Netizen Report: Colombia May Jail Grad Student for Sharing a Research Paper Online

Netizen Report: Colombia May Jail Grad Student for Sharing a Research Paper Online
July 30 2014 3:47 PM

Global Voices Advocacy's Netizen Report offers an international snapshot of challenges, victories, and emerging trends in Internet rights around the world. This week’s report begins in Colombia, where two pending court cases concerning defamation and an alleged copyright violation could send free expression in the country on a rapid, downward spiral.

In one case, biology graduate student Diego Gomez could face between four and eight years in prison for posting another academic’s research on the file sharing site Scribd. The 26-year-old is being prosecuted under a criminal law that was reformed in 2006, as the result of the free trade agreement between Colombia and the United States. Though it was intended to fulfill the trade agreement’s restrictive copyright standards, the law expanded criminal penalties for copyright infringement, increasing possible prison sentences and monetary fines.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Maira Sutton writes, “Gomez only wanted to share these articles to further his life mission to protect native wildlife and to allow others with a similar passion to access this research. He is only one of countless thousands who risk themselves every day to push against the prohibitive restraints of copyright.” Colombian digital rights NGO Fundacion Karisma is providing legal counsel for Gomez and supporting his case with the online campaign #CompartirNoEsDelito (#SharingIsNotACrime).

Meanwhile, Colombia’s Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal of a man sentenced to 18 months’ jail time and a fine of roughly $5,100 for calling a former government official a “rat” ​​on the website of Cali-based newspaper El Pais. In a piece critical of the decision, Colombian national daily El Espectador gathered comments from lawyers who say the Supreme Court is confusing information with opinion. The decision sets a dangerous precedent for online commenters and social media users in Colombia.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2014/07/30/netizen_report_colombia_may_jail_grad_student_for_sharing_a_research_paper.html