri, 22 Feb 2019 15:45:14 +0000

We are at a turning point in the long history of censorship. This turning point is that of private and automated censorship. It marks a radical break with the guarantees associated with freedom of expression that the democratic struggles of the 19th century left us as a legacy.

The democratic-liberal heritage trampled underfoot

The 1881 law on freedom of the press—now interpreted in the light of the European Convention on Human Rights—is certainly full of loopholes, and we too often tend to exaggerate its liberalism. Nevertheless, it remains a fundamental compass for freedom of expression, providing, for example, [special procedural rules] for judging abuses of this freedom after the fact and establishing the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts in public proceedings.

The Origins of Digital Activism in France

Fri, 23 Nov 2018 14:11:57 +0000

My colleague Patrick Pétin and I have just published an article in the journal Internet Histories that traces the origins of digital activism in France.

The idea is to provide some new insights based on interviews conducted with pioneers of the movement over the past two years, but also to raise international awareness of the specificities of the French trajectory, at a time when historiography remains largely dominated by Anglo-Saxon actors.

Copyright Directive: the fake confrontation between the two heads of information capitalism

Mon, 10 Sep 2018 07:15:14 +0000

Opinion piece originally published in French in Le Monde Idées on September 9, 2018.

For a quarter of a century, we have been watching the same bad movie, in which the cultural industries use the law to wage war on their audience. At issue this time is Article 13 of the Copyright Directive currently under review in Brussels, on which the European Parliament will vote on September 12.

In its current form, this provision requires digital platforms (YouTube, Facebook, and the like) to use automated filtering tools as part of agreements with rights holders (such as Sacem). The aim? To identify content published by internet users and block any that includes copyrighted works. A form of prior, automated, and privatized censorship.

"A new figure of power is emerging before our eyes"

Thu, 15 Feb 2018 09:48:10 +0000

In French only.

Je reproduis ici un entretien avec le journaliste Clément Pouré de Motherboard.

Motherboard – Début janvier, Emmanuel Macron annonçait un projet de loi sur les fake news. Faut-il s’inquiéter d’une éventuelle censure ?

Félix Tréguer – Le projet d’Emmanuel Macron reste assez flou à ce stade, mais les mesures envisagées semblent cibler l’utilisation des systèmes de contenus sponsorisés sur les plateformes et seraient limitées aux seules périodes électorales.

PhD completed!

Sat, 18 Nov 2017 14:20:46 +0000

Finally! My thesis is finished. After seven years of hard work, I defended it on November 2, 2017 at the EHESS in Paris, surrounded by my loved ones (family, friends, colleagues) and facing a perceptive jury with whom I was able to have a particularly rich discussion.

I submitted the PDF to the HAL-SHS archive. Here is the abstract:

Taking contemporary debates on freedom of expression and privacy in the digital age as a starting point, this thesis revisits the history of the Internet at the intersection of legal history, political theory and history of science and technology. Through a long-time study of the clash between power and resistance strategies associated with communication technologies, it aims to contribute to the history of the public sphere and of digital activism.

Gaps and bumps in the political history of the internet

Wed, 18 Oct 2017 07:54:38 +0000

I have a new paper out at the Internet Policy Review. It is based on a personal experience but it is also meant as an introduction to the political historiography of the Internet (the full list of references is here, and an extended version of the bibliography is available in this bibtex file).

Le coût écologique d’internet est trop lourd, il faut penser un internet low-tech

Tue, 30 May 2017 07:05:37 +0000

Le combat pour une informatique émancipatrice échoue le plus souvent à expliquer les effroyables coûts écologiques et humains du numérique. Un internet low-tech est nécessaire afin de nous émanciper des sphères technocratiques et industrielles.

avec Gaël Trouvé. Tribune publiée sur Reporterre

L’an dernier, un contributeur de la revue anglo-saxonne <i>Phrack,</i> publication phare de la mouvance hacker, appelait de ses vœux la constitution d’un front <i>« hacker-luddite »</i> pour lutter contre deux fléaux qui entravent selon lui la contribution de l’informatique à l’émancipation : les systèmes informatiques fermés, conçus par leurs designers pour empêcher toute appropriation singulière et créative par leurs utilisateurs ; ceux fondés sur des logiques propagandistes et manipulatoires qui, notamment à travers la publicité, détournent l’attention humaine à des fins de contrôle social et de profits [<a class="external" title="Anonyme. « Hacker Luddites », Phrack, le 6 mai 2016." href="https://reporterre.net/Le-cout-ecologique-d-internet-est-trop-lourd-il-faut-penser-un-internet-low#nb1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">1</a>].

De la dépêche secrète aux Crypto Wars (brève histoire politique du chiffrement)

Fri, 07 Apr 2017 13:32:50 +0000

Ce texte a été publié dans le numéro 365 de La Chronique, le magazine d’Amnesty International (avril 2017).

L’acuité des débats contemporains autour du droit au chiffrement de nos communications et données numériques pourrait faire oublier qu’il renvoie en réalité d’un droit ancien. Il est en effet indéfectiblement lié au secret des correspondances, lui-même protégé depuis le milieu du XVIIIème siècle. Quant à la cryptologie – la « science du secret » –, elle est un art plus ancien encore. Et contrairement aux idées reçues, il semble qu’elle ait de tout temps fait l’objet d’usages triviaux et populaires. Certes, ces derniers furent longtemps marginaux, puisque l’écriture fut pendant longtemps essentiellement réservée aux élites. Mais l’un des plus vieux documents connus adoptant un système de codage est une tablette en argile datant de l’Antiquité retrouvée en Irak, dans laquelle le potier avait dissimulé ses techniques de fabrication en jouant sur les consonnes.

Alt. vs. Ctrl.: Thinking About Alternative Internets

Mon, 05 Sep 2016 09:36:04 +0000

Editorial notes for the Journal of Peer Production #9 on Alternative Internets

By Félix Tréguer, Panayotis Antoniadis, Johan Söderberg

The hopes of past generations of hackers weigh like a delirium on the brains of the newbies. Back in the days when Bulletin Board Systems metamorphosed into the Internet, the world’s digital communications networks – hitherto confined to military, corporate and elite academic institutions – were at grasping reach of ordinary individuals. To declare the independence of the Internet from nation states and the corporate world seemed like no more than stating the bare facts. Even encrypted communication – the brainchild of military research – had leaked into the public’s hands and had become a tool wielded against state power. Collectives of all stripes could make use of the new possibilities offered by the Web to bypass traditional media, broadcast their own voice and assemble in new ways in this new public sphere. For some time, at least, the Internet as a whole embodied “alternativeness.”

Supporting Community Networks Through Law and Policy

Mon, 04 Jul 2016 16:49:34 +0000

This post was first published on netCommons.

For the most part, the following is based on research conducted for an article I co-authored with Primavera De Filippi after interviewing several leading community networks in Europe that use wireless networks to provide Internet connectivity to their members, such as Guifi.net, Freifunk, Ninux or Tetaneutral.net. As we at netCommons start looking into the legal landscape surrounding community networks, I thought it would be useful to provide an updated version as a starting point for our research.

Rollback or Legalisation? Mass Surveillance in France and the Snowden Paradox

Sat, 04 Jun 2016 08:56:12 +0000

This piece was first published on ExplosivePolitics and MappingSecurity.

