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REEDOM ON THE

2013

THIOPIA

Ethiopian journalists work for both domestic print media and overseas online outlets as this could

draw repercussions, and many bloggers publish anonymously to avoid reprisals.

Over the past two years, Facebook has become one of the most popular mediums through which

Ethiopians share and consume information, with the country’s Facebook penetration exceeding its

rate of internet penetration due to increasing access via mobile phones.

Social media websites

have also become significant platforms for political deliberation and social justice campaigns. For

example, in November 2012 a group of young Ethiopian bloggers and activists based in Addis

Ababa launched a Facebook and Twitter campaign to demand that the government respect the

fundamental freedoms enshrined in the Ethiopian Constitution,

though the campaign ultimately

fell on deaf ears. Overall, many civil society groups based in the country are wary of mobilizing

against the government, and calls for protest come mostly from the Ethiopian diaspora rather than

from local activists who fear the government’s tendency toward violent crackdowns against protest

movements.

During the coverage period, the Ethiopian government’s already limited space for online

expression continued to deteriorate alongside its poor treatment of journalists. In 2012, repression

against bloggers and ICT users increased, with several arrests and at least one prosecution reported.

The Telecom Fraud Offences law enacted in September 2012 toughened the ban on advanced

internet applications and established criminal liability for certain types of content communicated

electronically. Furthermore, monitoring of online activity and interception of digital

communications intensified, with the deployment of FinFisher surveillance technology against users

confirmed in early 2013.

Constitutional provisions guarantee freedom of expression and media freedom in Ethiopia.

Nevertheless, in recent years the government has adopted problematic laws that restrict free

expression.

For one, the 2008 Mass Media and Freedom of Information Proclamation includes a

clause that permits only Ethiopian nationals to establish mass media outlets. The media law also

prescribes crippling fines, licensing restrictions for establishing a media outlet, and powers allowing

the government to impound periodical publications.

Lemma, “Disconnected Ethiopian Netizens.”

Endalk, “Movement to ‘Respect the Constitution’ in Ethiopia,” Global Voices, November 11, 2012,

http://globalvoicesonline.org/2012/12/11/movement‐to‐respect‐the‐constitution‐in‐ethiopia/.

“Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Article 29,” Parliament of the Federal Democratic Republic of

Ethiopia, accessed August 24, 2010, http://www.ethiopar.net/.

Human Rights Watch, Analysis of Ethiopia’s Draft Anti‐Terrorism Law (New York: Human Rights Watch, 2009),

http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/06/30/analysis‐ethiopia‐s‐draft‐anti‐terrorism‐law.

“Freedom of the Mass Media and Access to Information Proclamation No. 590/2008,” Federal Negarit Gazeta No. 64,

December 4, 2008.

IOLATIONS OF

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IGHTS

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REEDOM ON THE

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In 2012, specific legal restrictions on ICT use and provision were enacted with the passage of the

Telecom Fraud Offences law in September,

which revised a 2002 law that had placed bans on

certain advanced communication applications, such as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)—

including Skype and Google Voice—call back services, and internet-based fax services.

Under

the new law, the penalties under the preexisting ban were toughened, increasing the fine and

maximum prison sentence from five to eight years for offending service providers and penalizing

users with three months to two years in prison.

The government first instituted the ban on VoIP

in 2002 after it gained popularity as a less expensive means of communication and began draining

revenue from the traditional telephone business belonging to the state-owned Ethio Telecom.

Despite the restriction on paper, many cybercafés still offer the banned service with no reports of

repercussions to date.

The new law also added the requirement for all individuals to register their telecommunications

equipment—including smart phones—with the government, which security officials enforce by

confiscating ICT equipment when a registration permit cannot be furnished at security checkpoints.

Most alarmingly, the Telecom Fraud Offences law extended the 2009 Anti-Terrorism

Proclamation and 2004 Criminal Code to electronic communications.

Under the anti-terrorism

legislation, the publication of a statement that is understood as a direct or indirect encouragement

of terrorism, broadly defined, is punishable with up to 20 years in prison.

