Discussion

1. Fredrik

   2013-03-07T22:42:04+01:000000000431201303
   

   Mail sent!
2. infirit

   2013-03-07T22:43:48+01:000000004831201303
   

   It seems your link is modified somehow but when I look now at below it does contain the wording we are against. Could it be that only your link is updated?

   http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A7-2012-401&language=EN
3. noko

   2013-03-07T22:49:13+01:000000001331201303
   

   Hey, MEPs,

   North Korea called.

   They want their moral highground back.
4. Jan Andersen

   2013-03-07T23:22:17+01:000000001731201303
   

   I went searching for the adresses for the Danish representatives (and some of their ‘political consultants’) and sent them this note.
   —
   Jeg hører at du og dine medparlametariker skal til stemmeknapperne om et forslag til en rekommandaten lov til en beslutning (eller noget i den stil), som forsøger at luske et forbud mod pornografi og deslige i “medier” igennem.

   Det er pænt pakket ind, med masser af fine ord om ligestilling, bekæmpelse af fordomme og stereotyper, men så er der lige det der med f.eks. et frivilligt samarbejde med internetudbyderer om at censurer porno.

   Jeg og mange andre har gennemskuet den der metode med frivillighed. Den kommer typisk til anvendelse når man vil luske noget igennem som strider mod diverse grundliggende rettigheder. “Men det er jo ikke nogen lov, det er rent frivilligt!”. Nej, men som med julegaver, så er det tanken som tæller.

   Og her er tanken tydeligvis at EU, og i anden omgang staten, skal blande sig i min private kommunikation, og det i hvad voksne mennesker enten gør i deres fritid eller mod en lille økonomisk kompensation foretager sig foran et kamera.

   Det vil jeg kraftigt protesterer imod.

   For al del, bekæmp alt hvad der har med tvang at gøre, men fratag ikke voksne mennesker som er ved deres fulde fem retten til at anvende deres egen krop efter bedste overbevisning.

   (åh ja, og sig til de der nisser nede i parlamentets IT-afdeling at det ikke er acceptabelt at spærre for e-post til de ærede parlamentsmedlemmer – #mepblock)

   Mvh
   1. Emil Ole William Kirkegaard, board member of Pirate Party Denmark

      2013-03-08T01:11:45+01:000000004531201303
      

      Meget fint. 🙂
   2. Rick Falkvinge

      2013-03-08T08:18:26+01:000000002631201303
      

      Even better. One mail in a MEP’s own language is worth a hundred mails in English sent to all MEPs (to the particular MEP getting the mail, anyway).
5. EU röstar om förbud mot pornografi | Dissidenten

   2013-03-07T23:27:15+01:000000001531201303
   

   […] Rickard Falkvinge Posted in:  Världen […]
6. Kube

   2013-03-07T23:38:13+01:000000001331201303
   

   I already sent another mail. This one I wrote myself.

   I just could not believe it; MEP complain and request to filter emails from the constituents they are supposedly representing… can it get any worse?
7. Cp

   2013-03-07T23:51:40+01:000000004031201303
   

   Such stunt cannot be left unanswered. They consider their voters’ voice a spam. Let them have all the spam they want.
   Message sent.
   P.S.
   In Poland we faced similar reaction recently. I only hope that we won’t see it becoming a standard in relations between politicians and voters.
8. cp

   2013-03-07T23:55:24+01:000000002431201303
   

   Such stunt cannot be left unanswered. If they consider their voters’ opinions spam, then let them hear more spam.
   Message sent.

   P.S.
   Recently, we had a similar situation in Poland. I only hope that it won’t become a trend.
   1. cp

      2013-03-07T23:58:46+01:000000004631201303
      

      Sorry for duplicate posts. At first it seemed to be either a problem with the website or failed CAPTCHA. Delete the 2nd post (and this comment) if possible.
9. Ralf Grahn

   2013-03-08T03:06:16+01:000000001631201303
   

   Nobody can force Members of the European Parliament to read their e-mail – or to watch porn – but there is no right for the European Parliament to interfere in either. The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union enshrines our (universal) rights:

   Article 11
   Freedom of expression and information

   1. Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers.