On June the 5**^th****, it will be exactly three years since Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Glenn Greenwald wrote the first article based on the trove of secret documents disclosed by the now famous NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. Three years that saw the unfolding of an unprecedented controversy on the surveillance capabilities of the world’s most powerful intelligence agencies, thanks to the combined work of investigative journalists, computer experts, lawyers, activists and scholars. Since 2013, France is the first liberal European regime to undergo a vast reform of its legal framework regulating secret state surveillance. What follows is a reader’s digest of research presented at the 7^th Biennial Surveillance & Society Conference.**

Post-Snowden Contention: The Case of France

Mon, 25 Apr 2016 11:19:55 +0000

Last week, I attended the 7th Biennial Surveillance & Society Confrence in Barcelona, where I presented a paper entitled: « From Deep State Illegality to Law of the Land: The Case of Internet Surveillance in France. »

Download the paper

This paper (update: now published by Media and Communication in a special issue on « Post-Snowden Internet Policy » – pdf) aims to contribute to cross-country comparisons of the consequences of post-Snowden contention for the techno-legal apparatus of modern forms of secret state surveillance.

Sauver Internet (et nous-mêmes) de la technocratie

Thu, 29 Oct 2015 10:46:31 +0000

Alors que la Deuxième Guerre mondiale poussait à son paroxysme l’instrumentalisation de la science par un ordre bureaucratique mortifère, les philosophes et les artistes n’étaient soudain plus les seuls à s’inquiéter de l’aliénation technicienne. De nombreux scientifiques au cœur de l’appareil militaro-industriel traversaient à leur tour une véritable crise de conscience.

Dans ce contexte, l’ordinateur fut investi d’utopies émancipatrices. Les super-calculateurs avaient contribué au parachèvement de la bombe atomique, et donc à la possibilité nouvelle et terrifiante d’une annihilation totale de l’Homme par l’Homme. Profitant des financements publics colossaux octroyés pendant la Guerre froide, des groupes de chercheurs travaillèrent à renverser la vapeur, pour faire de l’ordinateur un outil de libération. En lien avec les mouvements contre-culturels des années 1960, ils allaient accoucher du réseau informatique décentralisé et transfrontière qu’on appelle aujourd’hui Internet. La mouvance altermondialiste fut l’une des premières à en explorer les usages militants, grâce aux transfuges des communautés hackers.

Le gouvernement refuse de faire la transparence sur le nombre de documents classifiés

Thu, 21 May 2015 14:00:23 +0000

Mise-à-jour du 9 février 2018 : La deuxième édition du rapport.

Mise-à-jour du 20 décembre 2015 : Le rapport du SGDSN « sur le secret de la défense nationale en France » a été publié.**
**

Mise-à-jour du 21 octobre 2015 : On apprend aujourd’hui que le SGDSN « prépare un rapport sur le secret-défense » qui « devrait notamment comprendre des statistiques sur la classification ». Dans le cadre d’une consultation qui vient tout juste de s’achever sur le projet de loi numérique, j’ai proposé un amendement visant à faire en sorte que ces statistiques publiques soient complètes et tenues régulièrement à jour.

Internet : un nouvel art de la révolte ?

Fri, 27 Mar 2015 17:17:59 +0000

Le philosophe Geoffroy de Lagasnerie vient de faire paraître un essai intitulé L’Art de la révolte qui constitue une contribution importante à l’étude des rapports entre Internet, la citoyenneté et l’espace public. J’en propose ici un petit résumé avant de faire quelques remarques critiques.

Résumé

L’auteur prend appui sur trois « figures exemplaires » du militantisme sur Internet : Julian Assange, Chelsea Manning et Edward Snowden. Tous sont devenus des symboles de la défense des libertés et de l’État de droit sur Internet. Pour Lagasnerie, le cybermilitantisme qu’ils développent conduit à mettre en crise la « scène politique » au travers d’une « radicalisation de l’exigence démocratique » :

Le Conseil d’État fait peu de cas de la liberté d’expression sur Internet

Tue, 09 Sep 2014 16:14:55 +0000

L’hiver dernier, la jurisprudence Dieudonné du Conseil d’État avait déjà suscité des inquiétudes quant à la protection de la liberté d’expression en droit français. Bien qu’il comporte des propositions positives sur les nombreux autres sujets abordés, le rapport sur le « numérique et les droits fondamentaux » publié aujourd’hui par la section du rapport et des études du Palais-Royal tend à les confirmer, puisqu’il légitime l’extrajudiciarisation des atteintes portées à cette liberté fondamentale. On lit ainsi dans ce document, à la page 229 :

Ithiel de Sola Pool, le Tocqueville du droit de l’Internet

Wed, 05 Mar 2014 14:28:42 +0000

Dès les premiers débats autour de la régulation d’Internet, dans les années 1990, les législateurs et les juges se sont heurtés à une question fondamentale : de quel régime juridique Internet doit-il relever ? De celui de la presse, du téléphone, de l’audiovisuel ? Ou faut-il lui appliquer un autre droit ? Une question encore d’actualité, notamment en France avec les projets d’extension des compétences du CSA à Internet, ou la remise en cause des garanties procédurales attachées à la loi sur la presse de 1881 afin de l’adapter à Internet (il y a quelques mois, Manuel Valls, affirmait sans ambages que « la question est posée aujourd’hui, compte tenu de la force de frappe d’Internet et son influence sur les citoyens, de savoir si la répression de tels délits relève encore de cette législation »).

Insurgent Citizenship Online & the Struggle Over Free Speech in “Established” Democracies

Tue, 04 Mar 2014 10:19:04 +0000

Below is an input statement presented at the 20th New Faces Conference, held on February 27– March 2, 2014 in Istanbul on “Citizenship and Political Participation in the Mediterranean Region”. It is a shorter version of another paper summing ongoing doctoral research. It was also published and translated in Greek on the Artivist e-Magazine.

The Internet is bringing about a new era for freedom of expression and association, as we move toward a more horizontal, diverse and citizen-centric public sphere. The Arab Spring uprisings in 2011 provided a stark illustration of how the ongoing structural transformation of our communications infrastructure can help citizens unsettle authoritarian regimes, empowering civil society in relation to the State. It also showed how the advent of actual democracies is also often hampered by the political establishment, which deploys systems of mass surveillance and online censorship to control the public sphere and compress the emancipatory power of freedom of communication and enforce social control. Again and again, we see the political hopes of social movements clash against the authoritarian tendencies of the power elite.

Des dangers de l’état d’exception…

Thu, 09 Jan 2014 15:21:59 +0000

Dans un livre passionnant sur l’« État de droit et états d’exception », Marie-Laure Basilien-Gainche, membre de l’Institut universitaire de France, rappelle le caractère ambigu des états d’exception.

Elle souligne ainsi que « les méthodes exceptionnelles peuvent s’avérer tout à la fois salutaires et délétères ». Salutaire, lorsque l’entité (souvent le pouvoir exécutif) habilitée à prendre des mesures d’exception les utilise à bon escient, dans le but de garantir l’État de droit face à de graves menaces pesant sur sa survie. Délétère, « car il n’est pas sans risque de suspendre les principes de séparation des pouvoirs et de garantie des droits qui sont l’essence de l’État de droit tel que nous l’entendons. Les exceptions s’autogénèrent et s’autoalimentent ; loin de conforter l’État, elles le fragilisent ».

La Liberté d’expression sur Internet, envers et contre la haine

Tue, 19 Nov 2013 19:56:57 +0000

Depuis le début de « l’affaire des tweets antisémites », il y a plus d’un an, la question est de nouveau posée de savoir s’il faut adapter la législation française pour renforcer la répression sur Internet, en particulier contre les discours racistes, sexistes, homophobes. À l’heure où des initiatives gouvernementales convergent en ce sens et après plusieurs mois de dialogue avec les associations de lutte contre les discriminations, les membres de La Quadrature du Net ont voulu rappeler les raisons qui nous poussent à une défense résolue de la liberté d’expression sur Internet face aux remises en cause dont elle fait l’objet. Dire aussi que, dans un contexte caractérisé par la banalisation des discours d’intolérance dans les sphères politiques et médiatiques et en plein débat sur les injures racistes qui visent la ministre de la Justice, Internet ne doit pas être vu comme une menace mais bien davantage comme un des outils par lequel la peur de l’autre doit être combattue.