Meanwhile, the

criminal code holds any “author, originator or publisher” criminally liable for content allegedly

linked to offenses such as treason, espionage, or incitement, which carries with it the penalty of up

to life imprisonment or death.

The criminal code also penalizes the publication of a “false rumor”

with up to three years in prison.

In July 2012, the criminal code was applied to digital communication under the Telecom Fraud

Offences law for the first time when Ethiopian Muslim Jemal Kedir was found guilty on charges of

spreading false rumors and fomenting hatred through text messages. Comprised of various

statements protesting against police mistreatment of the Muslim community, the text messages

were used as evidence against Kedir in court, leading to a one-year prison sentence.

“A Proclamation on Telecom Fraud Offence,” Federal Negarit Gazeta No. 61, September 4, 2012,

http://www.abyssinialaw.com/uploads/761.pdf.

Ethiopian Telecommunication Agency, “Telecommunication Proclamation No. 281/2002, Article 2(11) and 2(12),” July 2,

2002, accessed July 25, 2012, http://www.eta.gov.et/Scan/Telecom%20Proc%20281_2002%20(amendment)%20NG.pdf. As an

amendment to article 24 of the Proclamation, the Sub‐Article (3) specifically states, “The use or provision of voice

communication or fax services through the internet are prohibited” (page 1782).

“A Proclamation on Telecom Fraud Offence.”

Groum Abate, “Internet Cafes Start Registering Users,” Capital, December 25, 2006,

http://www.capitalethiopia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=259:internet‐cafes‐start‐registering‐users‐

&catid=12:local‐news&Itemid=4.

Article 19, “Ethiopia: Proclamation on Telecom Fraud Offences.”.

“Anti‐Terrorism Proclamation No. 652/2009,” Federal Negarit Gazeta No. 57, August 28, 2009.

International Labour Organization, “The Criminal Code of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Proclamation No.

414/2004, Article 44,” http://www.ilo.org/dyn/natlex/docs/ELECTRONIC/70993/75092/F1429731028/ETH70993.pdf.

“The Criminal Code of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.”

“Ethiopian Man Jailed for One Year for Inciting Public Disorder Using Text Messages,” Sodere, October 1, 2012,

http://sodere.com/profiles/blogs/ethiopian‐man‐jailed‐for‐one‐year‐for‐inciting‐public‐disorder.

276

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REEDOM ON THE

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Also in July 2012, the well-known dissident blogger Eskinder Nega was found guilty under the

anti-terrorism law and sentenced to 18 years in prison for his alleged links to a terrorist group.

Such trumped-up charges were based on an online column Nega had published that criticized the

government’s use of the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation to silence political dissent and called for

greater political freedom in Ethiopia, which led to his arrest in September 2011.

Nega appealed

the verdict at the Federal Supreme Court in early 2013,

but his 18-year sentence was upheld on

May 2, 2013 amid global observance of World Press Freedom Day.

In another incident in April 2013, a student at the Addis Ababa University’s Information

Technology Department was arrested and charged with criminal defamation for his Facebook

activity. The 21-year-old, Manyazewal Eshetu, was detained from his home in Addis Ababa after he

had posted a comment on his Facebook page that criticized the “rampant corruption” of another

local university in Arba Minch town, where he was transported after his arrest. At the end of the

coverage period, he remained in prison and had not been prosecuted.

Given the high degree of online repression in Ethiopia, some political commentators use proxy

servers and anonymizing tools to hide their identities when publishing online and to circumvent

filtering, though the ability to communicate anonymously has become more difficult in the past

year. As discussed above, the Tor Network anonymizing tool was blocked in May 2012, confirming

that the government has deployed deep-packet inspection technology, and Google searches of the

term “proxy” mysteriously yield no results (see “Limits on Content”).

Anonymity is further compromised by SIM card registration requirements, which involve the need

for consumers to provide their full names, addresses, and government-issued identification

numbers upon the purchase of a mobile phone. Internet subscribers are also required to register

their personal details, including their home address, with the government. In early 2013, an insider

leaked worrying details of potential government efforts to draft legislation that seeks to mandate

real-name registration for all internet use in Ethiopia.

