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The evolution of the concept of privacy
In 1776, John Adams wrote that it had been the British right to search houses without justification that sparked the fight for independence. In other words, John Adams thought that it had been an unjustified violation of privacy that had kindled one of history’s most noteworthy revolutions. More than two centuries later, those unruly colonies […]
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EDRi joins the Document Freedom Day
Today, we are celebrating the Document Freedom Day to raise awareness for Open Standards. Open Standards allow us to share all kinds of data freely. They ensure availability, transparency and interoperability of software and document formats – and prevent us from being locked in to using a particular software or service. We believe that the […]
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Copyright exceptions and limitations – back to the future
The noise around the non-legislative report of the European Parliament on the Copyright in the Information Society Directive (also known as the InfoSoc Directive and Directive 2001/29/EC) in Brussels is deafening. With one Committee still to table its amendments, the total number of amendment has already reached 759. Part of the reason for this is […]
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Parliament’s work on copyright enforcement – not worth copying
The European Parliament’s Committee on Culture and Education (CULT) adopted an Opinion on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) enforcement, in response to the European Commission’s Communication entitled “Towards a renewed consensus on the enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights: an EU Action Plan”. It starts by offering support for “the” “follow the money” approach. The only problem […]
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EU trade secrets Directive: threat to free speech, health, environment and worker mobility
STATEMENT (pdf) 23 March 2015 (updated from 17 December 2014) Multi-sectoral civil society coalition calls for greater protections for consumers, journalists, whistleblowers, researchers and workers We strongly oppose the hasty push by the European Commission and Council for a new European Union (EU) directive on trade secrets because it contains: – An unreasonably broad definition […]
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Civil society calls for inclusion in the EP Working Group on Intellectual Property Rights and Copyright Reform
Ensuring a Balanced Representation of Views in the EP Working Group on Intellectual Property Rights and Copyright Reform
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Dutch data retention law struck down – for now
Published originally by EDRi-member Bits of Freedom And then everything went BANG: from our Twitter-timeline to the champagne bottle at our office. This morning the court annulled the data retention law. Effective immediately. But what exactly did the judge say and what will happen now? The data-retention law requires telecom providers to save communication- and […]
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ENDitorial: Spanish rightsholders lobby against copyright reform
Among the very energetic but narrow group of critics attacking the European Parliament’s draft report on the implementation of the Information Society Directive (2014/2256(INI)), the Spanish collecting society SGAE has been one of the most vociferous. In a position paper sent to Parliamentarians, SGAE declares “inadmissible” the mere idea of debating copyright reform and makes […]
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Scottish Government proposes a national ID database
The Scottish Government has run a consultation to use the National Health Service (NHS) Registry database as a means to connect citizens’ data and allow online logins. The proposal has similar characteristics to the plan to introduce an Identity Database in the United Kingdom which was abandoned in 2006. Campaigners and opposition parties have urged […]
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Austrian Internet users to pay for intransparent web blocking scheme
On 27 March 2014, the European Court of Justice (CJEU) ruled that national jurisdiction can order an injunction against an Internet Service Provider (ISP) requiring it to restrict its customers from accessing a website that is placing protected content online without the consent of the rights holder. Since last year, Austrian ISPs have thus started […]
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Danish anti-terror proposal expands surveillance
On 19 February 2015, the Danish government presented a 12-point plan for new anti-terror initiatives in response to the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris and the shooting incident in Copenhagen on 14 February. This will become the third major anti-terror package since 2001 to be presented to the Danish Parliament. The focus of the plan […]
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France implements Internet censorship without judicial oversight
The recent terrorist attacks in Europe have led to many statements implying the necessity of limiting citizens’ fundamental rights to ensure public safety. At the European level we are faced with the alarming prospect of air passenger data (Passenger Name Records, PNR) collection and long-term storage, while in France the legislative mills are turning even faster. […]
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