Insurgent Citizenship on the Internet: Pushing Back the Limits of the Public Sphere

Fri, 15 Nov 2013 07:13:47 +0000

I presented a few weeks ago at the International Congress of the Research Committee on Sociology of Law of the International Sociological Association. The congress was held in Toulouse on 3-6 September 2013 and its theme was “Sociology of Law and Political Action”. My paper was presented during a workshop on « Non-Compliance to the Rules and Disobedience Towards the Law« .

Abstract: This paper presents ongoing doctoral research on Internet-based movements of “insurgent citizenship” aiming to redefine the right to free expression and communication in contemporary democracies. Since its inception, the Internet has been perceived and lived as a space of free communication and democratic experimentations, withdrawn from state sovereignty and the sanction of the law. Today, these founding utopias are still alive in the militant practices of citizen groups undertaking the critical functions of the public sphere while operating at boundaries of legality, and more specifically of communications law (e.g. press law, copyright). Through such practices, these insurgent movements challenge the existing power balance between civil society and the state within the public sphere. By analyzing three instances of insurgent citizenship on the Internet – a French website documenting police abuse, WikiLeaks and peer-to-peer file-sharing – as well as the repression they undergo, the article assesses the ability of representative regimes to recognize de jure (in law) and de facto (in practice) the structural transformation of the public sphere brought about by the Internet.

Doit-on opposer la protection des sources à celle des lanceurs d’alerte ?

Wed, 21 Aug 2013 22:56:15 +0000

La protection des lanceurs d’alerte est-elle contradictoire avec la protection du secret des sources ?

Dans un article sur les whistleblowers, le professeur de droit Pascal Mbongo, spécialiste de la liberté d’expression, s’interroge sur les rapports entre protection des lanceurs d’alerte et confidentialité des sources :

Le secret des sources des journalistes est un principe par défaut dans la mesure où, idéalement, dans une société démocratique, la mise en cause de la responsabilité légale ou morale de détenteurs de pouvoirs sociaux doit se faire à découvert, ne serait-ce que pour permettre à chacun de juger de la crédibilité et de la pureté des intentions du lanceur d’alerte. C’est parce que cette exigence peut avoir un effet réfrigérant sur la dénonciation de violations de la loi ou d’autres dysfonctionnements que l’idée du secret des sources des journalistes a prospéré. Mais si la loi elle-même garantit l’immunité aux lanceurs d’alerte (évidemment, cette loi est loin d’exister parfaitement dans les pays démocratiques), on ne voit pas très bien l’intérêt qu’ils peuvent encore avoir à exiger du journaliste auquel ils se livrent ou livrent des informations classifiées l’anonymat garanti par le secret des sources. Par suite, la question est de savoir ce qui est préférable : une législation qui protège rigoureusement le secret des sources des journalistes ou une législation qui protège pleinement les lanceurs d’alerte ?

La LCEN, le juge et l’urgence d’une réforme

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 21:58:08 +0000

L’arrêt de la Cour d’appel de Paris « Rose B. / JFG Networks » du 4 avril 2013 (lien) vient une nouvelle fois illustrer les graves lacunes de la Loi pour la confiance dans l’économie numérique du 21 juin 2004 (dite LCEN) pour la protection de la liberté d’expression sur Internet. Dans une brève publiée hier, le site d’actualité juridique Legalis résume ainsi l’affaire :

« Une personne considérait qu’un article publié sur le site selenie.fr comportait des allégations qui portaient atteinte à son honneur et à son image. Elle s’était adressée aux différents hébergeurs concernés pour leur notifier le contenu en cause, en vue de son retrait. JFG Networks n’a pas obtempéré. Comme l’action sur le fondement de la loi du 29 juillet 1881 était prescrite, la demanderesse s’est tournée vers le juge des référés afin qu’il ordonne à JFG Networks de retirer l’article litigieux. La cour d’appel a confirmé l’ordonnance de référé du TGI de Paris qui avait constaté l’absence de contenu manifestement illicite. L’article demeurait, selon la cour, dans le champ de la liberté de critique et d’expression, sans dégénérer en abus. La cour rappelle que seuls certains contenus expressément visés par la loi en matière de pédopornographie, d’apologie des crimes contre l’humanité et d’incitation à la haine raciale doivent être supprimés par l’hébergeur, sans attendre une décision de justice ».

La CEDH, The Pirate Bay, et l’ambivalence des usages protestataires du droit

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 13:16:05 +0000

Je lis sur le site PC INpact :

« La semaine dernière, la Cour européenne des droits de l’homme a rejeté la procédure intentée par deux des cofondateurs de The Pirate Bay. Fredrik Neij et Peter Sunde avaient été condamnés par la justice suédoise à 5 millions d’euros pour complicité d’atteinte au droit d’auteur. La MPAA vient de féliciter la Cour de Strasbourg, estimant que le débat sur la liberté d’expression ne peut plus être détourné par les contrefacteurs (…).

#freebassel

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 09:26:15 +0000

Tribune publiée dans Libération.

Le 15 mars 2013 marque le deuxième anniversaire de la guerre en Syrie et le premier anniversaire de la détention illégale de Bassel Khartabil, un informaticien syrien né en 1981, dans les Territoires palestiniens. Son arrestation serait liée à son activité professionnelle de développement de logiciels libres, estime le Gulf Center for Human Rights. Bassel Khartabil travaille depuis plus de dix ans au déploiement d’un Internet libre et enseigne la manière d’utiliser les technologies ouvertes à de nombreux porteurs de projets locaux, journalistes, éditeurs, entrepreneurs ou enseignants. Il est connu (et reconnu) internationalement pour ses contributions importantes à des projets comme Creative Commons, Mozilla Firefox, Wikipédia, l’Open Clip Art Library, Fabricatorz et Sharism.

Comments on the EU Commission’s Flawed Cybersecurity Strategy

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 12:53:30 +0000

On Thursday February 7th 2013, during a press conference, the European Commission announced a milestone initiative in the field of “cybersecurity”, publishing two documents:

– A proposal for a directive “concerning measures to ensure a high common level of network and information, security across the Union” (apparently nicknamed the “NIS directive”).

– A communication on a “CyberSecurity Strategy of the European Union : An Open, Safe and Secure Cyberspace”.

Internet dans la jurisprudence de la CEDH

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 10:05:39 +0000

Une version retravaillée de cet article a été publiée dans la Revue des droits et libertés fondamentaux, hébergée par le Centre de Recherches Juridiques de la Faculté de droit de Grenoble.

Il est également disponible dans une version PDF éditée avec le logiciel LaTeX.

Le mois dernier, la Cour européenne des droits de l’Homme (CEDH) rendait son premier jugement relatif au blocage de sites Internet (voir l’arrêt Yildrim c/ Turquie du 18 décembre 2012). Si l’État turc a été condamné pour ne pas avoir assuré la prévisibilité et la proportionnalité de la mesure de blocage incriminée, les juges ne sont pas allés aussi loin que l’on pouvait l’espérer. Dans son opinion concordante, le juge portugais Pinto De Alburquerque a d’ailleurs regretté la réserve de ses collègues. Selon lui, la Cour aurait dû « avoir une approche de principe de ces questions nouvelles et complexes, afin d’éviter une jurisprudence erratique, voire contradictoire […]. Il existe un besoin impérieux de lignes directrices claires qui soient en conformité avec les normes de la Cour applicables en la matière ». Dans son opinion, il fait même des propositions en la matière et fournit ainsi une contribution importante au débat sur les mesures restrictives de la liberté d’expression en ligne, ce qui pourrait donner lieu à des débats utiles au sein des juridictions nationales.