Government surveillance of online and mobile phone communications is a major concern in

Ethiopia, and evidence is emerging regarding the scale of such practices. Increasing Chinese

investment in Ethiopia’s telecommunications sector over the past few years has led to reports of the

government using Chinese technology to monitor phone lines and various types of online

Nega is also the 2011 recipient of the PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award. Sarah Hoffman, “That Bravest and

Most Admirable of Writers: PEN Salutes Eskinder Nega,” PEN American Center (blog), April 13, 2012,

http://www.pen.org/blog/?p=11198. See also, Markos Lemma, “Ethiopia: Online Reactions to Prison Sentence for Dissident

Blogger,” Global Voices, July 15, 2012, http://globalvoicesonline.org/2012/07/15/ethiopia‐online‐reactions‐to‐prison‐sentence‐

for‐dissident‐blogger/.

Endalk, “Ethiopia: Freedom of Expression in Jeopardy,” Global Voices, February 3, 2012,

http://advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org/2012/02/03/ethiopia‐freedom‐of‐expression‐in‐jeopardy/.

“Ethiopia Delays Appeal of Jailed Blogger,” Africa Review, December 19, 2012, http://www.africareview.com/News/Ethiopia‐

delays‐appeal‐of‐jailed‐blogger/‐/979180/1647624/‐/mm610r/‐/index.html.

“Eskinder Nega’s 18‐Year Sentence Upheld,” PEN America Blog, May 13, 2013, http://worldvoices.pen.org/rapid‐

action/2013/05/14/eskinder‐negas‐18‐year‐sentence‐upheld‐four‐other‐journalists‐remain

“Student Arrested for Facebook Post,” Addis Journal, April 3, 2013, http://arefe.wordpress.com/2013/04/03/student‐

arrested‐for‐facebook‐post/.

Interview conducted by Freedom House consultant..

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REEDOM ON THE

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communication.

Fears of direct assistance from China were affirmed in June 2012 when the

Ethiopian government openly held an “Internet Management” media workshop with support from

the Chinese Communist Party,

and spearheaded by a professor from the Chinese Leadership

Academy.

According to an official government press release, the main purpose of the workshop

was to learn about China’s experience regarding “mass media capacity building,” “mass media

institution management,” and “internet management.”

In August 2012, Ethiopia was reported to be among a group of 10 countries that possesses the

commercial spyware toolkit FinFisher,

a device that can secretly monitor computers by turning

on webcams, record everything a user types with a key logger, and intercept Skype calls. A leaked

document confirmed that the UK-based company, Gamma International, had provided Ethio

Telecom with the FinFisher surveillance toolkit at some point between April and July 2012.

addition, research conducted by Citizen Lab in March 2013 worryingly found evidence of an Ethio

Telecom-initiated FinSpy campaign launched against users that employed pictures of the opposition

group, Ginbot 7, as bait.

The Information Network Security Agency (INSA)—which is involved

in surveillance as well as content blocking

—has also reportedly tested tools that can enable its

officials to mask their identities to acquire personal information such as usernames and passwords,

according to internal sources working in the industry.

In a series of trials of journalists and bloggers throughout 2012 and early 2013, government

prosecutors have presented e-mails and phone calls intercepted from journalists as evidence.

For

example, on January 8, 2013 the Ethiopian Court of Cassation rejected an appeal for acquittal filed

by the award-winning journalist Reeyot Alemu, citing the e-mails she had received from opposition

discussion groups as justification.

Reports and photos she had sent to the U.S.-based opposition

news site, Ethiopian Review, were also used against her. Alemu was imprisoned in June 2011 on a

slew of charges under the anti-terrorism law and sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment in January

Helen Epstein, “Cruel Ethiopia,” New York Review of Books, May 13, 2010,

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2010/may/13/cruel‐ethiopia/.

Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front “Workshop Conducted,” , press release, June 3, 2012,

http://www.eprdf.org.et/web/guest/news/‐/asset_publisher/c0F7/content/3‐june‐2012‐26‐2004.

Patrick Roanhouse, “Ethiopian Government Outlaws VOIP, 15‐year Prison Sentences Possible,” Betanews, June 15, 2012,

http://betanews.com/2012/06/15/ethiopian‐government‐outlaws‐voip‐15‐year‐prison‐sentences‐possible/.

Fahmida Y. Rashid, “FinFisher ‘Lawful Interception’ Spyware Found in Ten Countries, Including the U.S.,” Security Week,

August 8, 2012, http://www.securityweek.com/finfisher‐lawful‐interception‐spyware‐found‐ten‐countries‐including‐us.

The document was seen by Freedom House consultant. Morgan Marquis‐Boire et al., “You Only Click Twice: FinFisher’s Global

Proliferation,” Citizen Lab (University of Toronto), March 13, 2013, https://citizenlab.org/2013/03/you‐only‐click‐twice‐

finfishers‐global‐proliferation‐2/.

Marquis‐Boire, “You Only Click Twice.” .

“Mission Statement,” Information Network Security Agency of Ethiopia, accessed June 2, 2010,

http://www.insa.gov.et/INSA/faces/welcomeJSF.jsp.

Interview with individuals working in the technology and security sector in Ethiopia, who requested to remain anonymous,

January 2012.

Committee to Protect Journalists, “Ethiopian Blogger, Journalists Convicted of Terrorism,” January 19, 2012,

http://cpj.org/2012/01/three‐journalists‐convicted‐on‐terrorism‐charges‐i.php.

“Cassation Bench Rejects Reeyot’s Final Plea,” Walta Info, January 8, 2012,

http://www.waltainfo.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6944:cassation‐bench‐rejects‐reeyots‐final‐

plea&catid=52:national‐news&Itemid=291.

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REEDOM ON THE

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2012. An appeal court reduced her sentence to five years in August 2012; however, because the

Court of Cassation is the last resort for legal appeals, no further recourse is available for acquittal.

While the government’s stronghold over the Ethiopian ICT sector enables it to proactively monitor

users, its access to user activity and information is less direct at cybercafes. For a period following

the 2005 elections, cybercafe owners were required to keep a register of their clients, but this has

not been enforced since mid-2010. Nevertheless, there are strong suspicions that cybercafes are

required to install software to monitor user activity, which arose after a few incidents were

reported of the authorities arresting users at internet cafes in 2011. The arrests were followed by

government warnings that “visiting anti-peace websites using proxy servers is a crime.”

To date, cyberattacks and other forms of technical violence have not been a serious problem in

Ethiopia, partly due to the limited number of users, though the tide may be turning. In March

2013, the independent activist, Abrah Desta, reported via Twitter that his Facebook page was

disabled for an unknown reason, which some observers speculated was the result of criminal

hacking.

Harassment and intimidation of bloggers and online journalists have also increased over

the past couple of years. For example, independent bloggers have reported instances of being

summoned by the authorities to receive warnings against discussing certain topics online.

Fortunately, there have been no instances of violence against users to date.

Committee to Protect Journalists, “Ethiopian Judge Rejects Reeyot Alemu’s Final Appeal,” January 8, 2013,

http://www.cpj.org/2013/01/ethiopian‐judge‐rejects‐reeyot‐alemus‐final‐appeal.php.

“TPLF Regime Arresting Internet Café Users in Addis Ababa,” Ethiopian Review, August 12, 2011,

http://www.ethiopianreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=30136.

Abraha Desta, Twitter Post, March 20, 2013, 12:34am, https://twitter.com/AbrahaDesta/status/314278873334419456.

