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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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EU Council proposals on open internet – Episode 2, the clown wars
After one year of negotiations, a second element of the telecoms regulation was also agreed by the EU Council: arbitrary, ad hoc law enforcement by internet companies. The Council has decided that this is something that internet companies may do, may not do and may do (Council text, pdf). When the European Commission proposed its […]
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EU Council proposals on protecting the open internet – Episode 1, the phantom neutrality
After the European Parliament voted to protect net neutrality in April of last year, the EU Council of Ministers has just adopted its text on net neutrality (pdf)*. It claims to aim to defend the open internet, but would, in fact, permit every imaginable breach of net neutrality. The misleading nature of the adopted text […]
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Leaked documents: European data protection reform is badly broken
Brussels, Belgium. New leaked documents show that European countries, pushed by Germany, are systematically working to destroy the fabric of European privacy legislation. Under the current proposals, far from being provided with security fit for the digital age, Europe’s citizens right to data protection would be devoid of meaning. The Regulation is becoming an empty […]
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Infographic: TTIP Resolution
The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is an agreement which is currently being negotiated between the United States and the European Union. The European Parliament is going to adopt a Resolution on TTIP. A resolution is a political statement which does not have binding effects. This infographic shows how it is going to be […]
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So, whatever happened to net neutrality in Europe?
After all of the excitement and jubilation as a result of the US FCC’s ruling on net neutrality, what is going on in Europe? Quite a lot, as it happens. History In September 2013, the European Commission produced a badly drafted, incoherent “Telecoms Single Market Regulation”, which included proposals that claimed to support net neutrality, […]
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Net neutrality: Freedom also means banning positive discrimination
Zero rating, also known as “sponsored data”, is the policy of mobile network providers and mobile virtual network providers to not charge their clients for using specific services, such as Facebook or YouTube. Zero rating is a bad idea for several reasons: You give specific services an advantage over their competitors, and push users towards […]
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Turkish academics threaten Twitter with legal action
On 20 January 2015, two Turkish law professors sent a legal notice to Twitter representatives in Turkey and the US demanding to cease the removal of content and blocking individual accounts that have been requested by Turkish government. The notice points out examples of alleged violations of freedom of expression in court orders restricting internet […]
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Booklet: Activist Guide to the Brussels Maze updated
After the major changes in 2014 to the Brussels activist landscape – with the European Parliament elections in May and the new European Commission that took office towards the end of the year – EDRi's booklet "Activist Guide to the Brussels Maze" has been updated. The version 2.0 is now available on our website.
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Report on our fundraising campaign
Thanks to everyone who contributed during our fundraising campaign to support us. It brought in 27 271 Euro from 336 donors in 22 countries. It has been our second and most successful campaign. Here are a few statistics: Total amount raised: 27 271 EUR Number of donations: 336 Number of fundraising days: 66 Donations from […]
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