Vers un contrat social du cyberespace ?

Wed, 12 Sep 2012 10:30:48 +0000

Ancienne journaliste pour CNN en Chine, Rebecca McKinnon est aussi depuis des années une fervente défenseur des libertés sur Internet. En 2004, elle met de côté le journalisme et devient chargée de recherche au « Berkman Center for Internet & Society » à Harvard, où elle co-fonde le réseau mondial de blogueurs Global Voices Online. Elle est également instigatrice du Global Network Initiative, une tentative d’encadrer les pratiques des entreprises de l’Internet afin qu’elles mettent en place des politiques visant à respecter les droits fondamentaux de leurs utilisateurs, notamment lorsqu’elles déploient leurs services dans des régimes autoritaires.

Internet, espace d’une citoyenneté insurrectionnelle

Sun, 02 Sep 2012 23:04:06 +0000

Un des aspects les plus intéressants des débats liés à la liberté de communication sur Internet, c’est la manière dont ils mettent en scène un « conflit de légitimité démocratique ». Deux camps s’affrontent : d’un côté ceux qui défendent l’application du droit positif à Internet au nom du primat de la démocratie représentative (et de ses institutions, législatives ou judiciaires par exemple) ; de l’autre, ceux qui revendiquent des pratiques communicationnelles en marge de la légalité, remettant en cause le droit de la communication au nom, justement, des valeurs démocratiques. C’est là une division latente de tous les débats relatifs à la liberté d’expression sur Internet. On en trouve une illustration parlante dans le débat autour du partage non autorisé d’œuvres soumises au droit d’auteur, que de nombreux législateurs et juges cherchent à combattre mais qu’une partie significative de la population revendique comme une pratique démocratique…

Castoriadis sur la démocratie

Fri, 10 Aug 2012 20:49:53 +0000

Mediapart vient de publier un entretien datant de 1989 entre le réalisateur engagé Chris Marker et le philosophe Cornelius Castoriadis, au cours duquel ce dernier donne un véritable cours sur la démocratie.

En faisant l’histoire de la « démocratie des Anciens » (la Grèce antique) pour mieux critiquer la « démocratie représentative » actuelle, Castoriadis passe en revue les contradictions et les graves lacunes de nos systèmes politiques.

Différents thèmes sont abordés, tels que les procédures décisionnelles et électives, la sacralisation de l’État dans notre imaginaire politique, la notion de peuple, etc. Initialement diffusé sur Arte, ce film d’une heure et quart relate un propos d’une clarté exemplaire et essentiel pour réfléchir à la manière de renouer avec l’idéal démocratique.

French Supreme Court: Important rulings for intermediary liability

Thu, 19 Jul 2012 08:03:48 +0000

Publié initialement dans la newsletter EDRi-gram.

On 12 July 2012 the French Supreme Court (Cour de Cassation) issued four important and somewhat contradictory rulings regarding the role of online service providers in policing online copyright infringements.

In the first case, SNEP vs. Google France, the Court’s decision could lead the search engine to censor its autocomplete feature which automatically suggests commonly-used terms associated with the queries submitted by users. The French phonographic industry lobby (SNEP) had sued Google for providing the suggestions “Torrent”, “Megaupload » and “Rapidshare” when users typed the names of artists or music bands in the Google search bar.

Les États face à Internet : contrôle et résistances

Sun, 06 May 2012 10:49:28 +0000

En 2006, Jack Goldsmith – grand juriste professeur de droit à Harvard et ancien haut fonctionnaire du ministère de la Justice américain sous l’administration Bush – et Tim Wu – professeur de droit à la Columbia Law School de New York – publient « Who Control the Internet ». À l’époque, le discours dominant sur Internet est celui des théoriciens de la mondialisation comme Thomas Friedman, qui décrivent Internet une nouvelle manifestation de l’affaiblissement des États-nations. Or, les auteurs montrent dans ce livre que les États peuvent contrôler Internet et ne s’en privent pas. Loin de contribuer au dépassement des États-nations, Internet fournirait selon eux une nouvelle illustration de la formidable capacité d’adaptation et de l’utilité du système Westhpalien.

Le copwatching, nouveau terrain de lutte pour la liberté d’expression ?

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 11:16:08 +0000

Le copwatching prend racine en France, au grand dam du gouvernement. Venu des États-Unis où cette pratique s’est développée à la suite du passage à tabac de Rodney King en 1991, il est porté par l’essor des technologies numériques et d’Internet. Le principe est simple : des groupes informels de citoyens militants mettent en place un site web pour documenter les dérives et violences policières, à différents niveaux de la hiérarchie, souvent à l’échelle d’une ville ou d’une région.

Pour une politique des fréquences au service de l’innovation et de la démocratie

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 10:43:30 +0000

Initialement publié sur La Quadrature du Net.

En dehors des accès WiFi, l’Internet sans-fil que nous vendent les opérateurs télécoms est un Internet truffé de restrictions d’accès, de bridages et de blocages en tous genres, qui portent atteinte au principe fondamental de neutralité du réseau et restreignent notre liberté de communication. Cet Internet sans-fil auquel nous accédons n’est qu’un ersatz d’Internet, géré par quelques opérateurs télécoms suffisamment puissants pour récolter les licences accordées par les pouvoirs publics, qui eux-mêmes exercent un monopole sur la ressource publique qu’est le spectre hertzien (c’est-à-dire les ondes radio)[2. Une onde radio est classée en fonction de sa fréquence exprimée en Hz ou cycles par seconde; l’ensemble de ces fréquences constitue le spectre radiofréquence. http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onde_radio#Spectre_radiofr.C3.A9quence].

Assange inculpé : le regrettable silence des journalistes

Sun, 04 Mar 2012 23:22:20 +0000

Le « Grand Jury » mis en place l’an dernier par le ministère de la Justice américain, suite à la révélation des câbles diplomatiques par WikiLeaks, aurait bel et bien inculpé Julian Assange, sur le terrain de l’espionnage[1. Fred Burton, le vice président de Stratfor en charge du renseignement, a reçu un e-mail d’un ancien responsable du contre-espionnage au département d’État : “Not for Pub—We have a sealed indictment on Assange. Pls protect.” Dans un autre e-mail, Burton écrit : “Assange is going to make a nice bride in prison. Screw the terrorist. He’ll be eating cat food forever.”]. C’est là l’une des révélations majeures contenues dans les e-mails de la société de renseignement privée Stratfor, publiés cette semaine par WikiLeaks.

La défense des libertés sur Internet : l’Epic #Fail de l’Europe

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 13:13:44 +0000

** __**Cet article a été initialement publié sur LeMonde.fr et dans la revue de relations internationales Le Jeu de l’Oie.

« Une bataille est engagée entre d’un côté, les tenants d’un Internet universel, ouvert, respectueux des droits de l’Homme (…) et, de l’autre, ceux qui voudraient transformer l’Internet en un espace fermé et surveillé, au service d’un régime.«

En juillet 2010, à l’occasion d’une conférence internationale consacrée à la liberté d’expression sur Internet organisée par la France et les Pays-Bas, Bernard Kouchner, alors ministre des affaires étrangères, commettait ce raccourci trompeur. « Nous », les promoteurs des libertés sur Internet contre « eux », les régimes hostiles à l’idéal démocratique…

French Copwatch Ruling Continues Trend of Censorship

Sun, 06 Nov 2011 17:27:45 +0000

Cet article en anglais a été publié dans la revue juridique en ligne JURIST.

