Our work
EDRi is the biggest European network defending rights and freedoms online. We work to to challenge private and state actors who abuse their power to control or manipulate the public. We do so by advocating for robust and enforced laws, informing and mobilising people, promoting a healthy and accountable technology market, and building a movement of organisations and individuals committed to digital rights and freedoms in a connected world.
Filter resources
-
Council of Europe draft statement on human rights and Internet
On 6 and 7 April 2005 a committee of the Council of Europe debated on the merits of a new recommendation on human rights and Internet. On behalf of European Digital Rights Meryem Marzouki from the French digital rights organisation IRIS attended, in fact as the only NGO present. This second meeting of the Multidisciplinary […]
Read more
-
Bulgarian Big Brother Awards
On 13 April 2005 EDRI-member Isoc Bulgaria organised its second Big Brother Award Ceremony. This years winner in the category of most heinous political institution was the Council of Ministers, for changing the Data Protection Act. Data protection was used as an excuse to block access to personal data of public figures, including politicians. The […]
Read more
-
New wave of lawsuits against European P2P users
The music industry has launched a new wave of lawsuits against individual P2P users in Europe. For the first time individual users were targeted in Finland, Ireland, Iceland and the Netherlands. These countries join Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy and the UK, where litigation started last year. During a press conference in the Netherlands on […]
Read more
-
Data retention news
On Wednesday 13 April the Dutch news agency ANP broke the news that the European Council of Justice and Home Affairs had definitely withdrawn the data retention proposal from their schedule and would wait for a proper 1st pillar proposal from the European Commission, following devastating legal advice from both the Commission as well as […]
Read more
-
French minister demands compulsory biometric ID card
The French minister of the Interior Dominique de Villepin has announced plans to force every Frenchman to buy a new electronic ID card with a chip containing photograph and fingerprints. On 11 April the French government outlined its plan to introduce biometrics on passports by 2006 and on ID cards by 2007. In an interview […]
Read more
-
European Privacy developments at CFP05
European privacy developments and counter strategies from civil society was one of the topics at the annual US privacy conference, Computers, Freedoms and Privacy (CFP), last week in Seattle. During the specific debate devoted to developments in Europe it became clear that while EU countries used to be known for their strong privacy legislation and […]
Read more
-
EDRI statement at WIPO Development Agenda meeting (IIM)
After signing an international petition urging the WIPO to open its doors to non-governmental organisations for the important debates on developing an alternative development agenda, European Digital Rights was awarded last-minute ad hoc accreditation on 11 April 2005. The German DRM-expert Volker Grassmuck was able to make a statement on behalf of EDRI during a […]
Read more
-
Rapporteur EU parliament: more liability for ISPs
Rapporteur Marielle De Sarnez (French, Liberal) of the European Parliament Committee on Culture and Education has released her opinion on the proposal of the European Commission to create a new Recommendation on the Protection of Minors and Human Dignity. The report deals with two issues; more liability for ISPs and the introduction of a legal […]
Read more
-
First P2P prosecution case in Sweden
In Sweden, for the first time an individual internet user is prosecuted for file-sharing. A young man from Västerås has shared the film ‘Hip Hip Hora’ via the Internet and is theoretically facing a maximum of 2 years prison sentence. But the public prosecutor doesn’t have a lot of confidence in the case. “As these […]
Read more
-
ISP self-regulation proposal entertainment industry
The MPA (Motion Picture Association) and the IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry) are pushing for a new collaboration with internet service providers in Europe. The MPA has drafted a ‘possible ISP-Film Sector Voluntary Code of Conduct’, while the IFPI called for a similar code in relation to the music sector during a conference […]
Read more
-
Bulgarian ISPs ordered to remove websites
On 24 March 2005 the Bulgarian Ministry of the Interior issued a radical order to Bulgaria’s largest internet providers. Within 7 days the ISPs “must remove all free hosting servers which offer works, audio records, entertaining or business software, images, pictures, books, graphical logos, etc.” and notify the department. Remarkably, the order isn’t limited to […]
Read more
-
Germany: meta search engine responsible for hyperlinks
A Berlin court has ruled on 22 February 2005 that a meta search engine has exactly the same legal responsibilities as a regular search engine to prevent users from accessing illegal content. A meta search engine doesn’t have any databases of itself that could contain possibly illegal content, but should be able to filter the […]
Read more