   2. The freedom and pluralism of the media shall be respected.
10. Pedro

    2013-03-08T03:17:08+01:000000000831201303
    

    I sent one mail based on Rick’s previous article about this matter but, after reading this article, i get the nasty feeling that it didn’t go through. In the morning, with less sleep in my head, i will write another one, with my own words, of course, and at the bottom put a small note about this “censoring” taking place. They might end up considering my messages spam but this cannot be left unanswered, either subject (the report and the “censoring” mails)!

    Act as soon as you can, people… and fast!
11. Iceland planning to censor all Internet pornography - Page 2 - GameFront Forums

    2013-03-08T03:29:31+01:000000003131201303
    

    […] […]
12. Colin

    2013-03-08T05:47:53+01:000000005331201303
    

    E-mail sent, though Yahoo thinks I’m spamming! Are they in league with the anti democratic forces?…;-)
13. DavidXanatos

    2013-03-08T07:17:49+01:000000004931201303
    

    What exactly have they put on the spam filter?
    The remiler server, or parts of the message content?

    David X.
    1. Rick Falkvinge

       2013-03-08T08:13:12+01:000000001231201303
       

       Unknown for now.
14. Atro

    2013-03-08T09:11:52+01:000000005231201303
    

    Some of the addresses on the list are misspelled or otherwise dysfunctional. It also appears that the Euro parliament postmasters are incompetent (5.7.1 is “policy rejection”, 5.1.1 would be “unknown recipient).

    : host mail10.europarl.europa.eu[136.173.59.225]
    said: 550 5.7.1 Unknown recipient

    : host
    mail15.europarl.europa.eu[136.173.59.226] said: 550 5.7.1 Unknown recipient

    : Host or domain name not found. Name
    service error for name=euuroparl.europa.eu type=A: Host not found

    : host
    mail10.europarl.europa.eu[136.173.59.225] said: 550 5.7.1 Unknown recipient
    was submitted by host

    : host europarl.eu[62.149.128.45] said: 550 5.7.1
    Unable to relay for [email protected] (in reply to RCPT TO command)

    Here’s what was sent.

    Subject: Re: Eliminating gender stereotypes in the EU

    Dear MEPs,

    I wonder if you got this message of mine yesterday through the remailer operated by the Dutch Pirate Party – it appears that your IT department are dishonourably classifying mail from constituents as spam.

    Spam is unsolicited bulk email. But messages from your constituents to you are not unsolicited.

    The European Parliament, or any other political organ, does not exist in a vacuum. You are in fact working for me, and for half a billion other people like me; the citizens of the member countries of the European Union. You were elected to run the show only because the voters chose you. The voters can elect somebody else the next time around. In the meantime, your responsibility is to those who chose you, and by filtering messages from them, you are neglecting that responsibility.

    Anyway, on to the meat of the matter.

    Apparently you are going to vote on a report on eliminating gender stereotypes next week.

    I am under the impression that the report seeks to enforce a ban of all pornography in “media”, including the Internet, and calls upon businesses and other parties that are not a form of law enforcement to carry out this ban.

    Outsourcing police (or, more widely, government in general) duties to businesses sounds like a poor idea. In addition, the idea of censoring content (such as expressed in Paragraphs 14 and 17 of the report) does not sound very compatible with the basic rights of freedom of expression such as laid out in Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

    I’d also like to point your attention to the fact that the Internet interprets censorship as damage and routes around it. Any such measures will amount to nothing more but a colossal waste of taxpayer money.