JURIST Guest Columnist Félix Tréguer, Policy and Legal Analyst at La Quadrature du Net, says that the recent ruling blocking the Copwatch website in France is just another instance of censorship under the Sarkozy government which prevents French citizens from learning of police abuse and engaging in democratic governance…

For the first time in France, cop-watching has made the headlines nationwide. Such publicity is the result of a groundbreaking case involving the Copwatch website designed for posting photos, videos and commentaries denouncing police abuse. In late September, the French Minister of the Interior, Claude Guéant, charged the authors of Copwatch with defaming, insulting and infringing the privacy of police officers. Following a fast-track procedure, a Paris district court ruled in favor of the government, declaring Copwatch illegal for several reasons. Faced with the impossibility of ordering the take down of Copwatch — hosted in the US where cop-watching is legal — the judge issued an injunction requiring the immediate blocking of the website by all major French Internet service providers. The authors remain anonymous and did not appear at their trial.

L’obsolescence du droit des médias appliqué à Internet

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 15:35:16 +0000

« Autrefois, ce genre de discussions se tenait dans les salons ou les cafés ; aujourd’hui, elles ont lieu sur le Net. »
Alexis Delcambre, rédacteur en chef du journal en ligne LeMonde.fr

Suite au post de la semaine dernière, je voudrais ici tâcher de montrer les limites et les dangers liés à l’application à Internet des logiques de régulation héritées du droit des médias. Ce dernier s’est construit autour d’une personne, le directeur de publication, qui joue un rôle central dans la modération de l’expression publique dans les médias traditionnels.

Droit de l’Internet : Mettre fin au bricolage juridique pour engager une véritable réforme

Sun, 09 Oct 2011 13:56:35 +0000

Le droit de l’Internet est un droit récent, en partie fondé sur de vieux principes applicables aux médias traditionnels. Mais en réalité, c’est encore un droit mouvant, constamment modifié par le législateur et les juges, contraints d’ajuster des règles mal définies à un environnement numérique en perpétuelle évolution[1. Voir à ce sujet l’article d’Emmanuel Cauvin, paru dans Le Débat : www.wethenet.eu/2011/06/les-lois-du-numerique/]. Et dans cette construction erratique, il manque une vraie réflexion sur la manière dont le droit peut encourager, ou inhiber, le processus de démocratisation permis par Internet.

Les lois du numérique

Thu, 02 Jun 2011 13:35:31 +0000

Le texte d’Emmanuel Cauvin paru cet hiver dans la revue Débat[1. Cauvin Emmanuel, 2011, « Quelles lois pour le numérique ? »,. Le Débat, vol. 163, n° 1, p. 16.] est un texte important, qui se penche sur les rapports entre Internet et le droit. L’article traite en particulier de la difficulté d’appliquer les logiques de régulation traditionnelles à Internet. Emmanuel Cauvin, qui est juriste de métier, apporte ici sa pierre à ce débat vieux de 15 ans en mettant en exergue l’incapacité du législateur et des juges à adopter et à faire appliquer des lois adaptées au réseau. Pour l’auteur, c’est là une tentative vaine tant que nos sociétés se passeront d’un débat de fond sur ce que sont les « lois physiques » propres à cet environnement nouveau. Mais, comme j’aimerais le montrer ici, au gré de cette analyse, l’auteur semble réduire Internet à un Far-West numérique sans prendre en compte ses règles propres et leur caractère éminemment politique. Car la technique n’est pas la physique ; elle est bien davantage une construction sociale, et donc une construction politique. Or, en cherchant par dessus tout à assurer l’applicabilité de la norme, Cauvin fait mine de ne pas voir que cela est impossible, sauf à changer l’architecture technique de l’environnement qu’il s’agit de réguler. Cela pose évidemment problème du point de vue de la liberté de communication permise par Internet, et des autres valeurs que l’état actuel des techniques fait primer. L’auteur passe donc selon moi à côté d’un débat politique essentiel sur une réforme du droit de la communication qui viendrait protéger les capacités nouvelles permises actuellement par l’architecture d’Internet.

Le spectre de nos libertés

Sat, 07 May 2011 13:52:22 +0000

Et si les internautes devenaient un peu plus que de simples utilisateurs ? En se voyant offrir la possibilité d’investir les fréquences hertziennes, ils pourraient être des fournisseurs, non seulement de contenus, mais également d’accès. Nous serions alors bien plus que des consommateurs, et Internet verrait son caractère acentré et multipolaire préservé.

Plaidoyer de Félix Tréguer et Jean Cattan en faveur d’une libération des ondes.__

Article initialement publié sur Owni.

Libres de communiquer… sans fil

La liberté de communication, pilier de l’ordre démocratique, ne peut être conçue sans la liberté d’usage de ses supports. Qu’il s’agisse d’un article de presse, d’une conversation téléphonique, d’un programme audiovisuel ou d’un courrier électronique, la liberté d’exprimer une idée ou une opinion repose sur la possibilité de faire circuler un message sur une feuille de papier, le long d’un fil de cuivre, d’un câble coaxial ou d’une fibre optique. Les communications sans fil ne font pas exception, puisque dans ce domaine la liberté de communication repose sur le libre accès au spectre des fréquences radioélectriques pour recevoir ou émettre des ondes radio. À ce jour, cette liberté fait l’objet d’une administration étatique poussée. Il est désormais grand temps de passer à un autre âge de la gestion du spectre en garantissant un accès libre et partagé à cette ressource publique. Il y a là un vrai réservoir d’innovation et de démocratisation, malheureusement négligé par l’État.

La dérégulation des médias en Europe : les limites du libéralisme économique

Mon, 02 May 2011 08:27:40 +0000

En Europe, la fin des monopoles publics en matière de communication radiophonique et télévisuelle a abouti à la mise en place d’un schéma par bien des aspects similaires au modèle qui s’est développé aux États-Unis.

Les promesses de la libéralisation des médias en Europe

Si la réglementation fait une plus grande place au pluralisme[1. Au travers, par exemple, des mesures anti-concentration, des obligations divers et variées en matière audiovisuelle, du maintien d’un service public plus ou moins fort selon les pays, etc.], il n’en reste pas moins qu’une grande partie de l’environnement médiatique est largement dominé par un nombre réduit d’acteurs, de formats et de types de contenus.

Le développement d’un modèle de médias de masse aux États Unis

Thu, 14 Apr 2011 15:44:59 +0000

Après une série de posts sur l’influence de l’État sur les médias traditionnels, intéressons-nous maintenant aux conditions économiques présidant à la production de l’information, qui excluent de fait un grand nombre de personnes. Autant pour éclairer certains défauts structurels inhérents à l’univers médiatique pré-Internet que pour être conscient de l’importance des débats actuels sur le rôle des fournisseurs d’accès Internet et des fournisseurs de service en ligne, il convient de se pencher sur quelques unes des évolutions techniques, économiques et juridiques qui ont conduit à la prédominance des grands groupes de communication sur l’environnement médiatique. Nous nous pencherons tout d’abord sur l’émergence d’un modèle industriel d’organisation des médias aux États-Unis, qui apparaissent comme de véritables précurseurs en la matière.

Histoire des médias sous contrôle : La « voix de la France » et de son gouvernement

Sat, 26 Mar 2011 12:11:38 +0000

Après un premier post sur la censure de la presse au XIXè siècle, intéressons nous maintenant au contrôle politique des moyens de communication de masse qui ont marqué le XXème sicèle: la radio et la télévision…

En juin 1899, trois ans après avoir déposé un premier brevet de radio-électricité, Guglielmo Marconi établit une première liaison radio entre l’Angleterre et la France. Un message en l’honneur d’Édouard Branly, inventeur du cohéreur – un composant essentiel à réception radio – est ainsi transmis d’une rive de la Manche à l’autre. Cette technique de communication révolutionnaire est relativement simple : chaque message est émis sur une fréquence radioélectrique donnée. Le récepteur peut alors, selon la fréquence de réception choisie, passer aisément d’un message à l’autre.