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 Takedown requests received by Google have more than doubled over the past year,

mainly over defamatory content (see L

IMITS ON

ONTENT

 Controversial clauses within the HADOPI, LOPPSI 2, and LCEN laws provoked the

ire of internet advocates in the country, mainly over fears of disproportionate

punishments for copyright violators, overreaching administrative censorship, and

threats to privacy (see L

IMITS ON

ONTENT

and

IOLATIONS OF

SER

IGHTS

 French intelligence agents attempted to coerce a volunteer Wikipedia editor into

deleting an entry on a French military installation, threatening him with arrest and

prosecution if he failed to comply (see V

IOLATIONS OF

SER

IGHTS

2012

2013

NTERNET

REEDOM

TATUS

REE

Obstacles to Access (0-25)

n/a

Limits on Content (0-35)

n/a

Violations of User Rights (0-40)

n/a 12

Total (0-100)

n/a

*0=most free, 100=least free

OPULATION

63.6 million

NTERNET

ENETRATION

2012:

83 percent

OCIAL

EDIA

/ICT

PPS

LOCKED

OLITICAL

OCIAL

ONTENT

LOCKED

LOGGERS

/ICT

SERS

RRESTED

RESS

REEDOM

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TATUS

Free

EVELOPMENTS

2012

–

PRIL

2013

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This report covers events between May 1, 2012 and April 30, 2013. On May 13, 2013, the

government released a report on French cultural policy in the digital era drafted by the former media

executive Pierre Lescure. Most significantly, the report has led to the abolishment of internet

suspensions for users who are found guilty of violating copyright law.

Additional proposals, including

the reduction of user fines from €1,500 to €60 ($2,000 to $80) and the transferring of many

competencies away from the High Authority for the Distribution of Works and the Protection of Rights

on the Internet (HADOPI), were approved by the Minister for Culture and Communications.

In addition, in June 2013, French daily newspaper Le Monde released new information concerning the

existence of a secret surveillance program operated by the Directorate-General for External Security

(DGSE),

a French intelligence agency.

The DGSE program allegedly collects and stores metadata

related to e-mails, phone calls, text messages, and online activity on servers based in central Paris and

does not come under a legal framework, unlike the highly-regulated program of the Central

Directorate of Interior Intelligence (DCRI). Given that this surveillance has been operational during

the period covered by this report, Freedom House has decided to include it in this edition of Freedom on

the Net (see Violations of User Rights).

France has a highly developed telecommunications infrastructure and a history of innovation in

information and communications technologies (ICTs).

Starting in the 1970s, France began

developing Teletex and Videotex technologies, leading to the introduction of the widely popular

Videotex service Minitel in 1982, which was accessible through telephone lines. In many ways,

Minitel predicted applications of the modern internet, such as travel reservations, online retail,

mail, chat, and news. At its peak, Minitel had around nine million users, and hundreds of thousands

continued to use the service, even after the World Wide Web was introduced in 1994. It was not

until June 2012 that the Minitel service was discontinued, primarily due to the growth of the

internet industry.

France’s current ICT market is open, highly competitive, and has benefitted

from the privatization of the state-owned company France Telecom.

Liberation, “Aurelie Filippetti announces the end of the Hadopi suspension”, May 20, 2013, Accessed July 05, 2013,

http://www.liberation.fr/medias/2013/05/20/hadopi‐aurelie‐filippetti‐decrete‐la‐fin‐de‐la‐coupure_904306.

Guerric Poncet, “Vidéo. Rapport Lescure: la Hadopi est morte, vive la Hadopi! [Lescure Report: Hadopi is dead, long live

Hadopi!],” LePoint.fr, May 15, 2013, http://www.lepoint.fr/chroniqueurs‐du‐point/guerric‐poncet/rapport‐lescure‐l‐hadopi‐est‐

morte‐vive‐l‐hadopi‐13‐05‐2013‐1666125_506.php.

Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure, http://www.defense.gouv.fr/english/dgse.

“France ‘has vast data surveillance’ – Le Monde report,” BBC News, July 4, 2013, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world‐europe‐

23178284.

Jonathan Gregson, “French infrastructure takes some beating,” Wall Street Journal, July 5, 2010, accessed April 23, 2013,

http://online.wsj.com/ad/article/france‐infrastructure.