    I urge you to reject the report, and to discuss the issue with each other from the viewpoint of Article 10 as well as from the viewpoint of all former shortcomings regarding censorship of the Internet, such as the fiasco that is the Finnish attempt to ban child pornography on the Internet (which has not worked at all and has only resulted in the “censorship” of sites not related to CP, such as a site that provides opinions against said legislation and details its shortcomings).

    Best regards,
15. Atro

    2013-03-08T09:22:00+01:000000000031201303
    

    Oops. Unescaped < and > in my original comment caused the addresses to be interpreted as HTML code, leading to their omission from view. Here they are again.

    <[email protected]>: host mail10.europarl.europa.eu[136.173.59.225]
    said: 550 5.7.1 Unknown recipient

    <[email protected]>: host
    mail15.europarl.europa.eu[136.173.59.226] said: 550 5.7.1 Unknown recipient

    <[email protected]>: Host or domain name not found. Name
    service error for name=euuroparl.europa.eu type=A: Host not found

    <[email protected]>: host
    mail10.europarl.europa.eu[136.173.59.225] said: 550 5.7.1 Unknown recipient

    <[email protected]>: host europarl.eu[62.149.128.45] said: 550 5.7.1
    Unable to relay for [email protected] (in reply to RCPT TO command)
16. Pierre-Emmanuel

    2013-03-08T09:42:07+01:000000000731201303
    

    Mail sent

    (like yesterday, with my own word, and in two mail since gmail have a ‘spam’ protection that bock email with more than 500 people !!)
17. Cyber Killer

    2013-03-08T10:17:39+01:000000003931201303
    

    Gmail doesn’t allow to send an e-mail to so many recipients at once :-(.
    1. Andrei

       2013-03-08T12:03:50+01:000000005031201303
       

       Dear MEP,

       Three events that raise serious concerns for me have taken place recently in the European Parliament.

       The report “Eliminating Gender Stereotypes in the EU” contains language that would extend a ban on pornography to cover the Internet. The extremely vague and broad nature of the language in the report could be interpreted as mandating a ban on sexual communication of consenting adults. Passing such a report would not only be incompatible with fundamental rights in a free and democratic society, but also lead to unnecessary and probably arbitrary censorship of the Internet. Evidently, this has raised a number of protests and an e-mail campaign by many concerned citizens who value their rights under Article 10 of the ECHR.
       However, the European Parliament’s response to the legitimate protests of European Citizens has been even more worrying.
       First, the explanation (but not the legal language itself) of the report was deleted, in a clear attempt to obscure the legal meaning that led to the protest in the first place.
       Second, at the request of some MEPs, the Parliament’s IT group has begun blocking the emails of constituents protesting about this, by classifying them as spam. This has meant that individual MEPs are unable to receive email from their constituents and it’s the modern day equivalent of throwing citizen’s letters to their representatives in the trash, effectively violating their right to petition.

       While the report itself is an understandable mistake that will be discussed and analyzed by the EP, the two responses which I have mentioned above are not only unprofessional, but deeply undemocratic. This is not how a democracy is supposed to work, especially when we’re talking about one representing 500 million citizens. Do not forget that we are the ones who have elected you, and the ones who ultimately pay the Parliament’s bills, including the salaries of the few MEPs who seem to think the opinions of citizens are something to be thrown in the trash and discarded whenever they feel inconvenient.

       Also, what some MEPs fail to realize is that the European Parliament does not operate in a vacuum. We, the citizens, are closely watching what goes on in the body that represents our interests, and we coordinate our efforts, time, energy, money and votes in order to see those interests safeguarded. Attempting to silence critics like this in the age of near-universal Internet access is not only short-sighted, but also increasingly political poison. The enormous wave of protests over ACTA should have made this clear.

       In summary, I urge you to reject the initiative report mentioned above, and to make sure that citizen’s opinions never ever again end up marked as spam.
18. Mike

    2013-03-08T10:33:25+01:000000002531201303
    

    Sent.

    Utterly outrageous behaviour, but symptomatic of wider issues.