Histoire des médias sous contrôle : Des salons révolutionnaires à la censure de la presse au XIXè siècle

Wed, 09 Mar 2011 14:33:48 +0000

En introduction à cette série de posts sur les médias traditionnels

Si l’on souhaite mesurer la contribution d’Internet aux systèmes politiques, il importe de comprendre dans quel environnement informationnel celui-ci surgit. Internet n’est en aucun cas un réseau de communication idéal permettant l’avènement d’une utopie politique. Il ne s’agit pas non plus de nier l’importance des médias traditionnels dans le processus de démocratisation dans les sociétés modernes. Il semble néanmoins incontestable que les pratiques communicationnelles engendrées par Internet soient extrêmement prometteuses, en particulier si l’on veut bien être attentif aux déficiences démocratiques structurelles des moyens de communication qui l’ont précédé. Ces déficiences, que nous proposons de présenter rapidement dans une série de posts consacrés à l’histoire des médias traditionnels, s’expliquent par le contrôle par le pouvoir politique d’une part, et les conditions économiques entourant la production de l’information d’autre part. C

Médias et alternatives: «Médiactivistes»

Sun, 20 Feb 2011 14:38:04 +0000

Dominique Cardon et Fabien Granjon, 2010, Médiactivistes, Les Presses de Sciences Po.
Dans ce petit ouvrage de synthèse, Cardon et Granjon tentent de montrer comment, depuis les années 60, la production de l’information est un enjeu de lutte. Trois enjeux sont au cœur de l’ouvrage :
le premier est historique, puisque les auteurs entendent retracer l’histoire récente des formes de la critique de l’information, comment celle-ci a évolué en fonction des conjonctures politiques ou des rapports avec l’espace journalistique traditionnel.
le deuxième enjeu est celui des tensions qui traversent le médiactivisme.
le troisième consiste à montrer la manière dont la technologie peut favoriser des formes de production nouvelles, permettant un accès élargi à l’écosystème informationnel.

La Démocratie Internet

Tue, 01 Feb 2011 12:59:04 +0000

Pour inaugurer la publication de fiches de lecture sur ce blog: Dominique Cardon, 2010, La Démocratie Internet: Promesses et limites, Seuil

Il s’agit d’un ouvrage de synthèse qui a déjà pas mal fait parler de lui… En voici un résumé.

Histoire politique d’Internet

Dominique Cardon montre que, « plus qu’un média de communication et d’information, Internet est une forme politique à part entière ». Une forme politique d’abord due à l’histoire d’Internet, technologie que l’auteur estime née de la contre-culture américaine (il se fonde ici sur les travaux de Fred Turner). Il passe donc en revue les utopies fondatrices d’Internet, fondées sur le partage de la connaissance, les communautés virtuelles, l’anonymat.

Les caractéristiques techniques d’Internet et ses potentialités politiques

Thu, 20 Jan 2011 19:36:15 +0000

… ou Internet pour les nuls (moi compris).

La philosophie politique des concepteurs d’Internet

Thu, 13 Jan 2011 19:02:57 +0000

Beaucoup de travaux ont été écrits sur l’esprit d’Internet, ou l’imaginaire d’Internet. En France, Patrice Flichy et Dominique Cardon ont eu l’occasion de se pencher sur cette question. Cardon, (qui s’appuie sur les travaux de Fred Turner), rappelle notamment qu’Internet est né de la contre-culture américaine, et en son sein d’une mouvance autonomiste cherchant à élaborer des modes de vie alternatifs au moyen d’une transformation sociale et personnelle.

Dans cet article, je souhaiterais revenir rapidement sur l’ethos et les pratiques des différentes communautés s’étant, à un moment donné, attelées au développement d’Internet. Qu’ils aient travaillé sur les protocoles de transport ou les applications, les dizaines de milliers de chercheurs, professeurs ou étudiants qui ont participé à la construction d’Internet sont unis par un certain nombre de valeurs qui, comme on le verra, en ont fait un réseau à part, reléguant au second plan d’autres réseaux « télématiques»¹ qui pouvaient exister à l’époque².

Us Now: Vers la démocratie coopérative ?

Sun, 26 Dec 2010 11:44:58 +0000

Il faut voir ce documentaire de 2008.

Us Now from Banyak Films.

Remarques en vrac :

Coopération, confiance et risque

Des organisations coopératives se fondent sur la confiance entre participants, l’échange, et une place donnée à l’économie du don, plutôt qu’aux mécanismes de marché.

La confiance aboutit également à la moralisation des rapports sociaux, même dans le cas de d’entreprises purement commerciales mais mobilisant ces processus participatifs. Car la participation des individus est motivée par une logique de don à l’autre, ce qui ne peut se faire que dans un cadre où la confiance – et donc la transparence – est assuré (exemple de la Banque peer-to-peer Zopa qui explique clairement “comment” elle gagne de l’argent).

La Hadopi ou la négation des droits du public

Sat, 11 Dec 2010 17:49:51 +0000

Mardi 7 décembre, je représentais La Quadrature du Net au diner du club parlementaire du numérique, où la présidente de la Hadopi, Marie-Françoise Marais, son secrétaire général, Éric Walter, étaient venus expliquer à quelques députés et sénateurs l’avancée de leurs travaux.

Une opération séduction face à des parlementaires inquiets

Le député Jean Dionis du Séjour, en introduction de la soirée, a fait état de ses inquiétudes – partagées par nombre de ses collèges – sur le fonctionnement de la Hadopi. Et de dénoncer le fait que des missions de police (la constatation d’infractions et la récolte de preuves) soient confiées à des acteurs privés, l’absence de valeur probante des relevés d’adresses IP, la volonté illusoire de sécuriser les connexions Internet pour empêcher les échanges d’œuvres sur le réseau, ou encore le coût du dispositif pour le contribuable et les fournisseurs d’accès Internet.

Ouverture de We The Net !

Mon, 06 Dec 2010 00:03:56 +0000

We The Net est un espace de réflexion sur les enjeux démocratiques de la liberté de communication sur Internet. Il s’inscrit dans le cadre d’un travail de thèse réalisé à l’École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, sous la direction de Marcela Iacub.

Detail of Preamble to Constitution of the United States

Projet de recherche.

Dans l’après-midi du 10 juin 2009, le Conseil constitutionnel français rendit une décision historique dans laquelle il affirmait :

Net Neutrality Is Digital Free Speech

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 07:30:49 +0000

Just as the U.S Congress is about to debate the Internet Freedom Preservation Act, and before the Telecom Package discussion resumes later this fall, one could regret that the concept of openness of our communications infrastructure is not more salient in the public debate.

What is about anyway? And why does it matter?

An open communications infrastructure is developed and used according to the concept of network neutrality. Net neutrality relies on the principle that network management should be free of restrictions regarding content, application and platforms, or the kind of device that may be attached to the network. It guarantees that the flow of information that runs trough the communications architecture is neither blocked nor unreasonably degraded by telecommunications operators, so that end-users can freely and efficiently make use of the network.

Internet Is a Fundamental Right, French Constitutional Court Says

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 01:13:54 +0000

Yesterday at 5P.M, the French Constitutional Council – in charge of checking the conformity of legislation with the Constitution – rendered a groundbreaking decision regarding the highly controversial “three strikes law” (or graduated response), passed last month by Parliament to fight illegal downloading.

The law established a penalty amounting to the suspension of downloaders’ internet connection without appropriate judicial safeguards. Yet, the Constitutional Council affirmed in very strong words that under no circumstance should people’s freedom of expression and communication be denied by a non-judiciary authority (in this case, and independent administrative agency, which does not guarantee a fair trial). According to Article 66 of the French Constitution, the judiciary authority is the “guardian of individual liberty” and as such is the only one authorized to pronounce sentences infringing on fundamental liberties, which are at stake in this law as the Council asserts.