John Lichfield, “How France fell out of love with Minitel,” The Independent, June 9, 2012,

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/how‐france‐fell‐out‐of‐love‐with‐minitel‐7831816.html.

NTRODUCTION

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While France has traditionally maintained a relatively open and accessible internet, several actions

on the part of successive administrations have raised concerns from internet freedom groups and

free speech activists. Hate speech, defamation, copyright, and privacy are highly contentious issues

relevant to French cyberspace. On several occasions over the past years, politicians have proposed

highly restrictive measures, such as the imprisonment of frequent visitors to extremist websites and

the mandatory registration of online news editors. Most recently, a government minister suggested

that the state could seek to prosecute Twitter for allowing the hate speech to be posted on the site.

A bill was also drafted that would ban the online sale of goods below market prices, thereby hurting

e-commerce in a bid to protect brick and mortar shops.

At the European Union level, the Anti-

Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) was rejected by members of the European Parliament in

July 2012 in a move that was celebrated by internet freedom groups. While no users were

sentenced to prison terms over the past year, French intelligence agents threatened a Wikipedia

volunteer to delete a post that allegedly raised national security concerns. Nonetheless, the French

government only blocks non-political content such as child pornography and hate speech, and a high

percentage of French citizens have taken up online tools to receive their news, engage in social

networking, and organize demonstrations.

In a positive development, the most controversial provision of the French anti-piracy law, referred

to as the “HADOPI law” after the agency tasked with its implementation, was abolished in July

2013 and replaced with a series of automatic fines for the offenders. The law had been criticized by

various civil society organizations and international bodies for its “three strikes” provision that

required internet service providers (ISPs) to disconnect users from the internet for a period of two

to twelve months when found to repeatedly engage in piracy. Nonetheless, doubts remain over the

government’s policy to instigate legal proceedings against users for copyright infringement.

Since 2009, the French government has been committed to providing widespread access to high-

speed broadband and has promised to achieve universal coverage by 2025.

As a part of this plan, in

February 2013 Alcatel-Lucent and Orange (France Telecom) announced the deployment of the

world’s most powerful broadband infrastructure, an optical-link, 400 Gbps line between Paris and

Lyon.

France had an internet penetration rate of 83 percent at the end of 2012, up from 66

percent in 2007.

Fixed broadband use has also increased during this time, from 25.5 percent to

37.8 percent.

Regionally, internet use ranges from 84.4 percent in the Paris area to 65 percent in

Guillaume Champeau, “Sell cheaper on the web soon to be forbidden” (translated), April 05 2013, Accessed April 19 2013,

http://www.numerama.com/magazine/25593‐vendre‐ses‐produits‐moins‐cher‐sur‐internet‐bientot‐interdit.html.

Jonathan Gregson, “French infrastructure takes some beating,” Wall Street Journal, July 5, 2010, accessed April 23, 2013,

http://online.wsj.com/ad/article/france‐infrastructure.

Bernhard Warner, “Alcatel‐Lucent Unveils World's Most Powerful Broadband Infrastructure,” Business Week, February 15,

2013, accessed April 23, 2013, http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013‐02‐15/alcatel‐lucent‐unveils‐worlds‐most‐

powerful‐broadband‐infrastructure.

“Percentage of Individuals Using the Internet – 2000‐2012,” International Telecommunication Union, accessed June 29, 2013,

http://www.itu.int/en/ITU‐D/Statistics/Pages/stat/default.aspx.

“Fixed (wired) broadband subscriptions,” 2000‐2012,” International Telecommunication Union, accessed June 29, 2013,

http://www.itu.int/en/ITU‐D/Statistics/Pages/stat/default.aspx.

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the northwest of France.

Most at-home users have access to broadband connections, while the

remaining households are connected either through dial-up or satellite services, usually due to their

rural locations.

Nonetheless, some 9.5 million people did not use the internet in 2012, either due

to obstacles to access, or simply out of personal choice.

As French statisticians do not record

information related to race, there is no government data relating to internet use according to

ethnicity.

On a positive note, there is little or no gender gap when it comes to internet access.