    I would like to propose a “three strikes” system for MEPs.

    After a voting session, each MEP is required to complete a short (perhaps 20 questions) multiple choice test on what it was they were actually voting on.

    If they fail the test, their vote is excluded on the basis that it’s uninformed and irrelevant.

    Three failures and they can go look for another job.

    Unfortunately, I’ve no reasonable expectation that they wouldn’t cheat.
19. Radnour

    2013-03-08T10:51:26+01:000000002631201303
    

    Makes me so mad. Mail Sent.
20. Max Pont

    2013-03-08T11:29:02+01:000000000231201303
    

    Start calling the MEPs. Here is a list of all the names:

    http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meps/en/full-list.html;jsessionid=6814BE4B50B9BA6836DFF4AD2695C366.node1

    Switchboard phone: +32(0)2 28 42111
21. Andrei

    2013-03-08T11:48:44+01:000000004431201303
    

    Sent, with custom text. One thing though, the EU isn’t the world’s largest democracy, India is 🙂
22. Sara

    2013-03-08T15:08:04+01:000000000431201303
    

    Additional information – the mails are still being stopped at server level. Only now the ban is even bigger, Christian’s work emails from the Pirate party are also being blocked. This means in practise that an elected MEP is prevented from fulfilling his democratic duties (and his job.)
23. Allan Savolainen

    2013-03-08T17:14:04+01:000000000431201303
    

    I guess we must begin faxing, that is somewhat more difficult to block 🙂
24. A regular on an unsafe line

    2013-03-08T20:29:46+01:000000004631201303
    

    This is just despiccable behaviour from the MEPs and their IT dept.

    Clssifying mail as spam should be enough to get them fired, even prosecuted. But, in the EU you don’t attack politician, politician attack you!
25. John Q. Galt

    2013-03-09T12:46:41+01:000000004131201303
    

    Benevolent Dictators and their Benevolent Sexism, eh? Where’s Camille Paglia when you need her.
26. Europarlement blokkeert heimelijk kritiek op resolutie pornografie | George Knight

    2013-03-10T12:16:25+01:000000002531201303
    

    […] Rick Falkvinge roept op het protest tegen de resolutie voort te zetten. Hij constateert kosmetische wijzingen van de initiatiefnemers om de resolutie door te zetten. Nu zoeken ze nog meer het geniep. Het gaat in deze kwestie niet zozeer om het willen ontlopen van maatregelen op het gebied van pornografie of sexisme. Vele zinnige maatregelen zijn voorstelbaar om met name de positie van vrouwen te verbeteren. De Zweedse piraten gaat het om de oneigenlijke koppeling van deze onderwerpen aan de informatievrijheid. Juist omdat deze onderwerpen politiek correct gevoelig liggen werpt dit een extra drempel op voor oppositie ertegen. Deze episode toont aan dat voor de bescherming van de internetvrijheid piraten goed begrijpen wat de noodzaak is van deze vrijheid omdat ze hiermee principieel handelen zonder te marchanderen met hun gedachtengoed. […]
27. fhf

    2013-03-10T15:39:23+01:000000002331201303
    

    I’ve emailed my protest to them. Hope this law will not pass…
    I was wandering what will happened if it passed….
28. Ano Nymous

    2013-03-10T21:31:06+01:000000000631201303
    

    I’d love to take the old fax machine out for a spin, as Allan Savolainen recommended, but I dare not send such a message from an identifyable line. I have sent an email anonymously, explaining that the purpose of my anonymity is not to appear as more than one individual, and that the mail is the only one from me.

