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June 19, 2003 · Blogs

EDRi-gram – Number 11, 19 June 2003

June 19, 2003

Answers to EU questionnaire on spam

During the last meeting of the EU Communication Committee on 11 June, a document was presented with answers of the member states to the questionnaire on spam. The same document was also presented next day to the members of the article 29 working party (the collaboration between the EU data protection authorities). The questionnaire was […]

June 19, 2003

OSCE statement about freedom of the media on-line

At the end of a two-day conference in Amsterdam on internet-related perils to freedom of expression, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Freimut Duve has issued a call to take up a strong position towards free flow of information on the internet. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the […]

June 19, 2003

Industry groups against data retention laws

Four major industry groups have published a joint statement against mandatory data retention. The coalition represents worldwide and European businesses including most major electronic communications service providers and manufacturers. They are challenging EU member states on proposals that would require communication service providers to store details of all calls, emails and transactions for use by […]

June 19, 2003

Right of reply in on-line media

The Council of Europe (45 member states) is finalizing a recommendation on the ‘right of reply’ in on-line media. Through a right of reply persons and organisations can reply to articles in the media in which they have been portrayed or criticized. Many countries in Europe already have a limited right of reply for printed […]

June 19, 2003

EP Legal Committee approves of software patents

The European Parliament’s Committee for Legal Affairs and the Internal Market (JURI) voted Tuesday 17 June about a list of proposed amendments to the planned software patent directive. It was the third and last in a series of committee votes. The results will be presented to the parliament in plenary early in September. The other […]

June 19, 2003

NGOs want Human Rights Commissioner at WSIS

The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), the first part of which will be held in Geneva from 10 to 12 December this year, tries to involve governments, the private sector and the civil society in its process. Intergovernmental organizations and various UN Agencies are also part of the WSIS, with the International Telecommunications […]

June 19, 2003

UK acknowledges public criticism of identity-card

The UK Government has finally admitted that the public are overwhelmingly opposed to the idea of a national ID card. In response to a parliamentary question from member of parliament Anne McIntosh, Home Office minister Beverley Hughes has confirmed that over 5,000 of the 7,000 responses to a public consultation on the issue were opposed […]

June 19, 2003 · Blogs

Plans to extend Schengen Information System

The European Parliament currently discusses 3 different reports about the Schengen Information System (SIS). Rapporteur for all three reports is Carlos Coelho. The reports aim at extending the amount of data handled and the degree of cross-linking within the computer network. Coelho, a Portuguese Conservative, has already been the Rapporteur on four previous reports on […]

June 19, 2003

France ready to ratify Cybercrime convention

France has started the process of ratification of the Council of Europe cybercrime convention. On 11 June, Dominique de Villepin, the French minister of foreign affairs presented to the council of ministers a draft law for the ratification of the convention. France would be the first EU country to ratify the convention, which has only […]

June 4, 2003

Belgian DPA investigates transfer of passenger data

Following a complaint from European parliament member Marco Cappato the Belgian data protection office is investigating a possible violation of European privacy law by the airline carriers Continental Airlines and United Airlines. Mr Cappato sent a letter to the Belgian data protection commissioner urging his office to investigate the transfer of his personal data to […]

June 4, 2003

Irish DPA threatens government with court case

According to an article in the Irish Times of 26 May, the Irish Data Protection Commissioner Mr Joe Meade has twice threatened to begin High Court proceedings against the Government for using an “invalid” Ministerial Direction to unconstitutionally store citizens’ phone, fax and mobile call data for 3 years. As reported in EDRI-gram nr. 3, […]