The average monthly cost of broadband internet access in France is approximately €33 ($45), for

both ADSL

and fiber-optic connections.

Considering the average monthly income is €2,410

($3,257),

this makes internet access fairly affordable for a large percentage of the population.

Companies such as Free Telecom also offer cheap internet access and mobile contracts through

combination deals.

There were 70.9 million mobile contracts in use in France as of March 2013, representing a

penetration rate of 108.2 percent.

Over 23 million people use their mobile devices to access the

internet,

mostly in addition to a household connection.

The internet backbone consists of

several interconnected networks run by ISPs and shared through peering or transit agreements. As

such, there is no central internet backbone and internet service providers (ISPs) are not required to

lease bandwidth from a monopoly holder.

There are no significant hurdles to prevent diverse business entities from providing access to digital

technologies in France. The main ISPs are Orange, Free, SFR, Bouygues Telecom, and

Numericable, with around 40 smaller private and non-profit ISPs. Apart from Numericable, these

Frantz Grenier, “Internet in the Different Regions of France” (translated), March 21, 2013, accessed April 19 2013,

http://www.journaldunet.com/ebusiness/le‐net/nombre‐d‐internautes‐en‐france‐par‐region.shtml.

Ariase, “ADSL and Broadband Access in France” (translated), accessed April 19, 2013, http://www.ariase.com/fr/haut‐

debit/index.html.

Nil Sanyas, “the unplugged” (translated), September 12 2012, Accessed April 14 2013,

http://www.pcinpact.com/news/73774‐la‐france‐compte‐95‐millions‐deconnectes‐et‐17‐million‐assument.htm.

Patrick Simon, “The Choice of Ignorance: The Debate on Ethnic and Racial Statistics in France,” French Politics, Culture &

Society, Vol. 26, No. 1, Spring 2008, accessed April 23, 2013,

http://www.academia.edu/573214/The_choice_of_ignorance._The_debate_on_ethnic_and_racial_statistics_in_France.

“France,” New Media Trend Watch, accessed April 23, 2013, http://www.newmediatrendwatch.com/markets‐by‐country/10‐

europe/52‐france?start=1.

Ariase, “Comparatifs (Comparatives)”, accessed April 23, 2013, http://www.ariase.com/fr/comparatifs/adsl.html.

Ariase, “Comparatifs (Comparatives)”, accessed April 23, 2013, http://www.ariase.com/fr/comparatifs/fibre‐optique.html.

Le Parisien, “Medium monthly income reaches 2410 euros” (translated), March 13 2013, Accessed April 13 2013,

http://www.leparisien.fr/economie/votre‐argent/le‐salaire‐moyen‐atteint‐2‐410‐euros‐bruts‐mensuels‐13‐03‐2013‐

2637973.php.

Similarly, the median monthly salary is €1,675.

ARCEP, “Mobile contracts in France in 2012,” February 7, 2013, http://www.arcep.fr/index.php?id=35, accessed April 19,

2013.

Mediametrie, “Internet everywhere” (translated), February 27 2013, Accessed April 19,

http://www.mediametrie.fr/internet/communiques/l‐annee‐internet‐2012‐l‐internet‐sur‐tous‐les‐ecrans‐tous‐les‐reseaux‐au‐

plus‐pres‐de‐l‐internaute.php?id=818#.UXvC8MV8NNE, and Alexandra Bellamy, “French people loves their smartphones and

tablets” (translated), LesNumeriques.fr, December 11 2012, Accessed April 19 2013, http://www.lesnumeriques.com/france‐

amoureuse‐smartphones‐tablettes‐n27347.html.

Ipsos MediaCT, “PCs, smartphones, tablets: cumulative and complementary use” (translated), September 22, 2011, accessed

April 23, 2013, http://www.ipsos.fr/ipsos‐mediact/actualites/2011‐09‐22‐pc‐smartphones‐tablettes‐usages‐se‐cumulent‐et‐se‐

completent.

