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.
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New Italian decree forbids file-sharing
The Italian government has issued a decree on Friday 12 March that puts a fine of 1.500 euro on the internet file-sharing of feature movies. On top of the fine, computers and digital storage media can be seized. To complete the humiliation for the file-sharer, the sentence has to be published in 1 national daily […]
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Germans consider prison sentence for spammers
The German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine reports about plans from the governing Social-Democrats (SPD) to make spamming an offence in Germany. According to the SPD, merely introducing fines is not enough, and spamming should become an offence, with penalties or a prison sentence. The working group on Telecommunication and Mail of the SPD did not yet […]
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XS4ALL wins appeal in Dutch spam case
The Dutch Supreme Court has ruled that the Dutch internet provider XS4ALL is permitted to refuse spam on its network. It is the first time that a supreme court in Europe has ruled on the rights of spammers. In the view of the Supreme Court, the fact “that XS4ALL has exclusive rights to its computer […]
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Better exchange new laws information society
On 22 March, the European Union has signed the Council of Europe’s Convention on information and legal co-operation concerning ‘Information Society Services’, without reservation as to ratification. The aim of this Convention, which was prepared in close co-operation between the Council of Europe and the European Commission, is to improve the exchange of information between […]
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Analysis e-mail response Romanian MP's
If you send an e-mail to a Member of the Romanian Parliament (MP), you have less than 10 percent chance to get a reply. That is, if the MP you are trying to reach has a public e-mail address to start with. Only a quarter of the representatives offers an electronic contact address. The conclusion […]
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Free e-mail address for every Belgian
The Belgian government has announced plans to give every inhabitant of Belgium a free e-mail address. That is, every Belgian can ask for a free e-mail alias that can only be used to communicate with the different governmental authorities. This address will be included in the national population database, alongside with everybodies street address, city […]
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German government rejects data retention
On Friday 12 March the German Parliament (Bundestag) will discuss the proposal for a new Telecommunication Law in second and third reading. The government coalition (made up of Social Democrats and Greens) has softened many of the proposed new telecommunication surveillance powers. There won’t be mandatory general data retention and the costs of handing-over data […]
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Austrian court demands control military snooping powers
The Austrian Constitutional Court (VfGH) has declared parts of the military power law (Militaerbefugnisgesetz, MBG) unconstitutional, in a decision dated 23 January 2004. The case was instigated by Social Democratic members of the Austrian Parliament. The decision does not repair all points that critics have raised. The military law was adopted in the year 2000 […]
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Privacy-penalty for French Scientology critic
In France the owner of a website was convicted to pay a penalty of 450 Euro for publishing personal data without first registering with the Data Protection Authority, the CNIL. On 25 February the appeal-court of Lyon confirmed the earlier ruling, even though the judges decided to suspend payment of the penalty. Remarkably the website-owner, […]
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Proposal EU Parliament to reject PNR transfer
The European parliament’s committee on Citizens’ Freedoms and Rights, Justice and Home Affairs is preparing to vote on a proposal by MEP Johanna Boogerd-Quaak to reject the draft decision of the EU Commission under which airline passenger data are transferred to the US Bureau of Customs and Border Protection. The proposal calls upon EU Member […]
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Cappato report about privacy adopted
On 9 March the European Parliament adopted a resolution on the implementation of the Data Protection Directive of 1995 (95/46/EC), based on an own-initiative report by the Italian radical Marco Cappato. The report is very critical about the lack of adequate privacy protection in Europe. The report centres on data protection within the third pillar […]
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New EU-plans to promote broadband access
The European Telecom ministers have welcomed new action plans from the Commission to promote broadband access in Europe. The Commission calls on Member States who have not yet put in place a national broadband strategy to do so without delay, with a focus on delivering broadband in under-served areas via a variety of platforms. This […]
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