La Quadrature du Net ('' Squaring the Net'' in French) is a French advocacy group that promotes

digital rights Digital rights are those human rights and legal rights that allow individuals to access, use, create, and publish digital media or to access and use computers, other electronic devices, and telecommunications networks. The concept is particula ...

and freedoms for its citizens. It advocates for French and European legislation to respect the founding principles of the Internet, most notably the free circulation of knowledge. ''La Quadrature du Net'' engages in public-policy debates concerning, for instance, freedom of speech,

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...

, regulation of telecommunications and online privacy.

Etymology

The name of the group is based on squaring the circle (french: quadrature du cercle), an unsolvable mathematical problem. According to the collective, it is "impossible to effectively control the flow of information in the digital age by law and technology without harming public freedoms and damaging economic and social development". The collective makes an analogy with the squaring of the circle as a problem that could take ages for people to realize is impossible to solve, as initially intended.

Creation and structure

The group was founded in 2008 by

free software Free software or libre software is computer software distributed under terms that allow users to run the software for any purpose as well as to study, change, and distribute it and any adapted versions. Free software is a matter of liberty, no ...

promoters and activists. In 2013, the collective re-organized from a de facto association to a formal (French law) association. This association was founded by 9 long-time participants or helpers of the initial collective.

Leadership

Philippe Aigrain, author of two books on information commons, is one of the co-founders of the collective and the association.

Jérémie Zimmermann Jérémie Zimmermann (born 1978) is a French computer science engineer co-founder of the Paris-based La Quadrature du Net, a citizen advocacy group defending fundamental freedoms online and co-founder of Hacking With Care, a "collective compos ...

, also co-founder of both collective and association, is frequently invited to television programs and interviews, defending and raising awareness about the association's positions and opposition to the many projects they consider threaten fundamental liberties and the Internet (French HADOPI law, European Telecoms Package,

ACTA Acta or ACTA may refer to: Institutions * Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, an intellectual property trade agreement * Administrative Council for Terminal Attachments, a standards organization for terminal equipment such as registered jacks * A ...

Net Neutrality Network neutrality, often referred to as net neutrality, is the principle that Internet service providers (ISPs) must treat all Internet communications equally, offering users and online content providers consistent rates irrespective of co ...

, etc.

Actions

La Quadarature du Net gained notoriety by fighting the

HADOPI law The French HADOPI law or Creation and Internet law (french: Haute Autorité pour la Diffusion des Œuvres et la Protection des droits d'auteur sur Internet, ; or, loosely in English, "Supreme Authority for the Distribution of Works and Protection o ...

, a controversial project to establish a

graduated response Graduated response (also known as three strikes) is a protocol or law, adopted in several countries, aimed at reducing unlawful file sharing. In response to online copyright infringement, the creative industries, who are reliant on copyright, adv ...

in France. Its action against

Internet censorship Internet censorship is the legal control or suppression of what can be accessed, published, or viewed on the Internet. Censorship is most often applied to specific internet domains (such as Wikipedia.org) but exceptionally may extend to all Int ...

and supporting

Net neutrality Network neutrality, often referred to as net neutrality, is the principle that Internet service providers (ISPs) must treat all Internet communications equally, offering users and online content providers consistent rates irrespective of co ...

led the ''Quadrature'' to work on subjects such as the LOPPSI law, the

Telecoms Package The Telecoms Package was the review of the European Union Telecommunications Framework from 2007 – 2009. The objective of the review was to update the EU Telecoms Framework of 2002 and to create a common set of regulations for the telecoms indus ...

. In 2012 ''Quadrature'' spokesman and co-founder

received a Pioneer award for his action against

Recognition and support

The ''Quadrature'' is supported by other advocacy and free software groups, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the

Free Software Foundation The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded by Richard Stallman on October 4, 1985, to support the free software movement, with the organization's preference for software being distributed under copyleft (" ...

References

External links

* *
La Quadrature du Net's Wiki
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Quadrature du Net, la Computer law organizations Internet-related activism Digital rights organizations Political organizations based in France Intellectual property activism Privacy organizations