The Political Economy of the Web 2.0

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 22:50:56 +0000

This article by John Naughton, professor at the Open University, is one of the most comprehensive ten-page articles you can get on new media. Naughton very well describes some of the characteristics of what he calls the “emerging media ecosystem”: user-generated content, cooperation and sharing.

Referring to Neil Postman, he draws a relevant analogy between the media and ecology. The media ecosystem is extremely historically unstable. Just like newspapers had to find new formats with the advent of television, TV networks will have to adapt to the arrival of participatory media. This is a similar argument to the one Henry Jenkins makes in another article I already mentioned.

Could the Internet End Up Killing the Public Sphere?

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 15:25:50 +0000

A few weeks ago, the French Journal Le Débat published a compelling piece by Benjamin Loveluck entitled « Internet: Toward a Radical Democracy?« . The author, who is writing a Ph.D thesis on « the hypermodern individual and the genealogy of contemporary media regime__s” (sic), successfully locates the recent developments of the internet within the history of liberal-democracies. He demonstrates that although the internet is based on humanistic and democratic ideals, it could also undermine some of the very tenets of our societies, such as the positive role the media plays in organizing the public sphere (which is entangled with any sound democracy and dependent on the free circulation of information).

Facing the Crisis, the European Union Should Imitate Obama’s Reliance on New Technologies to Bring About Change

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 03:13:29 +0000

Determined to act swiftly to pass an $825 billion stimulus package, US President Barack Obama used his weekly address (on a revamped whitehouse.gov website) to give more details about this recovery plan. As it stands now, the proposal includes public spending programs in three high-tech areas :

computerization of medical records;
creation of smarter, high-tech enhanced electrical grids;
expansion of high speed internet lines in undeserved areas.

House Democrats and Obama’s economic team, who conjunctly designed the stimulus package, see these investments in digital technologies are an enabler for economic gross.

Regulation : The Internet is not TV

Sat, 06 Dec 2008 18:05:12 +0000

As some telecommunication companies slowly turn themselves into producers and distributors of media content, new issues arise for competition regulators. Public officials have hinted at several ways of dealing with this issue. On the one hand, market regulators are keen on maintaining a clear differentiation between these two sectors. On the other hand, some government officials seem willing to accept greater interconnections between them. For example, France is considering merging two agencies that regulate the media (TV and radio) sector and the telecom sector as well as extending audiovisual regulation to the internet. However, such a move would probably turn out to be detrimental to both the role that the media play in the democratic process as well as technological innovation.

Copyright Gone Wrong

Sun, 19 Oct 2008 09:33:10 +0000

At the beginning of this year, the head of the European Commission’s Internal Market and Services Directorate General Charlie McCreevy announced his plan to extend copyright terms for performers and phonogram producers from 50 years today to 95 years (1). The Commission advances the argument that many works from ageing musicians dating back to the 1950’s are about to fall into the public domain. As the Commission proposal explains:

The Freedom to Digitalize Revolutionary Powers

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 22:09:23 +0000

In On Liberty (1859), philosopher John Stuart Mill reflects on the potential coercion that could result from democracy and more especially from what Alexi De Tocqueville called the “tyranny of the majority”.
In this work, Mill formulates a very convincing plea in favor of free speech. According to him, only by discussion can we test the validity of people’s beliefs and only by dialectic can we successfully undermine false and dangerous ones. And if a given opinion contains some truth, by preventing someone from expressing it we deny society the possibility to benefit from it. Besides, for Mill, the diversity of opinions is valuable in that is allows for greater confrontation between divergent voices and a thus improved public debate. This is something worth reminding for those who still doubt of the positive effect of the internet in the democratic process.

European Parliament Rejects France’s Graduated Response

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 06:21:39 +0000

The French legislative bill aimed at granting a public agency the right to suspend people’s internet connection if they are suspected of copyright infringement has been turned down by the European Parliament, which resumed session earlier this week.

Voting on the telecom package – a piece of legislation that regulates the EU electronic communication sector – the Parliament adopted by an overwhelming majority (574 to 73) amendment 138 tabled by Guy Bono, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, Zuzana Roithová and others that stipulates that members states should be

If We Could Free Our Culture

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 18:32:01 +0000

I just finished Lawrence Lessig’s book Free Culture (2004) and it has made me angry. A law professor specialized in intellectual property, Lessig demonstrates that we are caught in a dangerous, reactionary discourse about intellectual property in the Net era. His sincere advocacy for a freer society deconstructs the key elements of the debate on copyright and gives a desirable sense of perspective on this issue. Here a few elements worth retaining:

Taylorism vs. Googlism

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 17:01:31 +0000

I talked about Nicholas Carr’s article a few days ago. According to his piece (Is Google Making Us Stupid?) the web is affecting our cognitive abilities. We are now fed with tons information but seldom sit and reflect about them; we google things but rarely research or memorize them anymore. Carr argues that this constant flipping through is dispossessing us from complex reasoning. He then draws a parallel between taylorism, where the human becomes an instrumental part of a mechanical process of industrial production, and the way we growingly rely on Google to think.

How the Web Is Changing Us

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 17:36:20 +0000

A few weeks ago, American writer Nicholas Carr wrote a controversial article in the Atlantic Monthly. In his piece “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” he elaborated on an interesting hypothesis regarding the cognitive consequences of the web. Carr, a well-known critic of technological utopianism asked whether it could be that using the web slowly rewired people’s neuronal circuitry. He explains:

For more than a decade now, I’ve been spending a lot of time online, searching and surfing and sometimes adding to the great databases of the Internet (…). A few Google searches, some quick clicks on hyperlinks, and I’ve got the telltale fact or pithy quote I was after. Even when I’m not working, I’m as likely as not to be foraging in the Web’s info-thickets’ reading and writing e-mails, scanning headlines and blog posts, watching videos and listening to podcasts, or just tripping from link to link to link.

Regulating Privacy in the Online World

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 12:55:41 +0000

Things are moving forward on the privacy front.
In April, the so-called “Group 29”, an advisory body to the European Commission on privacy and public liberties matters, issued a memo in which it analyzed the activity of data-mining internet companies. More specifically, it sought to establish whether they respected the European regulatory framework which is composed of two directives:
– the data protection directive, adopted in 1995, that ranks privacy as a fundamental right and establishes a set of general principal regarding personal data protection in the European Union;
– the ePrivacy directive, adopted in 2002, that specifically targets electronic communications (for instance, it states that users must be able to refuse cookies).

The Political Economy of Internet Search Engines

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 07:25:42 +0000

This article by Elizabeth Van Couvering, from the London School of Economics, is now four years old and thus allows to put in perspective the evolution of web search engines, which have become key players of the information society. She makes a few interesting points:

The author classifies search engines a****s media, saying that their business model is very similar to that traditional media of mass communication such as television or newspapers. They too provide content (searches), trying to attract the widest audience – or traffic – in order to place advertising, which constitutes a major share of their revenues.
Then she analyzes the rise of one innovative feature of search engines compared to traditional media, namely search-rela****ted ads, which are revolutionizing the advertisement industry. Behavioral targeted ads have now taken much bigger proportions and are not limited to web searches anymore (with now a whole variety of data mining methods). This innovation has boosted internet advertising (+25% in 2007) and is eventually destabilizing traditional media, since advertisers tend to transfer their budgets online.
Finally, the article examines how the “objectivity” of search algorithms is being tricked by search spamming, and discusses the incidence of other defects embedded in search engines on the public sphere. Indeed search engines are the gatekeepers of the web and it is therefore crucial that they don’t bypass part of it. The Chinese version of Google for instance doesn’t provide users with satisfactory results with respect to democratic standards. For that reason the relevance of searches, even though its definition is relative, should represent a key point of the debate on search engines.

