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Copyright meets broadcasting in Geneva
The 27th session of the World Intellectual Property Organization´s Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) took place from 28 April to 2 May in Geneva. The Committee assessed the proposal for a Broadcasting Treaty. This initiative for a new binding global copyright treaty has been discussed at WIPO for over 10 years at […]
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Swiss data retention visualisation
The Swiss civil society group Digital Society Switzerland is working on building opposition to the practice of the “data retention” – the requirement for telecommunications companies to store for six months meta-data (such as information on who emailed or called whom, and where the telephones were located) and to make it available for law enforcement […]
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NETmundial, multistakeholderism and fair process
“I don’t know what you mean by “multistakeholder”, ” Alice said. Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. “Of course you don’t—till I tell you. I meant “there’s a nice knock-down argument for you!” ” “But “multistakeholder” doesn’t mean “a nice knock-down argument”,” Alice objected. “When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, “it means […]
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Slovak Constitutional Court suspends data retention legislation
The European Court of Justice ruled on 8 April, in a case brought before the Court by EDRi member Digital Rights Ireland, together with the Austrian Working Group on Data Retention, that the Data Retention Directive contravenes European law. On 23 April 2014, the Slovak Constitutional Court preliminary suspended Slovak implementation of the Directive as […]
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Belgian Big Brother Awards 2014: The nominees
On 4 June 2014, the Belgian EDRi member Liga voor Mensenrechten will organize the 4th edition of the Big Brother Awards (BBA) in Belgium. The general public can decide on the person or organisation that will be “awarded” prizes for attacking citizens’ right to privacy. In the name of a greater “perception of security for […]
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ISDS threatens privacy and reform of copyright and patent law
On 3 December 2013, the Dutch Parliament requested the government to investigate the potential social and environmental risks and the consequences of investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS) and the consequences of ISDS for the Netherlands as well as the financial risks for the Dutch government. On 17 April 2014 companies and civil society organisations met at […]
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Turkey: Twitter ban lifted, YouTube still blocked
Twitter and YouTube were banned at the end of March in Turkey, after recordings that raised allegations of corruption towards the Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and some of the members of his cabinet were posted to the social media platforms. Turkish government justified the blocking by social media platforms’ refusal to remove offensive content […]
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Madrid Court rules P2P legal in landmark case against record labels
Record labels Sony BMG Music Etertainment, Universal Music Spain and Warner Music Spain have been involved in a six year case against Pablo Soto, the developer of napster-esque peer-to-peer (P2P) apps Blubster, Piolet, and Manolito. On the 31 March the Madrid Provincial Court ruled that Soto’s “activity is not only neutral, and perfectly legal, moreover […]
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Google modifies ToS: “automated systems analyse your content”
In an update to its Gmail Terms of Service, Google has clarified that all users inbound and outbound email is scanned by automated software. Addressing the decision, a Google spokesperson said “We want our policies to be simple and easy for users to understand. These changes will give people even greater clarity and are based […]
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ORG and DigiGes launch campaigns for the European elections
EDRi members Open Rights Group (ORG), UK, and Digitale Gesellschaft (DigiGes), Germany, have launched their campaigns for the WePromise.eu initiative for the European elections that will be held 22-25 May 2014. During the next term, European Parliament will face many crucial decisions concerning digital policy, ranging from privacy, copyright and net neutrality to mass surveillance. […]
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Microsoft terms of service – a half-step forward
A few weeks ago, there was a media storm when it became known that Microsoft was availing of the right that it gives itself, in its terms of service, to search through users’ Hotmail messages. In the aftermath of the media storm, Microsoft took the welcome decision to change its terms of service. In future, […]
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Big Brother Awards Germany 2014
On 11 April 2014 the fourteenth German Big Brother Awards ceremony was held in Bielefeld, Germany. The awards are organised by EDRi member Digitalcourage and the gala was streamed via the Internet and reported by print and broadcast media across Germany. Six “regular” awards were given, and for the first time, a “positive” award was […]
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