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May 7, 2003 · Blogs

EDRi-gram – Number 8, 7 May 2003

May 7, 2003

New EU legislation on copyright infringements

The European Commission has launched a proposal for a new Directive that aims at no less than harmonising penalties for infringements against copyright laws. The proposal, adopted by the Commission at the end of January, is currently under discussion in the Legal Affairs Committee of the European Parliament. A first draft of a ‘Working Document’ […]

May 7, 2003

EDRI launches campaign on air passenger data

This week, European Digital Rights (EDRI) launched a campaign against the transfer of European air travellers’ data to the United States. The campaign coincides with renewed talks between the European Commission and the United States. Since 5 March 2003, an agreement between the European Commission and United States Customs provides US authorities online access to […]

May 7, 2003

Evaluation of Directive on Electronic Pay Services

In their formal evaluation of the European Directive on Electronic Pay-Services (98/84/EC), the European Commission strongly promotes legal measures against copyright infringements. The report, published 2 weeks ago, evaluates the implementation and enforcement of the directive by member states and candidate countries, from its adaptation in November 1998 through to December 2002. Part of the […]

May 7, 2003

Danish company convicted for spamming

The Danish company Fonndanmark was convicted for spamming last week. The company, specialised in human resource software, has to pay a fine of EUR 2.000 for sending out 156 unsolicited commercial e-mails to 50 different addresses. In Denmark, spamming is forbidden since June 2000, under section 6a(1) of the Danish Marketing Practices Act (Markedsforingsloven). The […]

May 7, 2003

European Court of Justice rules on copyright fees

A recent verdict from the European Court of Justice implies that all EU countries should choose the same legislative translation of ‘equitable remuneration’, a crucial formula in the European Copyright Directive. Weighing the case of the Dutch copyright collecting society SENA versus the national broadcasting organisation NOS, the Court explains how the 1992 EU directive […]

May 7, 2003

Shareholders give Big Brother Award to Bayer AG

Critical shareholders of the German medicine-company Bayer AG have presented the Big Brother Award to the board during the annual shareholders meeting in Cologne on 25 April 2003. The Award was given to the company in October 2002 for demanding a drug test from every employee applying for in-company training. Bayer did not bother to […]

May 3, 2003

Scientists against new EU Patent Law

Last week, 30 authoritative scientists and software innovators from all over Europe signed a petition against the proposed new EU Directive on Patent Law. In their letter to members of the European Parliament they argue that allowing for patents on computer programs will seriously harm innovation in information technology and endanger the future of the […]

April 23, 2003

Germany expands academic use of copyrighted material

On 11 April German parliament agreed on the implementation-proposal of the EU Copyright Directive (EUCD). Only the small liberal opposition party opposed. Public debate centered around new educational and scientific limitations on copyright. The new law allows teachers to make works available to a limited group of class members, e.g. in an intranet, for the […]

April 23, 2003

UK proposal for biometric ID card

The controversy in the UK around the introduction of an ‘entitlement card’ was stirred up again last week by the Home Office (the Ministry of Internal Affairs for England and Wales). The Sunday Telegraph reported that Home Secretary David Blunkett (the minister) intends to charge people 35 – 43 euros for the cards. Thus he […]

April 23, 2003

Internet censorship in the Ukraine

During a meeting of the Freedom of Speech Committee of the Parliament and Council of Europe on 18 April, Privacy Ukraine presented a report on Internet censorship in Ukraine. Though the Ukrainian parliament has organised several hearings on censorship, and earlier this month even adopted legislation clarifying the term ‘censorship’, the overall perspective is bleak. […]

April 23, 2003

All cops granted access to telecommunication data in NL

Early in April, the Dutch Lower House silently approved of a change of the Telecommunication Law that lowers access barriers to personal data substantially. All 40.000 policemen will have the right to demand the name and address data of all telephony and internet subscribers. There is no need for the user to be a suspect, […]