    Cowardly and paranoid? Maybe. Safe from registration of people with “bad” opinions? Absolutely. I am convinced that such registration is occuring daily. Too much bad shit has happened for it not to.
29. Testing Antispam Measures, Ignore

    2013-03-10T21:47:16+01:000000001631201303
    

    Please ignore.
30. Martin Ekdahl

    2013-03-11T13:58:48+01:000000004831201303
    

    I’ve sent a mail in Swedish to all Swedish MEP:s. Some came bouncing back but I guess I got through to the rest.
31. Øystein Jakobsen

    2013-03-11T14:15:45+01:000000004531201303
    

    Norway is not a member of the EU and don’t have any representatives – yet we implement the most EU laws of all the countries in the world. This *will* affect us aswell!

    Thanks Rick for noticing, bringing attention to and directing action against this measure.

    And by “this measure” I mean this moronic, ignorant, damaging hurtful and unconstitutional act of spam-filtering your constituents…
32. Kristian

    2013-03-11T19:17:23+01:000000002331201303
    

    Hey. iam also from norway. sorry for my bad english.
    I have sent a letter to most of them, some with failur, and some i think, got through.
    When they make new laws like this, to ban x.rated stuff etc.. It is like seeing the history repeat its self. Look what happend to USA, when they did ban alcohol. Who got alot of money off it?
    The mafia and organized crimed. the same will happend here. This law, will to the oppsitt, than helping girls and men in that busniess. The human-trafficing will be greater etc. and the people in that buisness, have no voice. Instead of banning like this, you should make it legal, and get the girls and men in that buisness to get organized, and have an indipended, organize that people who whold like to get out of that buisness, help , or advice people if they wanted to work in that buisness. you will, if that law gets through, founding the mafia, and organized crime. It is like seeing the history repeat it self. Many best regards
33. DannyUfonek

    2013-03-11T20:11:55+01:000000005531201303
    

    Hey all,
    sent a Czech version to all 22 Czech MEPs.
    If you want to do so too, I’ve freely translated Rick’s template for you to send:
    http://freetexthost.com/o10c44klak
34. Pedro

    2013-03-12T02:26:05+01:000000000531201303
    

    One last message just sent. The first didn’t go through. Returned an error but that was before we all learned what was really going on. The second one, like i said in a previous comment here, after reading Rick’s article, i got the feeling that it also didn’t reached them. Didn’t get an error but still… Well, maybe this third attempt will succeed in the hope that they will read it in the morning. Fingers crossed!
35. Colin

    2013-03-12T04:34:45+01:000000004531201303
    

    Just received the following answer from Alyn Smith MEP

    QUOTE
    Thank you for getting in touch on the misleading scare story being put about that the EU is going to ban pornography.

    I am afraid you have been misled over the import of the Liotard report. There is indeed a reference against pornography in the report, but it is of no effect or import whatsoever, not least because the EU has no such power and even if it did (which it does not) how on earth would we police this?

    For clarity, I oppose the reference, and will be voting against, as will I suspect the vast majority of MEPs. I trust that puts your mind at rest.

    Yours aye

    Alyn Smith MEP
    UNQUOTE

    Make of it what you will
    1. airchie

       2013-03-12T11:56:35+01:000000003531201303
       

       I got the same reply from the same MEP. 🙂
36. Panic over as EU votes to reject ‘porn ban’ proposals | LiMiT

    2013-03-12T14:31:38+01:000000003831201303
    

    […] While the explanation was removed, the effect was not, according to Swedish MEP for the Pirate Party Rick Falkvinge. […]
37. EU votes to reject ‘porn ban’ proposals | Technology News | CNET News | IT News

    2013-03-12T16:40:00+01:000000000031201303
    

    […] While the explanation was removed, the effect was not, according to Swedish MEP for the Pirate Party Rick Falkvinge. […]
38. Uniunea Europeana nu va interzice pornografia, cel putin nu in viitorul apropiat | Radu Tanasescu

    2013-03-12T23:17:09+01:000000000931201303
    

    […] pirateriei” din Suedia, Rick Falkvinge, a sesizat ca, desi fraza nu mai exista, posibilitatea cenzurii este inca acolo. Pur si simplu acum este mult mai greu de […]
39. Internet Porn Is Safe in Europe (For Now) | LiMiT