283

REEDOM ON THE

2013

RANCE

ISPs are also the four main mobile phone operators and work in conjunction with some 40 mobile

virtual network operators (MVNOs). France Telecom is the formerly state-owned company that

has since been privatized and renamed “Orange.”

The government still directly owns 13.5 percent

of shares in the company, with a further 13.5 percent owned by a sovereign wealth operated by the

state.

“Free” is a newcomer in the mobile market—its 3G license was awarded by the French

regulatory authority in December 2009—and has quickly picked up market share through an

aggressive price war.

The telecommunications industry in France is regulated by the Regulatory Authority for Electronic

and Postal Communication (ARCEP),

while competition is regulated by France’s Competition

Authority and, more broadly, by the European Commission (EC).

The commissioner of ARCEP

is appointed by the government, though as an EU member state, France must ensure the

independence of its national telecommunications regulator. Given that the French state is a

shareholder in Orange, the country’s leading telecommunications company, the EC stated that it

would closely monitor the situation in France to ensure that European regulations were being

met.

The EC has previously stepped in when the independence of national telecommunications

regulators seemed under threat, notably in Romania, Latvia, Lithuania, and Slovenia.

Despite

these warnings, ARCEP remains an independent and impartial body and decisions made by the

regulator are usually seen as fair.

ARCEP agreed with the opinion of the Competition Authority when asked by the French

government to consider the fairness of the terms governing mobile network sharing and national

data roaming. The regulator concluded that “infrastructure-based competition is vital to ensuring a

healthy state of competition and strong capital investment” and that these two issues are “not

incompatible with this goal of a competitive marketplace.”

ARCEP also placed Free under

investigation after the ISP released a firmware update that included an “ad-blocker” function to

remove advertisements from appearing on websites.

Executives at Free were reportedly

attempting to force Google to compensate the ISP for the high levels of data traffic coming from

YouTube and other Google sites, similar to an arrangement the American company had made with

“France Telecom becomes Orange,” Orange, July 1, 2013, http://www.orange.com/en/group/France‐Telecom‐becomes‐

Orange.

According to Cofisem, as of July 2013, the major shareholders in Orange were Fonds Stratégique d'Investissement (13.5%),

French State (13.45%), Employees (4.81%), and company‐owned shares (0.58%). 67.66% are owned by “other shareholders.”

“Orange – European Equities,” NYSE Euronext, accessed July 29, 2013,

https://europeanequities.nyx.com/en/products/equities/FR0000133308‐XPAR/company‐information.

“Autorité de Régulation des Communications Électroniques et des Poste,” http://www.arcep.fr/index.php?id=1&L=1.

“Autorité de la concurrence,” http://www.autoritedelaconcurrence.fr/user/index.php.

“ARCEP must remain independent vis‐a‐vis government – EC,” Telecompaper, January 14, 2011, accessed April 16th 2013,

http://www.telecompaper.com/news/arcep‐must‐remain‐independent‐vis‐a‐vis‐government‐ec‐‐778936.

Arjan Geveke, “Improving Implementation by National Regulatory Authorities,” European Institute of Public Administration,

2003, accessed April 24, 2013, http://aei.pitt.edu/2592/1/scop_3_3.pdf.

“ARCEP reviews the Competition Authority’s balanced opinion on the terms governing mobile network sharing and roaming,”

ARCEP, March 11, 2013, accessed April 16th 2013,

http://www.arcep.fr/index.php?id=8571&L=1&tx_gsactualite_pi1%5Buid%5D=1592&tx_gsactualite_pi1%5Bannee%5D=&tx_gs

actualite_pi1%5Btheme%5D=&tx_gsactualite_pi1%5Bmotscle%5D=&tx_gsactualite_pi1%5BbackID%5D=26&cHash=b419a25d8

87293a12673299e88aaa3d4.

Cyrus Farivar, “France’s second‐largest ISP deploys ad blocking via firmware update,” Ars Technica, January 3, 2013,

http://arstechnica.com/business/2013/01/frances‐second‐largest‐isp‐deploys‐ad‐blocking‐via‐firmware‐update/.

284

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