However, four years later the public debate about Google and the like tends to be less focused on their ability to provide users with inclusive index and comprehensive searches. Today, the major issue search providers face is that of privacy and it is the field where regulatory attempts are the most perceptible.
Does that mean we are now totally satisfied with ability of search engines to come up with unbiased content, that is to say to genuinely reflect what is going on the web?

MySpace: A Revolutionary Link Between the People and the Cultural Industries (2/2)

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 17:04:19 +0000

What makes MySpace unique, along with other sites based on the same concept, such as Last.fm, is their unique and revolutionary service of popular culture broadcaster (so far, mainly music) relying on the technology of the Web 2.0. They link social networking and self-representation, and the prominent place of popular culture in identity formation and social interaction. However, these new services greatly destabilize the traditional grounds on which the cultural industries are organized, especially in terms copyright and licenses. This is a phase of transition for the cultural industries and while very few people contest the interest of social networks for the creative industries, intense debates are going on to try to reach a point of equilibrium between the different actors. MySpace in particular has the function of the aggregator of cultural products but also encourages the publishing of user-generated content, of which legal status is not very clear (public/private domain). Also, users now have the technologies to easily express their creativity by editing and remixing pieces of popular culture, a practice which poses its own set of legal issues (Lilley. 2006).

MySpace: A Revolutionary Link Between the People and the Cultural Industries (1/2)

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 18:44:07 +0000

The following article is an excerpt from a research paper I wrote in June 07 at Middlebury College.

Most online-social networks were developed with technical means in mind. In that respect, MySpace is first and foremost a commercial company that seeks to maximize its benefits through advertising. This commercial aspect has been proven even more central since the media multinational News Corporation, company of the Australian magnate Rupert Murdoch, bought Intermix, the group MySpace belongs to, in the summer of 2005. MySpace value was then estimated to US$ 327m. Why such a success?
By encouraging users to refer to popular culture, and by creating strong networks between the producers of pop culture and the consumers, MySpace is able to offer a segmented social space extremely convenient for advertisers, who massively invest in the social network: only in the categories “Fan clubs”, “Music” and “Entertainment”, there are more than 1 million users groups. The prominent place of popular culture on MySpace is facilitated by the technologies it proposes (streaming of music and videos) and the general organization of a profile page: user’s digital identities are performed through the extensive quoting of popular culture, and can easily be reduced to some aspect attached to it. In the same way Google developed a technology that enables advertisers to reach people with certain specific interests, MySpace can offer precious information about the sociological background of its users to advertising companies, since communities are organized around shared characteristics (demographics, educational background, socio-economical position but first and foremost cultural tastes).

Why the French 3-Strikes Law Might Be Unconstitutional

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 12:54:07 +0000

The French Government just finished writing a bill that would aim at controlling internet traffic in order to punish web users guilty of copyright infringement. The law, highly anticipated by right holders, would create a new public body in charge of sanctioning people guilty of illegal downloading. It would first warn them by sending emails and letters, and could eventually order internet service providers to suspend their internet access. The Council of State, a court of senior jurists that advises the government on legislative bills and also acts as France’s supreme court for administrative law, has reportedly modified the bill quite significantly. It sought to respond to a number of judicial requirements, such as the constitutional principle of individualization of penalties (see previous post).

The European Parliament to Advocate Media Pluralism and Blogging Transparency

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 08:55:11 +0000

This in-depth article by EUobserver journalist Leigh Phillips comments on a draft report of the European Parliament’s Culture Committee about concentration and media pluralism in the EU. It was adopted by the Committee on June 3rd and the report will now be submitted to the plenary assembly within the next few weeks. As stated by Phillips,

its main recommendation is for the European Commission and EU member states to apply competition law to the media to ensure media pluralism.

Its other major recommendations include the creation of media pluralism ombudspersons in the member states; the development of European core curriculum for media literacy; for the commission to ensure that regulations governing state aid not be used to undermine public service media.

The report also tackles the very latest new media developments – the ever-expanding blogosphere and increasing use by news organisations of user-generated content such as mobile video. In order that existing profession producers of content not be undersold by freely delivered but poorly produced content, the report recommends the payment of fees for use-generated content. In this way, producers or publishers would choose which content to purchase – professional or amateur – not based on which was cheapest, but which was of the highest quality.

Ms Mikko (the rapporteur) also worries that who the authors of weblogs are is not always made clear to readers, and that there are regular concerns regarding the impartiality and reliability of blogs. What is the legal situation of bloggers regarding source protection? Should they adhere to journalist ethical codes? Where is liability assiged in the event of lawsuits?

As a result, the MEP also calls for a clarification of the legal status of weblog authors and wants to see a disclosure of interests and the voluntary labelling of weblogs. Interestingly, the UK’s National Union of Journalists new media section – who recently signed up the world’s first unionised professional blogger – is currently drafting a voluntary code of conduct for bloggers that can be applied as a widget on any blog, similar to a ‘fair trade’ sticker on a bunch of bananas or packet of coffee. (Emphasis added)

Providing a status to bloggers represents a novel approach and could spark off much controversy, depending on what exactly is proposed. So far the report argues that such labeling would improve transparency by disclosing the « professional and financial responsibilities and interests of (blogs’) authors and publishers« . In spite of this regulatory stance, it is worth noting the report clearly recognizes that blogs now constitute an essential contribution to media pluralism.

Sweden and the Information Society: A Step Backward

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 11:18:34 +0000

Sweden is considered as a leader of the information society. The country boasts one of the best broadband networks in the world, 80% of households have an internet connection and it is heading towards progressive policies on file-sharing (thanks to rightholders in particular). In addition, Sweden has taken the transparency lead in the European Union as it has successfully convinced its partners to implement principles of government openness in the functioning of EU institutions since it entered the EU in 1995.

The Media Under Control ?

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 12:47:50 +0000

Here is a short review of a conference entitled “The Media Under Control” that took place at Sciences Po last thursday. The first speaker was Hervé Bourges, former director of the public TV network (France Television) among many other things. He gave an interesting account of the way French politicians, ever since De Gaulle’s presidency in the 1950’s, have exerted a strong control over the media (all State-owned) until the complete deregulation in 1986.

Policing the Net: Copyright vs. Civil Liberties

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 22:03:21 +0000

The battle that right-holders have been waging against P2P users has proved largely unsuccessful so far. In the US, the methods used by the recording industry’s lobby (RIAA) to track down “pirates” are put into question; in France, the penal sanctions provided by a 2006 Act on author’s rights have had no effect in stopping illegal downloading, and the digital music market is still developing extremely slowly (8% of total music sales).

Will New Media Dissolve the Political Community?

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 14:14:00 +0000

I just read this interesting article by Henry Jenkins, the well-known media scholar.

Even though this piece dates back to three years ago, it is still very relevant to the debate on the democratic impact that new media might have on the functioning of our democracies. Jenkins responds to some authors who bemoan the fragmentation of audiences across a wide variety of sources, arguing that the marginalization of mainstream broadcasters will undermine social cohesion and democratic participation.

Why this blog?

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 09:22:00 +0000

I wanted to have a sort of diary where I could write down observations and reflections about the way our society is being transformed by ICT, how they bring about social change.

I used to want to work in the music industry and grew more and more fascinated by the way the internet transforms the way people access cultural goods thus challenging traditional business models. Then I realized I liked politics too much to just focus on the music sector.

About Me

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 09:20:00 +0000

I’m a French student currently enrolled in the Master of Public Affairs at Sciences Po, Paris. I studied there at the undergraduate level as well, and went abroad during my senior year at Middlebury College, VT, USA.

Contact me at: felix.treguer@sciences-po.org