The Association of the suppliers of access and services Internet ( AFA ) is a French professional association created in 1997 and which aims to represent the principal companies having an activity of Fournisseur of access to Internet and having an activity of service provider or Hébergeur.

History

The AFA comes from the fusion of two associations: the French Association of the professionals of Internet (AFPI) and the Association of the suppliers of access at online services and Internet (AFA).

The AFPI was created on February 22nd, 1996. It had as an aim, first of all, " to support, promote, develop the reflections and the exchanges between the professionals of the Internet having an effective presence on the French market ". Then it engaged with being a " representative interlocutor vis-a-vis the authorities which contribute to the evolution of the Internet in France and Europe ". Lastly, it owed " to promote the development of the Internet in France, as well near the professionals as of the private individuals ".

The AFA was created on September 15th, 1997 and had as an exclusive objective the representation of the interests of the suppliers of lodging, infrastructure or contents.

In February 2000, the AFA and the AFPI continuing the same development objectives of Internet, it appeared with their respective members that a bringing together would be likely to facilitate the realization of it, while allowing the various activities carried on on Internet of being able to be represented by only one association. The Association of the Suppliers of Access and Services Internet had been born.

Missions

According to the statutes of the AFA, its social object is of:

• to promote between the suppliers of access and services Internet, members of association and essential actors of connection and the performance of service on Internet, a common organization apprehending the stakes and the consequences of the development of the networks of information-communication, not only from one economic and cultural point of view, but also with the social status;
• to promote the development of the online services and Internet network;
• to develop the training and the information of the consumers and the professionals concerning the access at online services or Internet network;
• to engage, with the interested public authorities and the other organizations, a dialog and a collaboration on the questions of public interest in the field of Internet, the telecommunication networks in general, and the supply of connection and the performance of service about Internet in particular; and
• to take part in the international cooperation and to develop it around these same activities and to support the coherence of the deontology on the networks;
• to develop cultural exchanges between France and other countries, in particular in order to promote the French language.

Members

The AFA consists of technical people receiving benefits Internet, made up in the form of business firms, around four specific trades: the networks IP, professional lodging and general public, the professional access and general public, gates.

Are thus members of the AFA: AOL France, Aricia, Azuria, Bouygues Telecom, Club-Internet, Colt France, Erenis, InterPC, Mana, MSN France, nine cegetel, Numericable, Orange (France Telecom Group), OOL/Overseas Telecom, SFR, TELE2, Telecom Italia, UPC-NOOS and Yahoo! France.

Actions

The main mission of the AFA, first of all, was to lay down deontologic rules common to the whole of the French people receiving benefits who are members. In January 1998, it published its first deontologic rules fixing the principles common to the members of the AFA (as regards confidentiality, of responsibility, protection of the minors, relations with their customers, etc)

Supplementing this first text, the April 26th 2006, the AFA published recommendations to fight against the spam. It acts in particular that:

• the station of a residential user should be able to transmit its emails only via the waiter of its supplier of email;
• the mail servers are encouraged to authorize the authenticated tender of the messages of the users of their service on the Port (software) 587;
• the suppliers of transport can have to detect the abnormal behaviors (transmission of Virus, email bombing, massive sending of Spam, etc) and in this case can block to it (S) account (S) of the users of which the station of connection has such a behavior;
• the mail servers must have a reverse DNS for each IP transmitting, including/understanding the name of the field to which can be addressed a message misuses for this forwarding;
• the whole of the fields of transport must place at the disposal an email address in the form " abuse@domaine". This address must be valid and be the subject of a daily treatment;
• the people receiving benefits of webmails must make safe the latter in order not to allow the automatic creation of new accounts.

The AFA is also at the origin of the signature of three charters engaging the technical actors of the Internet with respect to the public authorities or other industries.

The June 14th 2004, and little before the promulgation law for confidence in the digital economy (LCEN), the AFA concluded with the ministry for industry a Charte from the service providers from lodging on line and access to Internet as regards fight against certain specific contents . This document fixed some principles clarifying the legislative measures as regards fight against the contents attentatoires at the Human dignity (childish Pornographie, apology for the crimes against humanity and provocation with discrimination, hatred or the violence with regard to a person or of a group of people at a rate of their origin, or their membership or not of an ethnos group, a nation, a race or a given religion).

The July 28th 2004, the AFA was one of the signatories of the Charte of engagements for the development of the legal offer of online music, the respect of the intellectual property and the fight against numerical piracy . This text had as an aim of contractualiser the reciprocal obligations of each actor in order to fight against the illicit exchanges of protected works (music, films, software).

The September 17th 2005 and under the aegis of the Ministry to the Family, the AFA and its members was committed to provide systematically, as of the inscription, of the tools of Parental control to their users and making promotion of it.

The December 21st 2005, the AFA took part in the conclusion of the interprofessional agreement on the video with the request (VOD). According to this agreement, the suppliers of access profit from obtaining a specific window dedicated to the VOD in the Chronologie of the media is a 33 weeks deadline (7,5 months) after the exit of film in rooms, of the possibility for the platforms of launching offers to the act, in the form of packs or by subscription and of the installation of a follow-up committee which will meet every two months, during the period of validity of the agreement. At the end of new the first months and within sight of the installation of the graduated approach, the parts will draw up an intermediate assessment which will lead to its prolongation or the adaptations necessary

External bonds

• Internet site of the Association of the suppliers of access and service Internet

• Charter of the service providers of lodging on line and access to Internet as regards fight against certain specific contents, June 14th, 2004
• Charter of engagements for the development of the legal offer of online music, the respect of the intellectual property and the fight against numerical piracy, July 28th, 2004
• Recommendations of the AFA to fight against the spam, April 26th, 2006