    2013-03-13T12:33:42+01:000000004231201303
    

    […] to the proposal removed explanatory wording, Falkvinge previously pointed out. A split vote was called upon to change this […]
40. Internet Porn Is Safe in Europe (For Now) - World News

    2013-03-13T13:36:20+01:000000002031201303
    

    […] to the proposal removed explanatory wording, Falkvinge previously pointed out. A split vote was called upon to change this […]
41. European Parliament rejects porn ban, sort of | SEXYADULT | BLOG

    2013-03-14T00:11:19+01:000000001931201303
    

    […] libertarian Rick Falkvinge calls attention to a particularly galling move: when opponents of the ban launched a protest email campaign, the Parliament’s IT department […]
42. European Parliament rejects porn ban, sort of | Bood-Shop Blog

    2013-03-14T01:16:05+01:000000000531201303
    

    […] libertarian Rick Falkvinge calls attention to a particularly galling move: when opponents of the ban launched a protest email campaign, the Parliament’s IT department […]
43. China Dolls - Cliterati

    2013-03-17T07:02:27+01:000000002731201303
    

    […] a blanket ban on pornography…While the explanation was removed, the effect was not, according to Swedish MEP for the Pirate Party Rick Falkvinge…the 1997 resolution remains referenced, and therefore the call to ban “all forms of […]
44. EU votes to reject ‘porn ban’ proposals cnet.com 12.03.13 » nothing-about-us-without-us.com

    2013-03-24T14:51:18+01:000000001831201303
    

    […] While the explanation was removed, the effect was not, according to Swedish MEP for the Pirate Party Rick Falkvinge. […]
45. EU Votes to Pass Report Aimed at Stamping Out Gender Stereotypes But ‘Alters’ Porn Ban Section – Can’t Have Today’s Porn AND Gender Equality, It’s an Oxymoron!! » PORN PIMPING POLITICS

    2013-03-24T16:08:49+01:000000004931201303
    

    […] While the explanation was removed, the effect was not, according to Swedish MEP for the Pirate Party Rick Falkvinge. […]
46. Politics & P2P | EU President and, IT Staff Don’t Understand Democracy, Maths, Truth

    2013-04-09T18:45:24+02:000000002430201304
    

    […] month there were revelations about the EU Parliament IT system, and the arbitrary way in which email blocks on legitimate topics […]
47. Europarlement: Voorzitter Schulz en ICT-afdeling nemen een loopje met de democratie | George Knight

    2013-04-10T00:05:12+02:000000001230201304
    

    […] 6 maart had Falkvinge blijkbaar niet voor niets tot actie opgeroepen. Op zijn site gaf-ie hier en hier voorbeelden van protestmails die aan Europarlementariërs gestuurd konden worden. Norton […]
48. China Dolls | The Honest Courtesan

    2013-04-12T12:04:06+02:000000000630201304
    

    […] a blanket ban on pornography…While the explanation was removed, the effect was not, according to Swedish MEP for the Pirate Party Rick Falkvinge…the 1997 resolution remains referenced, and therefore the call to ban “all forms of […]
49. Bernardo

    2013-06-11T22:15:08+02:000000000830201306
    

    Gdy furt. Wprawdzie sir Roger wolałby, ecclesiastic
    (Bernardo) aby natomiast pozostające rudymenty triumfalnego przejazdu przez
    gród dawny takie gdy wiecznie. Wolałby siedzieć dumnie
    prosty na swym olbrzymim bojowym ru.
50. Next Tuesday, The European Parliament Votes To Ban All Your Porn. Yes, Really. Take Immediate Action. - Falkvinge on Infopolicy - Falkvinge on Infopolicy

    2013-06-24T23:05:47+02:000000004730201306
    

    […] 2: Followup article – Europarl responds by spamfiltering constituents, then deletes explanation of porn ban but keeps […]

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